Bone Cold Read Online Free PDF Page B

insurance money my husband left is gone, it’s gone, but until then I have to do whatever I can to find him.”
    Carla didn’t say the rest, but Sarah knew what she was thinking.
I can’t be like you
.
    “I wish I could… help.” Sarah couldn’t go there again.
    Carla laid a hand on her arm. “I know. It’s okay. I’m doing this for both of us.”
    For a long moment they said nothing. The strong connection they’d shared five years ago still hummed just beneath the wall Sarah had built to block the pain. She and Carla had never met until their children disappeared. Two shattered souls adrift on the same desolate ocean looking for any kind of life raft.
    Sarah drummed up a shaky smile. “I tell you what, before you become this guy’s client and lay down a retainer, let me check him out. If he’s clean, then I say go for it.”
    Carla looked away. “I’ve checked his references.”
    Sarah placed a hand over hers. “I know you have and you’re probably right in deciding to hire him, but give me a couple of days to dig a little deeper. It couldn’t hurt.”
    After a beat or two of indecision Carla finally dredged up a faint smile. “All right. Like you said, it couldn’t hurt. Just let me know as soon as you can. I’d like to get the ball rolling.”
    “Forty-eight hours is all I need,” Sarah promised. “I’ll give you something then.”
    After an awkward farewell hug, Sarah watched as Carla climbed into her car and drove away. The smile Sarah had tacked into place wilted the instant her taillights were out of sight.
    Five long years Carla had focused solely on the search for her son. Each individual had to cope in their own way... had to come to terms with the reality in their own time. Some took longer than others. And some, like Sarah, just skipped over certain phases with work and pharmaceuticals.
    She unlocked her front door, entered the code for the security system so it would stop beeping a warning and kicked off her shoes. The cool hardwood felt like heaven beneath her tired feet. She hung her keys on a hook on the coatrack right next to the dog leash. She’d had a dog once. Tom had brought him home six months before Sophie was born. A big, black Lab pup they’d named Sam. Sam had disappeared the same day as Sophie. She and Tom had decided that Sam had gone after Sophie and gotten lost. Sarah still looked twice whenever she passed a big old black lab.
    She stalled, closed her eyes for a moment to clear her mind of the memories.
    No looking back
.
    What she needed was a little help with shoring up her wobbly defenses. She wandered to the CD player and sorted through the stack of loose CDs until she found the one she wanted. As the lazy notes drifted through the air, she snagged a long neck bottle of beer from the fridge and plodded up the stairs to her bedroom. She allowed a long slug of the cold brew to slide down her throat, and then she held the bottle to her forehead with one hand as she struggled out of her slacks with the other.
    Do not mix with alcohol
. The warning on her prescription label filtered through her mind. She dismissed it. What was the worst it could do? Kill her?
    Sarah laughed. “Can’t kill someone who’s already dead.”
    Leaving a trail of clothing behind her, she made her way to the shower, adjusted the spray and temperature of the water, then climbed in and leaned against the cool tile wall. Content to feel the steam rising around her, she took her time and finished her beer. Eventually, she redirected the spray and allowed the hot water to sluice down her body. She moaned softly as the heat instantly started to relax her tired, aching muscles.
    Too spent to shut the memories off, images of Tom filtered through her mind. Deep down where she didn’t allow anyone else to see, she missed her husband. The trouble with that was, even if he still wanted her, she couldn’t be with him anymore. She couldn’t live that lie. Disgust welled in her throat. He knew