B009QTK5QA EBOK (24 page)

“No,” I said. “No more police. Not yet.”

“What?”

“Trust me, Lauren. I’ll explain. But we aren’t calling anyone right now. It’s me and you. You are the only person I trust right now and I swear to God, I’ll explain.” I shook my head. “But it’s me and you. We’re the ones that are going to get her. Tell me where she is. So we can get her.”

She stared at me, a hundred more questions in her eyes. But whatever she saw in mine just made her nod, let her trust me that I had my reasons. And even as I felt the small tickle of elation as we closed the distance between us and our daughter, a new kind of anger was blossoming inside me, anger I hadn’t felt in quite some time. Anger that was going to eventually drive me back to Coronado.

Lauren held out the phone.

I took it.

Looked at the screen.

Read it.

Exhaled.

Handed her the phone back.

The anger would have to wait.

The gap had just closed even further.

“Okay,” I said. “Let’s go find our daughter in Denver.”

THE END

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

As always, I owe a lot of thanks to a lot of people:

The readers who responded so enthusiastically to the first Joe book.

My family and friends for their encouragement, support and good humor.

Pam Applegate for her editing expertise.

Hannah Elizabeth for being the best daughter ever.

Beth Balmanno for making me happier than I’ve ever been.