Page 121 of The Search

“No, I don’t think so. Joe’s on his way over there to talk to my mom and check out the house.”

“Could she have run away? She’s been upset lately.”

“Not enough to run away.”

That was Logan’s impression too, but he’d been reaching. Any other explanation scared him shitless.

The comb wasn’t for Sarah.

Rudzak’s words had been clawing at him since the previous night.

Had it been for little Jane MacGuire?

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Eve demanded.

“I was thinking. Let me get off the phone and call Galen. He wouldn’t have let Jane be dropped off without putting a guard on your mother’s house.”

“Then phone him and call me back.” Eve’s voice was uneven. “You get my Jane back, Logan. I won’t lose another daughter.” She hung up.

“What’s wrong?” Sarah had come into the living room. “What about Jane?”

“She’s disappeared from her grandmother’s house.” Logan was punching in Galen’s number. “Eve’s nearly frantic.”

“Of course she is,” Sarah said. “It must bring back Bonnie’s kidnapping and all the horror that—”

“Galen, who the hell do you have in Atlanta? Jane MacGuire’s missing.”

“The kid? No way. I stationed two good men at her grandmother’s last night. They would have reported anything wrong.”

“Well, your two good men fouled up. She’s missing. Call them and see what the hell they know.” He hung up. “Galen didn’t know anything about it. He said the house was guarded.”

“Rudzak,” Sarah whispered.

“I don’t know.”

“She’s only a little girl, Logan.” She shuddered. “But those kids at Apache Lake were just children, too, weren’t they? He doesn’t care.”

“No, he doesn’t care.” His lips tightened. “But we shouldn’t jump to conclusions.”

“Why not? With that monster out there?” She reached for the phone. “I’ve got to call Eve.”

“Not now.”

“I brought her here. If she’d stayed with Jane, this might not have happened.”

“And what are you going to say? That you’re sorry? Is that going to make her feel better? Keep her line open in case someone needs to reach her.”

“Like the police,” she said dully. “Isn’t that what they say when a child is missing?”

“Quinn is on the job, trying to find Jane. He’ll be calling Eve as soon as he hears even a whisper.” He paused. “It doesn’t have to be Rudzak, Sarah.”

“And this is just a coincidence? Isn’t that what you told yourself about Kai Chi?”

He couldn’t deny it. “Don’t jump to conclusions.”

She headed for the door. “Not until we find one of Chen Li’s artifacts beside Jane’s body?”

He was glad that she had left the room. He wasn’t about to tell her what Rudzak had said, but she might have read something in his expression.