Free Bone Cold by Debra Webb Page A
Authors: Debra Webb
part of the day with Tom had disabled her ability to block the images and sounds, like the way the front door squeaked when she closed it. Sophie used to laugh every time that sound echoed down the hall. The whisper of their bare feet on the wood floor. Leaving their shoes next to the table where mail and cell phones landed each evening had been habit.
Sarah closed her eyes. If she tried she could smell the scent of rain on her child’s hair and skin. She and Sophie were the world’s worst about forgetting their umbrellas. Street parking ensured they made many dashes through the rain and snow.
Even now, Tom’s scent lingered inside Sarah, around her. He still used the same soap. It reminded her of all those times they had showered together, making love and wondering if they’d ever get pregnant again.
Sophie had been easy. They’d made the decision the time was right and suddenly Sarah was pregnant. Number two hadn’t happened.
Then Sophie vanished.
Sarah shrugged out of her coat and let it fall to the floor with her purse. She toed off her shoes and started forward. She should eat. Shower. Take a pill and go to bed. No more thinking. No more seeing.
Slowly, she went through the steps. A can of chicken soup with crackers. A beer for washing down the pill she hated and loved at the same time. Then bed.
She climbed between the sheets and told her brain to shut down. No matter that Tom had not slept in this bed in more than fourteen months and twenty-nine days, she could smell him all around her. He had invaded her senses and would not be evicted.
The sound of Sophie giggling followed Sarah to sleep.
Chapter 13
Sunday, October 22, 4:00 a.m.
Her cell woke her. Sarah sat up, scrubbed a hand over her mouth before shoving the hair from her face.
Tom calling
flashed on her screen.
“What?” She reached for the bottle of water on her nightstand. Her mouth was dry as hell.
“We have an employee from Avalon who’s come forward. He’s agreed to a meeting. I’ll pick you up in fifteen minutes.”
“I’ll drive my—” The call dropped and Sarah glared at her phone. Had he just hung up on her? Maybe he’d gotten another call.
“Dammit.”
She did not want to ride with him, but if he’d landed a lead she wanted to be a part of it. She desperately needed a break in this case.
Ten minutes later, as promised, Tom’s SUV eased to the curb behind her car. Sarah stepped outside, set the alarm and locked the door, then hustled down to the sidewalk. Tom reached across the console and passenger seat to open the door for her. She climbed in and fastened her seatbelt.
“Where’re we going?” She reminded herself to relax. Maybe she should have taken the time to finish her coffee.
“He wants to keep his cooperation under the radar so we’re meeting at an IHOP.”
“How did he know to contact you?”
“I’ve been putting out feelers for a while now,” he explained without explaining anything at all. “Patrick Schneider was a maintenance engineer at Avalon. Two weeks ago he was fired. I guess he has an ax to grind now that he’s been let go.”
“A grudge makes him an unreliable source,” she reminded the man who’d been doing this longer than her. She’d turned thirty-seven last month, which made Tom forty. She couldn’t deny that he’d always been good at his job. No matter, this whole situation just didn’t feel right.
“We have nothing to lose by hearing what he has to say.”
Now there was something they could agree on. They had nothing to lose.
IHOP, Baltimore Avenue
College Park, Maryland, 5:09 a.m.
“People pay big money for the doctors at Avalon,” Schneider said. He glanced around the nearly deserted restaurant before hunching his shoulders around his head as he leaned forward. “They do things no one else does.”
Tom sensed the tension in Sarah. She wasn’t buying his story any more than she had the one Tom had given her less than twenty-four hours ago. He didn’t
Sarah closed her eyes. If she tried she could smell the scent of rain on her child’s hair and skin. She and Sophie were the world’s worst about forgetting their umbrellas. Street parking ensured they made many dashes through the rain and snow.
Even now, Tom’s scent lingered inside Sarah, around her. He still used the same soap. It reminded her of all those times they had showered together, making love and wondering if they’d ever get pregnant again.
Sophie had been easy. They’d made the decision the time was right and suddenly Sarah was pregnant. Number two hadn’t happened.
Then Sophie vanished.
Sarah shrugged out of her coat and let it fall to the floor with her purse. She toed off her shoes and started forward. She should eat. Shower. Take a pill and go to bed. No more thinking. No more seeing.
Slowly, she went through the steps. A can of chicken soup with crackers. A beer for washing down the pill she hated and loved at the same time. Then bed.
She climbed between the sheets and told her brain to shut down. No matter that Tom had not slept in this bed in more than fourteen months and twenty-nine days, she could smell him all around her. He had invaded her senses and would not be evicted.
The sound of Sophie giggling followed Sarah to sleep.
Chapter 13
Sunday, October 22, 4:00 a.m.
Her cell woke her. Sarah sat up, scrubbed a hand over her mouth before shoving the hair from her face.
Tom calling
flashed on her screen.
“What?” She reached for the bottle of water on her nightstand. Her mouth was dry as hell.
“We have an employee from Avalon who’s come forward. He’s agreed to a meeting. I’ll pick you up in fifteen minutes.”
“I’ll drive my—” The call dropped and Sarah glared at her phone. Had he just hung up on her? Maybe he’d gotten another call.
“Dammit.”
She did not want to ride with him, but if he’d landed a lead she wanted to be a part of it. She desperately needed a break in this case.
Ten minutes later, as promised, Tom’s SUV eased to the curb behind her car. Sarah stepped outside, set the alarm and locked the door, then hustled down to the sidewalk. Tom reached across the console and passenger seat to open the door for her. She climbed in and fastened her seatbelt.
“Where’re we going?” She reminded herself to relax. Maybe she should have taken the time to finish her coffee.
“He wants to keep his cooperation under the radar so we’re meeting at an IHOP.”
“How did he know to contact you?”
“I’ve been putting out feelers for a while now,” he explained without explaining anything at all. “Patrick Schneider was a maintenance engineer at Avalon. Two weeks ago he was fired. I guess he has an ax to grind now that he’s been let go.”
“A grudge makes him an unreliable source,” she reminded the man who’d been doing this longer than her. She’d turned thirty-seven last month, which made Tom forty. She couldn’t deny that he’d always been good at his job. No matter, this whole situation just didn’t feel right.
“We have nothing to lose by hearing what he has to say.”
Now there was something they could agree on. They had nothing to lose.
IHOP, Baltimore Avenue
College Park, Maryland, 5:09 a.m.
“People pay big money for the doctors at Avalon,” Schneider said. He glanced around the nearly deserted restaurant before hunching his shoulders around his head as he leaned forward. “They do things no one else does.”
Tom sensed the tension in Sarah. She wasn’t buying his story any more than she had the one Tom had given her less than twenty-four hours ago. He didn’t