Read Online Exposure by Brandilyn Collins - Free Book Online Page B

a record heist.
    “Sure.”
    Bear’s fork poked up another bite of egg and ham. “The little girl — she lives with her mother?”
    “Yeah.”
    “And the mother knows nothin’ about this.”
    “No.”
    “How you know? A man doesn’t just find a hundred thousand dollars on his way to take a leak.”
    “I warned him. Giordano knows he needs to sit on the money for now. If he tells his wife, so what? Guy’s in too deep. But now — don’t matter. He won’t get the chance.”
    He wouldn’t even get the cash.
    Bear chewed, then swigged coffee. “Never underestimate the vengeance of a woman. If she knows, then her husband goes missin’ — she’ll sing to anybody who’ll listen.”
    Nico shrugged. “If she knows, I’ll whack her too.”

TWELVE

    Kaycee awoke to the smell of blood.
    Her eyes popped open. Her chugging brain took in the walls of Tricia’s guestroom, the framed print of flying mallards. White dresser.
    No blood.
    Kaycee let out a breath and rubbed a hand across her forehead. Her face and chest were hot. Deep in her mind the dream played on — the running feet and screams, the dead man on a dark yellow floor. She tried in vain to shake off the senses.
    Her body felt heavy. She’d gotten little sleep.
    Kaycee checked the digital clock on the nightstand. Six-fifty-five.
    Tricia’s doorbell rang.
    Rising up on one elbow, Kaycee frowned. The doorbell — at this hour?
    She slipped from bed and crossed the room. As she pulled the door open she heard Tricia’s muted footsteps in the tiled entryway, the sound of a lock clicking open. Kaycee trotted down the short hall. She reached the foyer as Tricia, wrapped in a robe, opened the front door. Mark Burnett stood on the porch, still in uniform. His face looked grim.
    Kaycee ran a hand over her bed-head curls. They had to be sticking out like Pippi Longstocking’s braids.
    “Tricia, Kaycee.” He made eye contact with them both. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
    “Sure.” Tricia stood back and held out her arm, ushering him inside. As he stepped onto the tile, she shut the door behind him.
    Mark looked to Kaycee. “We got a call this morning from Ryan Parksley. Hannah’s missing. She wasn’t in her room when her stepmother went to wake her for school. Bed wasn’t slept in.”
    Tricia gasped. Kaycee’s mouth creaked open, but no words came to her tongue.
    “They think she ran away. Her suitcase is missing, plus a baby pillow from her bed. Also a picture of her mom that she keeps on the dresser.”
    “Oh.” Kaycee’s voice blurted, thin and bleak. “I was at her house last night. She begged me to let her come live with me. She’s so unhappy at home . . .”
    Mark nodded. “Mr. Parksley said you’d been there. You were the first person he thought to call, but of course you weren’t home. He and Mrs. Parksley phoned all Hannah’s friends they could think of. No one knows where she is.”
    Kaycee’s gaze bounced to Tricia, who stood round-eyed, fingers pressed to her lips. Suddenly, worries about some nonexistent dead man and a dream seemed so insignificant. “Did you check around my house?” Kaycee asked. “Maybe she slept on the porch?” It would have been cold and so frightening. Kaycee couldn’t bear the thought of Hannah waiting for her, alone and crying.
    “Yeah. She’s not there. Any idea where else she might go?”
    “How about the black barn next door?”
    “Checked that too.”
    Kaycee stared at the floor, replaying conversations she’d had with Hannah. Other than the friends the girl’s parents would know to call, she could think of no one. She shook her head. “I don’t know what else to tell you.”
    Mark nodded. “Chief Davis is on it, and Deputy Chief Norrel. I’m supposed to be going off duty, but I’ll stay till we find her.”
    “I’ll help you. What should I do first? Report to the police station? Drive around the streets and look?”
    The last question chilled her. What did she expect to find,