Little Girl Gone Read Online Free Page B

the only reason he remembered the incident at all was because the car had one of those yellow smiley face stickers pasted on the back bumper.” Max shrugged, strolled to the back of the room, and dimmed the lights. “And, of course, we got this. Footage from a nanny cam.”
    â€œA lucky break,” Afton murmured. She knew this could be a real help.
    Max flicked on a ceiling-mounted projector that was connected to a laptop computer sitting on the table. He punched a few keys and the projector hummed to life. “Those of us who have been up all night have already seen the baby cam footage. But you all need to see this, too.”
    â€œIt’s not the best quality,” Dillon put in. “Dad cheaped out on the equipment.”
    â€œIs there sound?” Thacker asked.
    â€œMinimal,” Max said.
    On the screen, a jumpy black-and-white image of a baby nursery burst into view.
    Afton leaned forward and saw that the time code in the right-hand corner read, 20:17:45.569641.
    â€œWe moved the video forward to the part just before the kidnapper enters the baby’s room,” Dillon explained.
    The footage was grainy and dim, but Afton could see that the room was large by nursery room standards. The crib was frilly and elaborate and surrounded by stuffed animals. There was also a changing table, rocking chair, and of course, the sleeping baby.
    The baby looked to be a few months old. A little girl. She was swaddled in a puffy quilt, her little cherub face looking peaceful and innocent in her slumber. The soft, easy breathing of the baby reminded Afton of the manynights she had stood in her own children’s rooms, gazing at them with a mixture of tenderness and awe.
    There was the sound of a muffled scream and the child seemed to stir in her sleep.
    â€œBabysitter just got jacked,” Dillon said. Then silence returned and the camera continued to roll as the baby slept on.
    Two minutes later, a dark shadow fell across the crib. Afton and the others in the room held their breath. Then someone slipped directly in front of the camera. To Afton, it reminded her of a scene from that old movie
Nosferatu,
when the slithery, wispy figure of the vampire casts his shadow, then slowly oozes into the frame.
    â€œJesus,” one of the uniformed officers breathed. “That could be a woman.But it’s hard to tell.”
    â€œNobody said that men had a lock on kidnapping,” Afton muttered under her breath.
    â€œSo a woman? We’re looking for a woman?” the officer asked. He sounded shocked and more than a little dismayed.
    â€œWe think maybe a woman working with a male partner,” Dillon said. “That’s what the babysitter seemed to indicate.” He consulted his notes again. “And there was a dusting of snow last night, so there was a pair of tracks on the sidewalk. One large set, one a little smaller, just where the dog walker guy said they’d be.”
    â€œAre there any other leads?” Afton asked.
    â€œI was just getting to that,” Thacker said. “There are a few . . . interesting aspects to this case. It seems that Susan Darden, the baby’s mother, attended a doll show yesterday at the Skylark Mall. From what she’s given us so far, the only person Mrs. Darden spoke to was a woman by the name of Molly who makes what is termed
reborn
dolls.”
    There was a cacophony of grunts and mumbles around the table.
    â€œWhat’re those?” asked Andy Farmer, one of the detectives. “Retread dolls.”
    â€œRe
born,
” Thacker said, making a disparaging face. “They’re dolls that have been painted and reworked so they resemble real live babies.”
    More murmurs ensued. “Sounds like real fruitcake stuff,” Max muttered.
    â€œIs this doll lady a suspect?” Afton asked.
    â€œWe’re not ruling anything out at this point,” Thacker said. “Especially since Mrs. Darden gave this