Her Silent Cry (Detective Josie Quinn Book 6)(26)

“We believe so,” Josie said.

Gretchen asked, “Do you recognize the handwriting?”

Amy shook her head. Colin said, “No. I don’t recognize it. Who would do this? Who would take our little girl?” Amy began to sob. Colin slid an arm around her shoulders, but she sank lower and lower into the couch. “Oh my God, someone has my baby,” she cried. “Someone has my baby.”

Her face, pale only seconds earlier, turned bright red. With each exclamation, her voice pitched higher and higher. When she pushed her husband’s hand away and jumped up, Josie feared they were going to have a repeat of the hysteria of the night before. Not that she could blame her. Josie thought of little Harris—how much she loved him—and she knew that if anyone ever took him it would break her in ways she couldn’t even imagine.

Josie stood and stepped toward Amy, quickly catching her hands. “Mrs. Ross,” she said. “Please. Look at me.” Amy tried to wrestle her hands away, but Josie held tight. “Please. I need you to stay calm. It’s very important. We need to ask questions that only you can answer, do you understand? These are important questions that might help us find Lucy. Can you help me?”

Amy stared into Josie’s eyes. Her teeth clamped together and a quiet keening sound came from her throat. Josie could feel the tension in her body through her clenched hands. “Please,” Josie said. “I know that this is hard. I know that this feels impossible, but I need your help. Just the way you helped me earlier in the tent. Remember?”

Slowly, Amy nodded.

“Good,” Josie said. “You know Lucy best, right?”

“Y-yes,” Amy whispered.

“Okay, let’s sit and you and Mr. Ross can help us right now by answering some questions. Some of them are going to seem strange but it’s important that you answer all of them. Can you do that for me? For Lucy?”

Amy nodded and sank back onto the couch, but she didn’t let go of Josie’s hands. The bones in Josie’s fingers ached. Josie had no choice but to sit down next to her.

Oaks stepped forward and motioned for Colin to take a seat as well. He said, “Mr. and Mrs. Ross, have you noticed anyone unusual hanging around lately? Outside the house, at Lucy’s school, when you’re out?”

Colin said, “I travel a lot so Amy would have a better idea of that.”

“No, I haven’t seen anyone who seemed suspicious or out of place, but our nanny, Jaclyn has Lucy after school most afternoons. You should talk to her.”

“We will,” Oaks said. “How long has Jaclyn worked for you?”

“For three years,” Amy answered. “She’s a college student. Very sweet. She’s graduating soon so we’re going to lose her, I’m sure. Lucy adores her. She’s very responsible.”

Oaks looked at Colin. “Mr. Ross?”

“Oh,” Colin said. “Yeah, Jaclyn’s great. A godsend.”

“Do either of you have any reason to believe that Jaclyn could want to take Lucy for any reason?”

“What?” Amy said. “No. That’s absurd. Jaclyn would never—”

Oaks waved a hand around the room. “This is a lovely home you have here and I assume you are financially comfortable. Jaclyn could have had help from someone else. Perhaps she saw an opportunity to line her pockets?”

“No,” Amy said firmly. “Jaclyn would never do something like that. Never. We pay her well. Two years ago she ran into some trouble with her housing and we were happy to help her out with a security deposit on a new place. She knows she can come to us if she’s in a jam. She’s family to us.”

“Amy’s right,” Colin agreed. “I know you need to explore every avenue, but I don’t think Jaclyn had anything to do with this.”

“Does Jaclyn have a boyfriend?” Oaks asked. “That you know of?”

Amy said, “No, she’s single. She had one her freshman year but not since then.”

“Okay,” Oaks said. “Now, can you think of anyone who would have any reason to take Lucy?”

“No,” Colin said. “No one at all.”

“Is there anyone either of you have been having trouble with lately? Feuding or fighting with?”

Colin shook his head. “No. No one.”

Amy cleared her throat. Josie could feel her squeezing her hands harder. She said, “Your job, Colin.”

He looked at his wife. “What?”

Louder, Amy repeated, “Your job. Those death threats.”

Josie said, “What death threats?”

Colin turned toward Amy and Josie. “Oh, those are nothing.”

Amy’s voice was venomous. “Nothing? Our daughter is missing, Colin. Who would want to take our baby? Who? You got death threats not even two months ago.”

Again, Josie said, “What death threats?”

With a heavy sigh, Colin put his face in his hands.

Amy said, “He is in charge of pricing the drugs that Quarmark puts out in the U.S. market. He decides how much people have to pay for them.”

Colin’s head lifted. “I don’t decide. There’s a team of people and an unimaginable amount of research that goes into these things. It’s not like I slap a price tag on these drugs without due diligence.”