Her Silent Cry (Detective Josie Quinn #6)- Lisa Regan Page 0,48

have made threats against Colin at Quarmark. They all have alibis for when Lucy went missing.”

Josie said, “But there could be people out there who are equally as upset about the price of Quarmark’s new cancer drug who didn’t make death threats.”

“Yes,” Oaks agreed. “That’s true. That’s what’s scary. We really have no idea who we’re dealing with.”

“Yet,” Josie said. “We’ll find him. My team checked the rest of the house to see if there were any other messages that the kidnapper might have left for the parents, but we didn’t find anything.”

“Where are Mr. and Mrs. Ross?”

“Upstairs resting.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Go home, Quinn. Grab a few hours. Take Mettner, too. We’ve all had a long day. Come back in the morning. Bring someone from your team. We’ll keep working every angle until something breaks.”

Josie didn’t argue. She picked Noah up at the mobile command station on her way home, never so relieved to see his face and hear his voice. Misty and Harris were asleep in the spare room by the time they made it up the stairs to Josie’s room.

“Did you eat anything tonight?” Noah asked her as she climbed under her covers. He always worried about her staying fed, hydrated and caffeinated.

“Yes,” she lied, not bothering to tell him her stomach had been far too churned up to eat after the evening’s events. “Just come to bed. I’ve missed you all day.”

Twenty-Six

Josie dreamt of Lucy—of racing after her in the park and in the Rosses’ home, which had endless twisting hallways. Every time she got close to the girl and reached her hand out to grasp her arm, Lucy would disappear into thin air. She woke breathless and covered in sweat and immediately headed for the shower. Once both Josie and Noah were ready for the day, she dropped Noah off at the mobile command center. Instead of driving to the Ross home, she doubled back and pulled into the parking lot of Denton West Elementary. It was a one-story sprawling brick building surrounded by immaculate landscaping and perfectly pruned bushes and trees. Josie found a parking spot in the visitors’ area. There was still an hour before students would begin to arrive for the day. She walked to the front entrance. Beside the double doors was a small brown box with a little button on it. Next to it a laminated sign announced that all visitors must report directly to the office. Josie punched the button and then looked up at the camera above the two doors. She took out her police credentials and held them up. Seconds later, there was an audible click as the locks on the doors disengaged.

Inside the building, more laminated signs directed her down the hallway to the right, past several classrooms and the entrance to the auditorium until she reached the office. Her elementary and high schools on the east side of Denton had been like this as well, with the office far from the entrance. She had always wondered why schools didn’t put their offices closer to the front doors. Inside the office, a pert secretary sat behind a desk with a headset on. Josie explained why she was there, showed her ID one more time and waited while the woman made a phone call. Finally, she was given directions to Lucy’s first grade classroom.

After navigating a few more hallways, Josie found Lucy’s teacher, Violet Young, standing just outside the classroom, waiting for her. Josie estimated Violet to be probably in her mid to late twenties. She was curvy with long auburn hair. A burgundy sweater clung to her torso, and stretchy black pants disappeared into knee high brown boots. A necklace made from dried macaroni hung from her neck. She smiled broadly as Josie came down the hallway.

They made introductions, and Violet invited Josie into her classroom, which was filled with tiny desks and chairs between a large teacher’s desk and a brightly colored carpet with the alphabet on it. A whiteboard took up nearly one entire wall. Posters and student artwork fluttered from the other walls. Violet walked to her desk and perched on the end of it. “Has there been any news?” she asked.

“I’m afraid not,” Josie said.

Violet’s gaze swept downward but not before Josie saw her eyes moisten. “This is just unbelievable. We’ve all been devastated. Our sweet Lucy. I can’t even imagine—”

Josie interrupted before she began to cry. “We’re doing everything we can to find Lucy. Working around the clock to