Free Finding Harmony (Katie & Annalise Book 3) by Pamela Fagan Hutchins Page B

miss.”
    I flopped back into the hard chair I had been sitting in for the past three and a half hours. Tears pushed the limit of my eyes’ fill capacity but did not spill over, and I stared at the wall plastered with memos, announcements, and fliers without seeing any of it. I clasped my purse hard with both hands to still their shaking. I needed food soon to absorb all the coffee in my stomach or I would vomit. The slightest bad odor at this point could trigger the nausea response.
    A baby screamed with gusto while its mother ignored her and continued filling out paperwork on a clipboard balanced on her knees. For the love of God, I thought, stick a bottle in her mouth, woman.
    I ran to the bathroom and heaved black bile into the toilet. Better. I got up and splashed water from the faucet on my face. I wiped my face and neck with a scratchy paper towel, then trudged back to my seat in the waiting room. The baby had quit screaming, thank God.
    The wall clock’s second hand mocked my impotence. Tick. Tick. Tick. Nick. Nick. Nick. Gone. Gone. Gone. Shuddup shuddup shuddUP.
    After I had finally realized the day before that Annalise was sending me a message, I’d filled Kurt and Julie in on my concerns. Nick didn’t show up for dinner, and when we’d had no word from him by seven o’clock, I called the police.
    The officer I spoke with rebuffed me, explaining that the police did not consider an adult missing until twenty-four hours after he’d disappeared—if then. A frantic discussion with my in-laws led to an idea: maybe I could convince them that Nick’s disappearance was related to the Eddy Monroe investigation. It probably was, after all. Or it could be one of a million anythings, none of them good. Like the long reach of Taylor’s father Derek, or Derek’s little brother Bobby. Nick had sent Derek to jail and gotten Bobby shot. Both were pretty good reasons for revenge  I found Detective Tutein’s card in Nick’s Petro-Mex file and called him. I got the same twenty-four-hour rule response, but he agreed under pressure to see me if I came in to the station today.
    “I sure he come by soon. Please have a seat, miss.”
    I flopped back into the hard chair I had been sitting in for the past three and a half hours. Tears pushed the limit of my eyes’ fill capacity but did not spill over, and I stared at the wall plastered with memos, announcements, and fliers without seeing any of it. I clasped my purse hard with both hands to still their shaking. I needed food soon to absorb all the coffee in my stomach or I would vomit. The slightest bad odor at this point could trigger the nausea response.
    A baby screamed with gusto while its mother ignored her and continued filling out paperwork on a clipboard balanced on her knees. For the love of God, I thought, stick a bottle in her mouth, woman.
    I ran to the bathroom and heaved black bile into the toilet. Better. I got up and splashed water from the faucet on my face. I wiped my face and neck with a scratchy paper towel, then trudged back to my seat in the waiting room. The baby had quit screaming, thank God.
    The wall clock’s second hand mocked my impotence. Tick. Tick. Tick. Nick. Nick. Nick. Gone. Gone. Gone. Shuddup shuddup shuddUP.
    After I had finally realized the day before that Annalise was sending me a message, I’d filled Kurt and Julie in on my concerns. Nick didn’t show up for dinner, and when we’d had no word from him by seven o’clock, I called the police.
    The officer I spoke with rebuffed me, explaining that the police did not consider an adult missing until twenty-four hours after he’d disappeared—if then. A frantic discussion with my in-laws led to an idea: maybe I could convince them that Nick’s disappearance was related to the Eddy Monroe investigation. I found Detective Tutein’s card in Nick’s Petro-Mex file and called him. I got the same twenty-four-hour rule response, but he agreed under pressure to see me if I came in to the