Xo (Kathryn Dance 3)

Chapter 27

KAYLEIGH PLACED YET another frantic call.

"Answer, answer, answer," she whispered. She grimaced. "Suellyn, it's me. Call me right away. I mean immediately. There's a problem." She looked at the screen. "How do I mark it urgent?" Her voice broke. "I don't know how! How do I mark it urgent?"

Dance took her phone, examined the screen and hit a button.

And Dance had given her opinion that stalkers tended not to target family members.

What was going on in Edwin's mind, if he had in fact kidnapped the two? Had he been so incensed about the arrest that he'd snapped? Had he started stalking Bishop that morning to learn what he could and found out about the arrival of Kayleigh's sister and niece? In the car maybe he'd confessed his love for Kayleigh and enlisted Suellyn's aid to win her over. When the woman refused, he'd killed her and taken the girl. Maybe he intended to raise her, treating her like a young Kayleigh of his own. Dance was a tough policewoman, yes, but she was a mother too and she simply didn't want to face that scenario.

"Please," Kayleigh begged once more. "Isn't there anything you can do? Track her phone or something?"

"That can be done. It takes time. But sure. I'll order it."

Not sharing with anyone, least of all Kayleigh, that if the body in the shed was Suellyn there would be no phone left to track.

Dance was speaking to TJ Scanlon about contacting the woman's provider, when Darthur Morgan called from the entryway, "Another car coming. Well, what on earth's this?"

Dance wondered what that cryptic comment might mean.

A moment later there was the clunk of car doors closing and the sound of a vehicle accelerating away on the gravel drive.

Then the front door opened and in walked a woman in her thirties and an adorable little golden-haired girl of about six, in a pink dress. She held a stuffed plush toy. She ignored everyone in the room except the singer, whom she ran to and hugged. "Aunt Kayleigh, look! We went to this neat museum and we brought you a stuffed redwood tree!"

Chapter 28

KATHRYN DANCE SMILED a greeting to the woman she'd been introduced to--Suellyn Sanchez, Kayleigh's sister--and walked to the door. She noted the big red Buick speeding away.

"It was him," Kayleigh whispered, also looking out the window and struggling to put on a calm facade so as not to worry the little girl.

Suellyn embraced her father--a seemingly pro forma gesture. She greeted Sheri too, more affectionately than Kayleigh had. "What's with the police? Is this about Bobby?"

Kayleigh, however, glanced icily toward her father and turned her attention to Mary-Gordon. "Honey, let me show you some new games I got for the next time you visited. Just for you."

"Yay! ... Where's Freddie?"

"He's in the stable at Grandpa's house. You and your mommy are going to be staying there."

"I like Freddie but I want to stay with you," the girl announced.

"Oh, I'm not going to be here much. I'll come see you at Grandpa's."

"Okay."

"Come on."

Her arm around the girl, Kayleigh steered the girl to the bodyguard. "And this is Mr. Morgan. He's a friend of mine. He hangs out with us."

He delicately shook the girl's hand. "My name's Darthur. You can call me that."

The girl looked at the security man with curiosity. "That's a funny name."

"You bet it is," the man said, looking uncertainly at Kayleigh, but following gamely.

"My name's Mary-Gordon but it's not two names, it's one. Mary and Gordon, with a line in between. They call the line a hyphen."

"It's a very pretty name."