Vanishing Girls (Detective Josie Quinn #1)(18)

“Go away, Ray.”

They were halfway down her driveway. He picked up his hat and walked toward the street where his car was parked. “Maybe another time,” he muttered.

He got to the end of the driveway, his hand on his door handle, before turning back to her. “Wait a minute,” he said. “You already knew who June Spencer was, didn’t you?”

She said nothing.

His hand dropped away. “How did you know?”

She refused to answer.

“Jo,” he said. “Tell me you haven’t been running your own investigation.”

“I found an acrylic nail near the Coleman’s mailbox,” she said.

He shook his head. “Jo. Jesus.”

“It’s pink—hot pink—with yellow stripes. I’ll send you a picture later.”

“Don’t,” he said. He pointed a finger at her. “Don’t do anything else. The chief will have your ass if he finds out. I told you about June Spencer as a courtesy, because I knew you’d see it on the news later and call me, and because Dirk Spencer was in the car that almost killed you yesterday. But I’m telling you right now to stop.”

She went on as if he hadn’t spoken. “You should find out whose it is—Isabelle’s, her mother’s, a searcher’s? Isabelle wore acrylic nails—I saw photos of her and her friends on her Facebook page. Apparently, she and her friends got their nails done regularly. Anyway, it could be important.”

“I mean it, Jo. You need to stop this. For your own good. Go inside and get some rest. Then call Luke. Take a trip. Get a Netflix subscription. Something. But for God’s sake, leave the Coleman thing alone.”





Chapter Fourteen





The state police barracks that Luke was assigned to lay twenty-three miles outside of Denton on a stretch of two-lane road where the speed limit was fifty-five miles an hour. It was a squat, flat-roofed building flanked by forest on three sides. The next closest building of any kind was two miles away. Josie had been there many times and was always struck by the isolation of the place and its utilitarian feel. Every Christmas and Fourth of July, some of the guys would try to punch the place up a bit with decorations bought at the closest Walmart. Usually the multicolored lights and gaudy gold tinsel hung outside the entrance until sometime in June, the tinsel sagging and threadbare by that time, when it was replaced by patriotic fringe garland and big red white and blue bows. Those would remain until Halloween, and from mid-October through Thanksgiving, a lone pumpkin atop a small, decorative bale of hay would guard the stoop. It was better than nothing, she supposed, but it didn’t make the place look any less depressing.

She didn’t know how Luke could stand it. She loved the old, historic three-story building that housed the Denton police department; it used to be the town hall but had been converted to the police station sixty years ago. It was huge and gray, with ornate molding over its many double-casement arched windows and an old bell tower at one corner. It looked almost like a castle. With each season and holiday, someone from the historical society would come around and dress the place up. It had character. Josie missed it.

She was thinking about her desk on the second floor as she pulled into the barracks parking lot. Two cruisers sat in the lot along with a handful of personal vehicles, including Luke’s white Ford F-150. She knew he would be there. The day before, while she was outside melting down in front of Ray, he’d left her four text messages and three voicemails, each one more frantic than the last. By the time she located her cell phone and called him back, he was ready to send a SWAT team to check on her. He hadn’t been able to get away from work, but he was clearly very worried about her. He asked if she’d gone to the hospital to have her leg checked out and sounded annoyed when she told him she hadn’t. It took everything in her not to snap at him.

“I really need to get some rest,” she’d said instead, hoping her tone came across less irritable than she felt.

She’d taken a hot shower, turned on her coffeemaker and then slept for twelve straight hours. When she finally awoke to even more missed messages, she had promised to meet him at the barracks for lunch the next day.

She felt a frisson of excitement as he slipped through the double doors to meet her. He was in full uniform and she knew what waited for her beneath. The thought of him naked woke her up more than the pot of coffee she had consumed before she’d left the house.

With a smile, he leaned into her open window. “Ma’am,” he said with mock formality. “Do you know why I pulled you over?”

She grinned at him. “I don’t know, officer, but I’m hoping for a full cavity search.”

He leaned down to kiss her as she got out of the car, wrapping her in his long arms and gathering her into him. It was long, slow and tender, as always. Her body responded to him, a thunderous need rising inside her. She wanted his mouth on her body, his hands. She wanted him to blot out the frustration of the last two days. She kissed him harder, biting his lower lip lightly.

“Whoa,” he said, pushing her away gently.

Releasing her completely, he gave her a quizzical smile and studied her face. “What was that about? You okay?”

She hoped her smile didn’t look as awkward as it felt. “Fine,” she said. “I missed you.”