The Abducted Book 0 Read Online Free Page A

address
our team,” the chief said. “The media are going to want a statement
too.” He looked at Miriam with a veiled look of pity that made her
feel even worse. “Why don’t you take a few days off? Get your head
together. We have to get with the Lang family and… assist with the
funeral arrangements.”
    “ Yes, sir,” Miriam said in a low tone,
staring ahead, dazed. Her head was pounding. She stood up with both
hands balled up at her sides. “Requesting permission to join the
search.”
    “ Request denied,” Chief Walker said
not skipping a beat. “Go home, Sergeant Castillo. We’ll take it
from here.”
    She turned and left the office, not saying a
word. She closed the door lightly and walked out and onto the busy
floor, where a number of workstations and cubicles were aligned in
tidy rows.
    Detectives and patrol officers alike moved
about the stations, talking on cell phones and with each other,
completely immersed in their work. A few of them paused when they
noticed Miriam walking through. She continued without making eye
contact, even as the police chief came out to address them.
    “ Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have
your attention please.”
    The room grew quiet, with only a few pockets
of activity still going on. Miriam passed through the floor and
came to a long hallway leading out of the building, where portraits
of past commissioners adorned the wall.
    “ As of 3:45 p.m., Deputy Lang has been
reported killed in the line of duty by a single gunshot to the
head. The shell casing indicates a .44 magnum round. As of now, the
suspect is reported at large, armed and dangerous.”
    The chief’s voice trailed off as Miriam made
it down the hall, to the lobby, and past the front desk. The desk
officer barely got a word out before she pushed open the double
doors and went out into the night air.
    Her black Honda Accord was parked
quite a way from the building, in a lot across the street. News
vans were approaching in the distance, getting close to the
station. An avalanche of media, swarming the department for the
latest scoop. The “Snatcher” was back in the
news.
    She quickly crossed the street and made it
to her car without looking back at the station. She fell into the
driver’s seat, unable to muster the energy to so much as put the
key in the ignition. Instead, she put her head against the steering
wheel and cried in silence.
     
     
    One Year Later
     
    Detective Dwight O’Leary was at a
standstill. His nights, as of late, were haunted by images of
nine-year-old Jenny Dawson, missing for more than a year. O’Leary
had been one of the first investigators assigned to discover
her whereabouts. Weeks turned to months before it
became more apparent that Jenny would never return. Many in the
department were hoping to at least find her remains. Nothing,
however, had turned up.
    O’Leary had scoured the records for previous
child abduction cases. No such crime had occurred in Palm Dale in
seven years. The last case involved an estranged, divorced father
taking his son across state lines. The boy was soon safely returned
to his mother. She opted not to press charges.
    Jenny Dawson had vanished. The abduction was
random. There were no suspects remaining. And no closure for the
family. Her parents, Ted and Patricia, clung to the hope that she
would return. It was all they could do. O’Leary had made a promise
to them, albeit foolishly, that he would solve the case and get
them the answers they desperately desired.
    In his ten years as a detective, he had
honed his skills and, since Jenny’s disappearance, had dedicated
himself to the case, using every resource at his disposal. But
finding Jenny soon became a test not just of his ability as a
detective, but as a measure of his overall worth.
    It was Tuesday, and he woke in the middle of the night with a dry throat and
headache. In a cold sweat, he tossed the blankets off him and
reached for a glass on his nightstand, only to find it empty. Next
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