Her Last Day (Jessie Cole #1)(25)

“No. I fed him and then took him outside to do his thing.”

“Can he walk?”

Olivia nodded. “I carried him down the stairs, but when I set him down on the patch of grass, he did pretty good keeping most of his weight on his three good legs. Will you be able to check on him during the day?”

Jessie stared at the dog. “Sure.” She glanced at the clock. “What can I do to help you get ready?”

“Can you give Higgins his pills?” Olivia asked before she disappeared inside her bedroom, where Jessie could hear the hamster wheel going round and round.

Jessie went to the kitchen and read the labels on the pills, then grabbed a piece of cheese from the refrigerator and walked back to the dog.

Higgins growled.

“Stop it, or I’ll change your name to Cujo.”

Another low rumble came from the dog’s throat.

“Do you want your pills or not?”

His ears perked up.

“That’s what I thought.” She wrapped the cheese around the biggest pill first, bent down on one knee, and held it toward the dog’s nose. He sniffed before drawing back his lip.

Jessie straightened. “Listen, Higgins. You’re in pain. I can see it in your eyes. You need to take these pills if you want to get better.”

The dog whimpered as he tried to get up on all fours.

Enough was enough. She knelt down and forced the cheese into his mouth.

It worked. He ate it.

“Good dog,” she said, surprised.

She repeated the process, stroking his back when he was done, ignoring his persistent growling. “You’re all bark and no bite.”

He whimpered.

“I know. I know.” Jessie sat on the floor next to him and continued to brush her fingers through his wiry, patchy fur. “We both had a rough day yesterday, didn’t we? The good news is you’ll feel better in thirty minutes when the medication sets in.”

Olivia came out of her room with her backpack, ready to go. Her face brightened when she saw Jessie petting Higgins. “He’s warming up to you.”

The dog growled.

“Oh, never mind.”

Jessie’s eyes narrowed. “Are you wearing makeup?”

“No.”

“We have a pact, remember? We always tell each other the truth.”

“It’s just a little mascara. What’s the big deal?”

A car honked.

“I’ve gotta go.”

Jessie frowned. Although she wasn’t Olivia’s mother, she thought of herself as one. Lunches and carpools, homework and discipline, tended to do that to a person. But lecturing Olivia about makeup . . . when had she become one of those mothers? Everyone wore makeup in high school. What harm could it do?

She thought of her sister then, and that was when it dawned on her. Olivia had helped fill the void in her heart after Sophie disappeared, and now she was scared to death—panicked, even—by the idea of Olivia growing up too fast. She wasn’t ready to let her go. And the worst part was, she might never be ready.



Colin had been at the lab talking to the people in forensics who had processed Erin Hayes’s abandoned car when he got the call about Natalie Bailey’s abduction.

As he walked up the path leading to the Bailey house, a two-story Victorian in Midtown, an officer lifted the yellow crime tape to make access easy for him.

The sun hit his back as he continued on to the wide-open front door. Inside, the house was crowded with technicians, who were busy collecting evidence and taking prints from doors and windows.

Gordon Douglas called his name from the living room.

He and Gordon had worked together for a number of years now. Gordon had given up his career as an urban sociologist after losing his brother to a habitual criminal. A good man, he had twelve years of field experience and multiple areas of expertise. His degree in sociology gave him a better understanding of criminal behavior and social influences on crime, making him a valuable asset.

Gordon met him halfway across the living room and then walked him back to where Mike Bailey, Natalie’s husband, sat.

Colin had talked to Gordon on the phone on the way over. He knew Gordon had completed the initial walk-through to see whether or not anything had been moved or disturbed. A video had been taken along with photographs. They would go over all that later.

The living room appeared neat and orderly, like a picture in a magazine. Beige walls, polished tables, no knickknacks. Clean and simple. Colin took a seat on the leather ottoman so he could talk to Bailey face-to-face. The man was clearly distraught. His eyes were bloodshot, his short brown hair disheveled. “Mind if I ask you a few questions?”

Bailey shook his head.

“What time did you go to bed last night?”

“Around nine thirty, but Natalie was still reading a book on her Kindle when I fell asleep thirty minutes later.”

“Did you ever wake up during the night?”

“Yes. I woke up a little before one in the morning to go to the bathroom. She was in the bed next to me.”

“Are you sure?”

He blushed. “I’m positive. She snores. Her snoring was what woke me up.”

“And when did you finally notice she was missing?” Colin asked.

“I had a nightmare where I was being attacked by a pack of wolves and I was bit in the arm. Semiawake, I jerked my arm away and fell back to sleep. I didn’t wake up fully until six.” He lifted his shirtsleeve. “After I started looking around for Natalie, I began to feel woozy. My arm was sore, and I noticed a drop of dried blood right there.” He pointed to what could be a needle mark.