Read Online Where Are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark - Free Book Online

as I spoke, it occurred to me that it was possible that ten years ago, no one had ever carefully explored the pockets of slacks and jackets that Mack had left in this apartment. Lucas Reeves had indicated in his case report that nothing of importance was found in the clothing Mack had left behind in his student apartment.
    Without much hesitation, even with relief, Mom agreed. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Carolyn,” she said. “You’ve been my rod and staff through all this. But I know you. You only stopped working two weeks ago, and I can tell you’re restless. What will you do while I’m gone?”
    She had inadvertently furnished me with a response that was at least partly honest. “We know someone willsnap up this place in a heartbeat,” I said. “I never intended to stay in the studio indefinitely. I’m going to look around for a bigger place myself. You’ll let me have my pick of any furniture you don’t take with you, right?”
    â€œOf course. Let Elliott know. A decent one-bedroom is an expenditure he’ll certainly approve.” Elliott was the trustee of the money my grandfather had left me.
    Mom took the last gulp of tea and stood up. “I’d better rush. Helene will have a fit if I’m late for my hair appointment. For the kind of money she charges, she could stand to possess a little more humility.” She gave me a quick kiss on my cheek, then added, “If you find an apartment you like, make sure it has a doorman. I never have been comfortable with you living in a place where you have to let yourself in. I’ve been checking the news. There’s no sign of that girl who lived next door to you who disappeared. God help her family.”
    I was glad Mom had the salon appointment. Now that I was determined to find Mack, I had the sense that I must not lose a minute in my search for him. Geographically, he had been so close to us when he left that note on Sunday. The meeting with the Kramers had left me desperately uneasy. Memories do fade, but when I spoke to them, they had contradicted each other about what Mack was wearing and exactly where they had seen him last. Also, Lil Kramer had been absolutely shocked when I told her he had been at the Mass. Why? Was Mack a threat to them? What did they know that scared them so much?
    I had taken the report of Investigator Reeves from the file drawer in Dad’s desk. Now I wanted to get the addressesof Mack’s former roommates, Bruce Galbraith and Nicholas DeMarco. Nick had kept in touch with Dad regularly, in the beginning. Naturally, as time passed he heard from him less and less frequently. The last time I saw him was when he attended Dad’s memorial Mass, but that day is a complete blur to me.
    Dad’s study isn’t large, but as he used to say, it was big enough for what he needed. His big desk dominated the paneled room. To my mother’s horror, the faded nine-by-twelve carpet that had been in his mother’s living room was on the floor. “Reminds me of where I came from, Liv,” he would say after one of her periodic efforts to get rid of it. A worn leather chair with a hassock was his favorite spot in the morning. He always got up very early, made himself coffee, and settled in that chair with the morning papers before showering and getting dressed to go to the office.
    Bookcases covered the wall opposite the windows. Scattered on them were framed pictures of the four of us from those happy days when we had been together. Dad had a presence that showed through even in casual pictures: the determined jaw, softened by the wide smile, the keen intelligence in his eyes. He had done everything possible to trace Mack and would still be trying if he were alive. I’m sure of that.
    I opened the top drawer of his desk and took out his phone book. On a slip of paper I wrote down Bruce Galbraith’s phone number. I remembered he had gone into