Night Justice
Page 25
Hayden shrugged. “Hard to say. They’ll want to be sure it was him first. Get a positive identification somehow. Maybe figure the motive? Then they’ll have to find the next of kin. Could be a few minutes to a few days, I guess. I’ve seen it go either way.”
Jess nodded. In addition, law enforcement would want to know whether Vivian was involved. And so did Jess. Plus, she had an advantage over everyone else. She knew exactly where to find Vivian Ward.
Walking in Mike’s direction, she mouthed “Let’s go,” gesturing toward the SUV she’d been driving around Florida for the past four months.
She trotted toward the vehicle and started up while Mike stashed his camera in the back seat. As soon as he’d clicked his seatbelt, she punched the gas and flipped on the radar detector, determined to shave their travel time as close as possible.
As the miles sped by and Jess’s heart rate returned to normal, a gnawing sense of regret grew inside her. On a normal night, Jess would have spent the early evening performing the tasks she’d developed to search for Peter, efforts more symbolic than practical, she knew, but designed to keep hope alive in the face of dismal statistics.
Twice a day Jess checked her tip lines and reviewed the various Internet sites that posted new information on abducted children. Once a month she followed up with the law enforcement agencies that had given up on Peter long ago. Today, Thursday, was normally the day when she called the four private investigators she’d hired in different regions of the country, but she didn’t want to do any of that in front of Mike.
These rituals, despite the lack of any real success, kept Jess sane, enabling her to believe that she was doing her best to find Peter. She never skipped “Peter time,” but tonight would have to be an exception. It couldn’t be helped, but she felt guilty anyway.
Tomorrow morning she could make up for it, complete tonight’s tasks. A few hours’ delay wouldn’t make any difference after all these years. The plan eased her anxiety for the moment.
She hummed an old show tune that reminded her most of Peter, another of the tools she used to remember, to keep Peter alive. If she had been alone in the car, she’d have talked to Peter, too.
Finally, as she sped down the road, she composed a list of questions for Vivian Ward—and prayed that she’d arrive in time.
* * *
FATAL DISTRACTION is available now on Kobo!