Read Online Murder in the City: Blue Lights by Clare Tatum - Free Book Online

by the minute. Somebody went after you on that path, now your sister’s gone missing. Seems weird.”
    A cold wave washed through her. Was Julie a target because of her?
    It was much more likely that someone had gone after the mayor’s daughter for a big paycheck from ransom. And Julie had just been collateral damage, taken along with Tiana. She’d prayed that Julie would escape unharmed but had almost forgotten about Tiana.
    A jab of guilt cut her.
    But, surely anyone’s concern would go straight to their own family member first.
    Someone else’s little girl missing? How horrible. Your own little sister or daughter taken? A reason to find someone and kill them in order to make sure they didn’t hurt your little girl.
    Please God, let both Julie and Tiana come out of this unharmed.
    Brice got on his cell phone, asking about where the mayor was—at her home or city hall. He put the car into drive and took off. They’d rolled half a block when he hung up and said, “The mayor’s at her house.”
    “Then, turn left here,” Lainey spit out. “There’s a quicker way than going down Euclid.”
    Brice turned left but gave her a funny look. “You know where the mayor lives? Been there for an official function?”
    She didn’t say. “Turn right, up there.” All she could think about was getting there and finding out about Julie.
    She had tunnel vision and tunnel thought, everything centered on making the trip as quickly as possible.
    Brice drove like a cop, accelerating quickly, making tight turns that wasted no motion, and braking very little.
    His face was grim, his jaw tight and his hands firm on the wheel. They came up onto a long line of cars stopped behind one car trying to make an illegal left turn. Brice turned on his blue lights, hit his siren, then drove into the oncoming lane in order to bypass the cars.
    The driver who’d been trying to make the illegal left turn glanced over his shoulder, his eyes wide, as if he thought he would be ticketed. But, Brice just went around him too, accelerating quickly once he’d returned to his own side of the road.
    Finally, they made the last turn onto the mayor’s street. Every form of cop car possible lined the road. Flanking the outer perimeter of the clogged street were news trucks, looking like some strange modern birds, their masts waving in the air, almost pulsating with the vibrant images they sent back to the station of cops running, intent, serious.
    Quick movements, sharp angles of action. No one moved in slow motion today.
    Brice flashed a badge and they swept into the inner spiral of motion.
    Lainey walked straight toward the mayor’s front door where a uniformed cop stood.
    Lainey flashed her I.D. and the cop stepped aside.
    The front door was ajar and Lainey stuck her head in, and immediately saw the mayor.
    The small African American woman with the salt and pepper hair, usually so bold and cheerful, looked so small. She slumped in a chair, as if her spine had been broken.
    The strong and confident mayor looked like just another victim’s mother. She stared down at the floor, blankly, as if anticipating the worst news.
    “Helen,” Lainey said softly, approaching her.
    The mayor looked up slowly, as if the words took a while to reach her. Then, her mocha colored eyes lit up with a spark of hope.
    “Lainey,” she said weakly, standing and reaching for her.
    Lainey stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Tiana’s mother. “They’re going to be okay. Everything’s going to work out.” She hugged the mayor tightly then pulled back to look her in the eye.
    Helen’s mouth quivered. She didn’t speak, pressing her lips firmly together, struggling for control. She was the mayor and had stood up to immense pressure on the job.
    But this was different. This was personal.
    All bets went out the window when it was one of your own in danger.
    Brice walked away and spoke to another detective. After a second, he came back toward Lainey and the