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I slammed my fist down on the book. “Bingo!”
* * *
Wednesday,July 18th
I drove to work with the windows down, whistling along with the blue jays under the bright mid-morning sunshine. The earth smelled fresh: mowed grass, heated pine pitch, baked asphalt. Walt Disney couldn’t have arranged a more cheerful opening to my day.
For the first time in over a week, I had a full night of sleep under my belt. I’d awoken alone, without burning eyes, a throbbing headache, or a molting chicken. Not even the sight of five yellowish-brown horse teeth soaking in a glass next to my toothbrush could make me cringe. Nope, not today. Nor had I screamed or yelled after stepping barefoot on the red toy train lying in wait at the bottom of the stairs.
My lavender blouse hadn’t needed an ironing, my white pants felt a little loose, and my purple boots didn’t have any little green army men hiding in them when I slipped them on. Life was good.
For once, Doc’s Camaro wasn’t in my parking spot when I pulled into the lot behind Calamity Jane’s. Ray’s SUV wasn’t anywhere to be seen either. I locked my Bronco and practically skipped across the parking lot.
Mona clacked away on her laptop as I dropped my stuff on my desk then detoured to pour myself a cup of coffee.
“I spoke with Doc yesterday,” I told her as I loaded my brew with plenty of cream and sugar. “We’ll be there Friday at noon to see the place.”
“Great.”
I dropped into my chair and flicked on my computer. “You’re going to be there to give us an official tour, right?”
“Of course.” Mona stopped clacking and smiled across at me. “Trust me, Vi, I’m going to make this place impossible for him to resist.”
“My fingers will be crossed.” I sipped my sweetened coffee.
My cell phone trilled. Aunt Zoe’s number filled the screen. “Hello?”
“Hi, Mom,” Layne said.
“Hey, sweetie. What’s going on?”
“When are you coming home today?”
“The usual time.”
“Okay.” He paused. “I guess I’ll see you then.”
“What is it, Layne?”
I could feel his hesitation through the line. “The newsman said the kidnapper tried to get another girl.”
I leaned back in my chair, hating that I couldn’t guarantee safety for my children. “That’s true.”
“But she got away, right?”
“Yeah, honey. She did.”
“I knew it. Addy didn’t believe me. She said Kelly told her the girl was gone.”
“Kelly was wrong.”
“Sweet! Addy owes me a dollar. I love you, Mom. Bye.”
“Oh, hey!” I tried to catch him before he hung up.
“Yeah?”
“You need to pick up your toys. I bruised my foot this morning on that train you left at the bottom of the stairs.”
