The Missing Page 0,61

out in a junkyard in Saugus collecting paint samples when the bomb went off. The blast took out the lab, the evidence lockers… it’s all gone.’

Darby wanted to ask about any other survivors but couldn’t get the words out.

‘I’m afraid I have more bad news,’ Leland said. ‘The hospital called looking for you a few minutes ago. Rachel Swanson went into cardiac arrest. They couldn’t revive her. They’re going to do her autopsy this afternoon.’

‘He killed her.’

‘Rachel Swanson was sick, Darby. The sepsis –’

‘Traveler needed to get to her. She was the key to finding him, and the only way he could do it was to create a diversion. What better diversion than bombing the hospital. The explosion creates a sense of panic – people start thinking it’s a terrorist attack and run for cover. Nobody’s paying any attention. Traveler moved in and killed her. Get someone over there and seal off the room – and pull the ICU security tapes.’

‘I already tried. ATF won’t allow access,’ Leland said. ‘I just got off the phone with Wendy Swanson, Rachel’s mother. Someone at the New Hampshire lab must have called her. She called us, wanting to know what hospital her daughter was in. I had to tell the woman her daughter was dead.’

‘Do you have her number? I want to talk to her about Rachel.’

‘That’s Banville’s job.’

‘Banville’s going to be tied up at the bomb site here in Belham. I want to talk to the mother to see if I can find out anything about Rachel, maybe figure out why she was selected. She might know something that can help us find Carol.’

Leland gave her the number. Darby wrote it down on her forearm.

A phone rang in the background. ‘I’ve got to take this call,’ Leland said. ‘Call me back if you find out anything.’

Darby called her mother. The phone kept ringing. She hung up, wondering if she was too late. A cold nausea gripped her as she ran home.

Chapter 47

The nurse shut the door to Sheila’s bedroom. Her mother was inside, fast asleep. Her lungs made a sick wheezing sound as she struggled to breathe.

‘I had to increase her morphine level,’ Tina said, ushering Darby away from the door. ‘She’s in a lot of pain.’

‘Did she see the news?’

The nurse nodded. ‘She tried calling you and couldn’t get through.’

‘My cell phone is broken. I called from a pay phone. Nobody picked up.’

‘The explosion knocked down some of the phone and power lines – at least that’s what they’re saying on the news. She knows you’re okay. A friend of yours stopped by and told he I forget his name. Are you going back out? I can stay a while longer. It’s not a problem.’

‘I’m in for the night.’

Darby folded her arms and leaned back against the wall. She was afraid to move away from her mother’s door. Walking away now, Darby felt she was saying good-bye.

‘I don’t think it will happen tonight,’ Tina said.

It took Darby a moment to gather the courage to ask the question. ‘When, do you think?’

Tina pursed her lips. ‘Any day now.’

After the nurse left, Darby wrote a note to her mother saying she was home and taped it to the night-stand where she kept her glasses and pills. She kissed her mother on the forehead. Sheila didn’t stir.

Darby headed into the shower. Standing under the hot water, she reviewed the things Rachel had said under the porch and at the hospital. Rachel had used the word fighting several times. I can’t fight him anymore, Rachel had said. What had she said about Carol? Is she a fighter? Is she tough?

Fighter. Fighting. Was that the key? How would Traveler know they would fight back?

Did he pick them up from battered women’s shelters? No. Those women predominantly didn’t fight back. What then? Some place, they all had to connect at some place. Please, God, let me find a common thread.

When the water grew cold, Darby toweled off, threw on a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt and headed downstairs to the kitchen. She checked the phone. It was working. She put on her jacket and took the cordless and her pack of cigarettes out to the back deck. The rain was coming down harder now, drumming against the roof.

She went through two cigarettes before dialing the number for Rachel’s mother. A man answered the phone.

‘Mr Swanson?’

‘No, this is Gerry.’ His voice was terribly quiet. Darby was sure she heard someone crying in the background.

‘Can I speak with