Free Two Little Girls in Blue by Mary Higgins Clark

they might start asking what was so important that he couldn’t accommodate a longtime client.
    I can’t refuse, Lucas thought. “Mr. Bailey,” he said, trying to make his voice strike its usual eager-to-please timbre, “I’ll get someone for my other job. What time do you want me, sir?”
    â€œAt six o’clock. We’ll probably be quite early, but I cannot take any chance of being late.”
    â€œSix on the button, sir.”
    Lucas threw his cell phone on the bed, went back the short distance to his dingy living room and picked up the special cell phone. When the Pied Piper answered, Lucas brushed nervously at the sweat on his forehead and told him what had happened. “I couldn’t refuse, so now we can’t go ahead with the plan.”
    Even though the Pied Piper was still trying to disguise his voice, the note of amusement in it crept through. “You’re both right and wrong, Bert. You couldn’t refuse, but we are going ahead with our plan. In fact, this little development may work beautifully for us. You’re planning to go for a plane ride, aren’t you?”
    â€œYeah, after I get the stuff from Harry.”
    â€œMake sure that the typewriter that was used for the ransom note goes with you, as well as the clothing and toys that were bought for the children. There should be no trace of children having been present in Harry’s cottage.”
    â€œI know. I know.” They’d already gone over this part of the plan.
    â€œHave Harry phone me when he has secured the car. You phone me as soon as you drop Bailey off at the Time Warner building. I’ll tell you what to do next.”

21

    A t ten thirty, Angie was at the breakfast table with the twins. Now on her third cup of black coffee, her head was beginning to clear. She’d had a lousy night’s sleep. She looked at Kathy. She could tell the vaporizer and aspirin had done some good. Though the bedroom reeked of Vick’s, at least the steam had loosened her cough a bit. She was still a pretty sick kid, though, and had been awake a lot during the night, crying for her mother. I’m tired, Angie thought, really tired. At least the other one slept pretty well, even though sometimes when Kathy was coughing hard, Kelly would start coughing, too.
    â€œIs she getting sick, too?” Clint had asked a half-dozen times.
    â€œNo, she isn’t. Get back to sleep,” Angie had ordered. “I don’t want you to be half-dead tonight.”
    She looked at Kelly, who stared back at her. It was all she could do not to slap that fresh kid. “We want to go home,” she kept saying every other minute. “Kathy and I want to go home. You promised you would take us home.”
    I can’t wait for you to go home, Angie thought.
    It was obvious Clint was a nervous wreck. He’dtaken his coffee over to the sofa in front of the television set and kept drumming his fingers on the piece of junk that passed for a coffee table. He’d been watching the news to see if there was anything more about the kidnapping, but he knew enough to keep the remote on the mute setting. The kids’ backs were to the TV.
    Kelly had eaten some of the cereal Angie had fixed them, and Kathy had at least a few bites. They both looked pale, Angie admitted to herself, and their hair was kind of messy. Maybe she’d better try brushing it, but on the other hand, she didn’t need them yelling if there were knots to untangle. Forget it, she decided.
    She pushed back her chair. “Okay, kids. Time for a little nap.”
    They had gotten used to being shoved back into the crib after breakfast. Kathy even raised her arms to be picked up. She knows I love her, Angie thought, then cursed under her breath as Kathy’s elbow hit the dish of cereal, which then spilled down the front of her pajamas.
    Kathy began to cry, a sick wail that ended in a cough.
    â€œIt’s okay. It’s