Read Online Do or Die by Barbara Fradkin - Free Book Online Page B

forward to going home.”
    Green’s thoughts raced. The trip to Beirut could easily be verified through the airline records, but he suspected Haddad was not lying. Raquel had suddenly flown halfway around the world to a country where it would be almost impossible to find her. The question was why? And how much did Haddad know behind his impenetrable smile?
    Green jotted down the Beirut address Haddad gave him and dashed back to his car to use his cell phone. A quick call confirmed that Raquel had been on the eight p.m. flight from Ottawa to New York the night before. It was interesting, though, that the flight for the long-awaited visit home had been booked only two hours before.

Four
    Green arrived back at his office six minutes later, his colour high with excitement.
    â€œWe’re on the scent! I can feel it!”
    Sullivan looked up from Green’s desk with relief. His eyes were half-shut with fatigue, and he stretched noisily to get the stiffness out of his joints. “Jeez, Mike, I should be the inspector and you should be the field man. I thought you said you’d be back in an hour. I’ve been manning the fort for two and a half hours. This Peter Weiss creep has called three times. Jules is circling. There’s so much stuff coming in, I can’t keep up. So I set a progress meeting for three-thirty. I hope that’s okay.”
    Green glanced at his watch. It gave him barely half an hour, but the meeting was timely. He needed to get an overview of the findings and then focus the investigation to follow the leads he had uncovered.
    â€œThat’s good. Anything on the student in the red plaid shirt?”
    Sullivan shook his head. “But your wife called. She wants you to call, because she’s got the long night shift tonight.”
    He frowned as he calculated his time. Sharon worked as a psychiatric nurse on an inpatient ward at the Royal Ottawa Hospital. The long night shift meant seven p.m. to seven a.m., which gave him barely three hours before he had to be home.To encourage father-son bonding, and to help them save money for a house, he had agreed to babysit in the evenings and nights if Sharon had to work shift, and they would only pay a sitter if both were working days. But things kept getting in the way, and the old excuses were wearing thin.
    â€œDid you tell her I was on the Jonathan Blair case?”
    â€œI told her you’d call.”
    Even he wants me to grow up, Green thought with a sigh. He picked up the phone and could tell from Sharon’s irritated croak that he had woken her. Oh no, Tony’s nap time. When she worked the night shift, she caught sleep whenever she could. How different from four years ago, when he’d first walked onto her ward to investigate the death of a psychologist. He could still remember how her warmth and humour had taken his breath away.
    â€œWill you be home, Mike?”
    â€œIs Mrs. Louks available?” The elderly widow across the hall rarely went out and had often rescued him from a child care crisis.
    â€œI’m sure she is, but I thought Tony might enjoy your company. It’s such a rarity.”
    He winced. “I’ll try to get there.”
    â€œTry?”
    He suppressed a flash of irritation. There was nothing he hated more than being on the moral low ground. “I tell you what. I promise I’ll do my best, and if you have to, take him to Mrs. Louks and I’ll pick him up as soon as I can.”
    He felt Sullivan’s disapproving eyes on his back when he hung up, but he didn’t turn. As if to counterbalance the depravity he confronted every day, Sullivan had dedicated his life to being the perfect father and he set a tough standard, which Green rarely met. Tossing a quick “Back soon” over hisshoulder, he headed for the door.
    â€œMike! Where are you going?”
    Green paused on the threshold. “I’ll be back for the meeting. I’ve just got one last