Come and Find Me A Novel of Suspense - By Hallie Ephron Page 0,30
through the unread messages. There were Facebook and LinkedIn updates. A party invitation. A reply to a back-and-forth about a friend’s wedding shower that Ashley was helping to organize. Lots of ads and travel offers.
Diana stopped when she got to a message dated Sunday with the subject line “Everything okay?” Opened it. It was from Janine Gagne, a friend Diana vaguely remembered Ashley mentioning.
Guess you must have forgotten all about me. Sunday brunch at the Centre Street Cafe, your fave??? Hope he’s cute.
;-(
Diana stared out into space. Even if there was a new man in her life, Ashley would never have stood up a friend.
Were the police at Ashley’s apartment yet? Were they talking to the super? Diana imagined them trying Ashley’s door and finding it unlocked. As they opened the door, the menus that Mrs. Fiddler had said were stuck in the jamb fluttered to the ground . . .
An hour later, Diana was holding Ashley’s lipstick and staring at the phone, willing it to ring when her intruder alarm went off. She bashed the button that silenced the Klaxon. Echoey silence followed. She felt a stone drop into her belly when she saw, in the front video monitors, a police cruiser parked in front of the house. A uniformed officer was striding up her walk. The doorbell rang.
Why come and not telephone? Diana pushed away the obvious answer. As she made her way to the door, she felt as if she were moving through sludge.
The doorbell rang again.
Hands shaking, she fumbled opening the dead bolts, pinched her finger removing the security bar, and finally punched the security pass code. She pulled the door open.
The officer filled the doorway—not so much with bulk as with uniformed presence. Before she could say anything, he said, “Diana Highsmith?”
Diana recognized the gravelly voice. “You’re the officer I talked to on the phone?”
He nodded. “Officer Wayne Gruder. Your sister doesn’t appear to be in her apartment.”
Appear to be? Was that good news or bad?
“But her mailbox has been emptied,” he added.
Only Ashley had the key to her mailbox. Diana’s hand flew to her throat. “Thank God, she’s back!”
From the way his sharp eyes probed her reaction, she knew there was more than just an all clear. “So why the hell hasn’t she returned my calls?”
He suppressed a smile, then his look turned somber again. “The thing is, she’s not answering her door. I knocked. Rang the bell three or four times. I haven’t got probable cause to bust down the door.”
“Maybe she came and rushed out again?” Diana said.
“That’s possible,” Officer Gruder said, giving her a long level look.
A chill passed through her. “You think she could be there? Inside? And won’t . . . or can’t answer the door?”
“I have no way of knowing. But you seemed so concerned. And you said you have a key.”
“I do. Of course I do. And that would be the wise thing to do, wouldn’t it?” Her voice sounded robotic. “Go over and let myself in and just see what’s up.”
“Seems wise. ” He seemed infinitely patient. Diana couldn’t help thinking it sounded as if he were talking to a child. “But if it was my sister, I’d want to check to be sure. In person. It’s a reasonable thing to do.”
He stood to one side, as if he were waiting for her to come with him.
Diana took a step back, even though she knew she had to go. She had no choice. She looked past him to the police cruiser parked at the curb.
“Ma’am? Are you all right?”
All she had to do was get from here to there. Beyond her electronic fence, but just a few steps beyond, barely farther than she pushed herself every day. This was the moment that she’d been training for. First she needed to find the key to Ashley’s apartment.
“Just give me a minute,” she said.
She forced herself to slow down, to move deliberately and breathe evenly as she walked into her bedroom. She found her wallet in the top drawer of her bureau and stuffed it into her pants pocket. Scooped her key ring from a bowl. Checked that the key to Ashley’s apartment was still on it.
Stay in control.
Then she continued into her office. From there, she armed all the doors and punched in the code that would activate the inside security system. Thirty seconds. That was how long she had to get out and lock the front door.