Darling Girl: A Novel of Peter Pan(6)

“Of course. But . . .”

She sits up, opens her eyes. She’s not having this conversation, not letting Barry make her second-guess her choices. “I’ll make out his schedule for you,” she says briskly. “Lacrosse is about over, so it won’t be that complicated.”

Barry takes the hint. “How long do you think you’ll be gone?”

How long does it take to find a missing daughter? She has no idea. “At least a week, maybe more.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he says. “Don’t worry about anything. Which reminds me. For what it’s worth, the meeting with Lauren was a success. She couldn’t stop gushing. They’ve signed on the dotted line and we’re to start production immediately.”

“That’s worth celebrating,” Holly says, trying to rally. She clinks her empty glass against his.

“To Darling Skin Care,” he says.

“To the fabulous lawyer who made it happen.”

He shrugs modestly and takes a sip. “If you say so, it must be true.”

“You know it is,” she says. “I couldn’t do it without you. You’re a genius.”

He bows, drains his drink. “Yeah,” he admits. “I kind of am.”

Holly puts her glass down. It’s time to get to work. She stands, a little shaky still from the massive amount of adrenaline her body’s been pumping out, and maybe a little woozy from the booze.

“A bunch of the team is going out to celebrate,” Barry says. He’s watching her as if he’s afraid she might need rescuing again. “I know it’s the last thing you must feel like doing, but why don’t you come? It might take your mind off things, cheer you up, until you can get a flight.”

Holly shakes her head. “I’m going to try and finish up some loose ends before I head home to Jack. Raise a glass for me, okay? I’ll let you know what time I’m leaving, and we can figure out how to get Jack to you then.”

“Of course,” Barry says. She can read the pity in his face, and turns away to her desk. But he follows her there. Like he’d followed her to Darling Skin Care. But the days of leaning on Barry, inviting him into her maelstrom of a life, have passed. He has a wonderful wife, a happy family. She won’t jeopardize that.

“I’ll leave you some notes,” she says, opening her desk drawer and riffling through it. “The biggest thing will be feeding him. Jack eats more than even Minerva can cook.”

She pulls out a piece of paper, starts scribbling random notes about Jack’s schedule.

“Holly.”

“Hmmm?” She doesn’t look up.

“I really am so sorry. When was the last time you saw her? Eden, I mean.”

She wants to say, I see her every time I look in the mirror. Every night in my dreams. Every time I look at Jack. But she doesn’t.

“January,” she says instead. “I saw Eden this past January.”

And her face was still as beautiful as the stars.





Chapter Three



After Barry leaves, Holly calls her assistant about flights. There’s nothing available until tomorrow morning, so she has the girl book it, then tells her to cancel all of her meetings for the next week.

“Should I reschedule them?”

“Say . . .” Holly hesitates. A vision of Eden the last time she visited comes to her, unbidden. The frail figure beneath the sheets, the pale skin, the unearthly stillness. She’s seized with the certainty that it’s all a mistake. A miscommunication. It has to be. She presses her palms into her eyes.

“Say I had a family emergency and you’ll get back to them. Leave it at that.” She hangs up, then calls the cottage again.

The same nurse answers. She’s less hysterical, more firm in her answers: Yes, the staff has searched the whole house and property and Eden is not there. No one else has been spotted, either by the nursing staff or the gardener, who was outside working all morning. No one has contacted the house. Is Dr. Darling certain she does not want to call the police?

Dr. Darling is quite certain.

After she hangs up the phone, Holly stares at it. Ring, she thinks, but it doesn’t.

If Eden is incapable of moving herself, then someone must have moved her. And if someone has taken her, Holly has to face the possibility that Eden herself is the prize, that someone has discovered her worth, despite the safeguards Holly has put in place. And the fact that no note has been left, that no one has called demanding money . . .

That thought alone almost sends her back into a panic attack.

But what if it’s something more mundane? What if it is only because Eden’s a Darling? A rich, easy target ripe for kidnapping? Is she being wildly foolish for not calling the authorities?

She has to move, do something, or she’ll go crazy, so she leaves her office and heads to the far end of the hall. She swipes her key card at the locked door, and it opens with a sighing sound. There’s a row of hooks with lab coats along the wall. She slips on a coat, pushes through the final door, and enters the lab.

Elliot Benton, her best scientist, is sitting on a stool in front of a computer. He looks up, startled.

“Everything all right?” she asks.

“Yes. Running one last quality control check on the latest samples. I saw you were here before me this morning, but I figured it never hurts to double-check,” he says.