Vanished 2 by Carter Quinn

Author:Carter Quinn [Quinn, Carter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Vanished_2
Publisher: Carter Quinn Books
Published: 2015-05-12T16:00:00+00:00

“Mr. Cooley?”

The sound of my name alarmed me enough to look up. The detective. I hastily wiped the evidence of tears from my face. I was surprised he had followed me all the way outside. Surprised and instantly pissed off. Why was everyone playing games with me? I stared at him wordlessly.

The man sighed, hiked his pants legs and climbed up to sit beside me. I hadn’t even noticed I’d climbed to my usual perch at the top of the seating-slash-garden structure. “Mr. Cooley, you’re obviously upset. I don’t usually follow potential clients once they’ve run out of my office, but I thought you might be down here clearing your head.”

I nodded, waiting for him to finish whatever he had to say.

“You said your husband called you?”

“Y—yes.” I hated the weakness in my voice. Hated that the mere mention of Tom brought the voice on the calls back to my consciousness.

“But you also stated he’s deceased, did I get that right?”

“Yes.” My vision wavered with an onslaught of fresh tears. I blinked them back and concentrated on regulating my breathing. Focusing on something other than the pain helped push the need to cry back where it belonged.

The detective paused. “Do you have any reason to believe that’s not your husband’s voice or that he might not be deceased?”

“No. I mean, I don’t know.” I ran my fingers over my forehead in frustration. “I’m not the world’s most reliable witness, Mr…?”

“Deveraux. Blaine Deveraux.”

“Mr. Deveraux. I apologize. I knew that. I’m not quite myself at the moment.” I cleared my throat as I gathered my thoughts. “I had a…break with reality a few weeks back. I woke up one morning and just forgot that Tom was dead. I thought he’d gone out for a run.” My chin quivered as the shame of that weakness and the memory of that fear for his safety pushed forward, still as fresh as if they’d happened an hour ago. I fought to stay in the moment. “Suffice it to say I remember now that he died in a car accident in February. I’ve been dealing with grieving him again.” I laughed uncomfortably. “This is actually only my second week back at work. The calls started on my first day back.”

“How many people knew that?”

“Knew what?”

“That it was your first day back to work?”

I frowned. “I don’t know. Anyone who works with me. Trevor, my assistant. Shaun, my best friend. CJ, my son.”

I could see the gears turning behind his brown eyes, but I had no clue what they were telling him. Hell, I didn’t know what to think about anything. My whole world was upside down yet again. I could only imagine what Shaun would think about the whole thing. He’d probably be here in less than five minutes with a court order to put me in a padded room, safely away from all sharp objects and anything electronic. I wondered, perversely, if I’d get crayons.

“Has it been just the one call?”

I swallowed. “No. There have been four or five.

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