Read Online Vanishing Act by Barbara Block - Free Book Online

specific that happened? Anything traumatic?”
    â€œNot that I know about.”
    I pointed to the bed I was standing near. “Is this where Melissa slept?”
    â€œYes.” Irrelevant observation. Chris had long eyelashes.
    â€œHer brother came and got all of her things. Except for this.” He walked over to the far desk, grabbed a book, and handed it to me.
    I read the title. Moral Responsibility: Why We Are Our Brother’s Keeper.
    â€œBeth keeps on meaning to give it to Bryan. Will you?”
    â€œSure.” I casually thumbed through it.
    â€œIt was one of her philosophy texts.”
    On the front page someone had written:

    We are our sister’s keepers
Keepers of ourselves.
Keepers of the flame
Fanning the embers of tenderness.

    I showed the poem to Chris. “Is that Melissa’s handwriting?”
    â€œI guess so. I’m not really sure.”
    â€œDid Melissa write poetry?”
    â€œShe never showed any to me if she did.”
    The book’s pages came together with a dull thud when I closed them. Writing bad poetry was the prerogative of college students. I’d done my share when I’d gone to school. For a few seconds I wondered if Chris wrote any too, but then I got back to the matter at hand. “I take it you know Bryan Hayes?”
    â€œI’ve seen him around.”
    â€œWhat’s your opinion of him?”
    Chris looked straight ahead. “I don’t have one, ma’am.” He was back in parade-ground mode, obviously his refuge against questions he didn’t want to answer.
    â€œWhy is that?”
    â€œWe haven’t spent much time together.”
    â€œYou don’t like him, do you?”
    â€œI don’t know him.”
    â€œBut you must have formed an opinion.”
    â€œNo, ma’am.”
    He obviously had, but I let the lie go by. “Did you hear Bryan tried to beat up Melissa’s boyfriend?”
    Chris nodded.
    â€œDo you know what happened?”
    â€œI heard he charged into the frat house with a bat, but the guys got him before he could do any damage.”
    â€œDo you know why he attacked him?”
    Chris blinked. Lots of women I knew would kill for lashes like that. “He blames him for his sister’s disappearance.”
    â€œBut you don’t, right?” I asked, interpreting the look on his face.
    â€œThat’s right, ma’am, I don’t,” replied Chris. He was looking at everything in the room except me.
    I stifled a sigh. Talking to this kid was like walking in molasses. Slow and irritating. I wondered if he was trying to hide something, or was he just naturally cautious. “How about calling me Robin?” I suggested, trying to lighten the conversation.
    â€œYes, ma’am.” He laughed and apologized.
    â€œYou know, when I went to college, all the guys I knew wanted to stay out of the army.”
    â€œThat’s what my dad says.”
    â€œHow long have you been in ROTC?”
    Chris looked genuinely surprised. “How’d you know?”
    â€œInnate genius.”
    â€œThis is my third year,” he told me as I studied the view from the window. You could see the park. The trees and grass were covered with a thin dusting of white powder.
    â€œPretty, isn’t it?” I observed.
    â€œVery.” The line of his mouth softened.
    â€œDo you ski?”
    â€œI used to. I don’t have the time anymore.” His tone was wistful.
    â€œDid Melissa?”
    â€œNo. She just jogged.”
    â€œI understand she was upset about her roommate’s death.”
    â€œJill’s?”
    I nodded.
    Chris pulled his shoulders back ever so slightly. “We all took that pretty hard, ma’am.”
    â€œI bet.” At least he was willing to talk about her. Interesting. I thought about what Marks had said during lunch. “Did they have a special connection?”
    Chris blinked. “As in how?”
    â€œI heard