Missing and Endangered (Joanna Brady #19)(38)

“You cut me off!” he snarled accusingly.

She recoiled from the menacing tone. He had never spoken to her that way, and it shocked her into momentary silence. “I didn’t mean to,” she stammered finally. “My roommate was right outside the door. She needed to use the bathroom so she could go to sleep. She had an exam in the morning and—”

“Jennifer Brady is a bitch,” Ron growled. “You shouldn’t let her boss you around that way. You shouldn’t let her boss us around.”

Beth was surprised. She didn’t remember even mentioning Jenny’s last name to Ron. She must have done so somewhere in the course of their many conversations, but since Beth was in full apology mode, she didn’t give the matter much thought.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, “really I am. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

“Well, you did,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons I call you in the middle of the night—so we won’t be disturbing anyone else and so we won’t be interrupted. To have someone horning in like that . . .”

“Please,” Beth pleaded, “can’t we just let this go? Can’t we just forget about it?”

But Ron wasn’t about to let anything go. “You need a new roommate,” he said. “Either she should move out or you should. It’s the end of the semester. That shouldn’t be too hard to arrange.”

The problem was, Beth didn’t want to lose Jenny as a roommate. She was the only person on the whole NAU campus who’d been nice to Beth from the start—the only one.

“I’ll try,” she murmured quietly.

“You’d better do more than try,” he responded.

Ron didn’t come right out and add or else to that sentence. He didn’t have to. It was understood.

“And if I were you, I’d think twice about spending Christmas down in Bisbee with your roommate and her family. If you really want me in your life, you’ll get Jennifer Brady out of it.”

Beth tried desperately to think of something to say in response, but Ron didn’t give her a chance.

“I have to go now,” he said abruptly. “Something’s come up.”

And just like that, the phone went dead and he was gone. There was no way to call him back—no way to change things around so their conversation ended in a less contentious fashion. Ron had made it abundantly clear: Beth had to choose. She could have Ron in her life or she could have Jenny—one or the other, but not both.

For a time Beth stared at the screen of her phone, willing it to ring again, but of course it didn’t. She managed to keep her tears at bay for a time, but when the realization that he wouldn’t call back finally hit home, Beth Rankin dissolved into racking sobs, slipping helplessly to the floor and using a bath towel to muffle the sound of her weeping.

Her new life—the one that had opened up for her when she first set foot on the NAU campus last fall—lay in ruins. It had lasted all of three short, glorious months, but now it was over. Finished. With Ron out of her life, most likely for good, Beth Rankin had nothing left to live for, nothing at all.

She cried herself to sleep, and for the second night in a row she slept on the bathroom floor.

“What are you doing in here?” Jenny demanded the next morning when she pushed the bathroom door open and found Beth lying next to the tub. “Did you fall? Are you all right?”

Beth struggled to emerge from the fog. “I wasn’t feeling well,” she said, getting to her feet. “I started feeling nauseated during the night. I came in here and sat down on the floor next to the toilet because I was afraid I was going to throw up. I must have fallen asleep.”

“Sorry to wake you, then,” Jenny said, “but I’ve got to get ready to go. Maggie and I have a coaching session scheduled for this morning.”

Moving like she was half drunk, Beth staggered out of the bathroom and stumbled over to her bed. She fell into it and pulled the covers up over her head, pretending to be asleep. She wasn’t asleep. She was just waiting for Jenny to leave. As soon as Beth was alone, she once again dissolved into a storm of tears. She cried until she couldn’t cry anymore, and then, finally, she fell into a dreamless sleep.





Chapter 14





With Butch at home and fully in charge, Joanna’s Monday morning was a breeze. When she came out to the kitchen to collect her first cup of coffee, Denny was dressed for school and both kids were almost done with breakfast.

“I can’t tell you how glad I am the book tour is over,” she told Butch after giving him a good-morning smooch.

“That makes two of us,” he said, “although I have to say that waking up to the occasional room-service breakfast isn’t really a terrible hardship.”

Joanna went back to the bedroom, where she showered and dressed. When she emerged for a second time, Denny had been dropped off at the bus stop and her own breakfast was on the table. All of that added up to her being at her office ten minutes early. She was there in plenty of time for roll call. After that, she and Tom Hadlock had a powwow in her office.

“I got your text about taking care of Christmas for Armando’s family,” he said. “I’ll handle it. Karen Griffith out in the front office is friends with Amy’s mother, Suzanne. Karen says she’ll get in touch with Suzanne and find out what the Ruiz boys are hoping Santa will bring them so we can make a list. And you can be sure Amy isn’t forgotten, either.”