Cast into Doubt Read Online Free PDF

minute,’ the man said, sounding more curious than annoyed.
    A woman’s voice in the background asked if it was the hospital calling.
    ‘No,’ the man said, turning away from the phone. ‘It’s for you.’
    ‘For me?’ Shelby heard the woman ask, surprised. There were clunking sounds as the receiver was exchanged. Then, a woman spoke warily to her caller: ‘Yes?’
    ‘Lianna, you don’t know me,’ said Shelby hurriedly, her voice wobbling. ‘I’m so sorry to bother you at this hour. My name is Shelby Sloan. My daughter, Chloe, is married to Rob.’
    ‘Oh sure,’ said Lianna. Then she hesitated. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.
    ‘I just got a call from Rob—’
    ‘They’re on a cruise,’ said Lianna.
    ‘Yes. And . . . well, apparently, it seems that Chloe has gone missing. They think she may have . . . fallen overboard.’
    ‘Oh my God,’ Lianna cried.
    Shelby could hear her husband in the background, asking what was wrong. Lianna turned away from the phone. Shelby could hear her muffled voice say, ‘Rob’s wife is missing on that cruise. They think she went overboard.’
    ‘Jesus,’ Harris exclaimed.
    Lianna returned to the phone. There was no hesitation in her brisk, businesslike tone. ‘How can we help?’ she asked.
    Shelby felt relieved, at least for a moment. ‘I hate to ask this of you, but Rob told me to call you. I want to go there right away. To St Thomas. The Coast Guard is searching for my daughter right now and I want to be there. But my grandson—’
    ‘You’ve got Jeremy,’ said Lianna.
    ‘Yes,’ said Shelby. ‘I’m staying at their house with him.’
    Lianna did not hesitate. ‘Bring him over here. We’ll take care of him.’
    Lianna’s words lifted a weight from Shelby’s shoulders. ‘Oh, that would be just great . . .’ Shelby said.
    ‘No problem,’ said Lianna. ‘Molly will be thrilled to have her brother here for a while. Do you know where we live?’
    Before Shelby could reply, Lianna was giving her directions.
    Shelby called the airlines, called the airport shuttle and packed up her overnight bag, worrying, as she did so, that she had no lightweight clothes with her. She didn’t want to take the time to go to her own apartment. At the last minute she went to Chloe’s bureau. She did not want to rifle through her daughter’s things, but she needed a couple of T-shirts to wear in the Caribbean heat. She unhesitatingly reached for the handles on the second drawer from the top. It was the drawer where she kept her own T-shirts at home. She knew that Chloe would put them in the same place. As the drawer slid open, the faint scent of Chloe’s shampoo and body lotion seemed to rise to her nostrils from the drawer. The pleasant, familiar smell made Shelby want to moan in pain, but she could not allow herself the indulgence right at this moment. She grabbed a couple of Chloe’s less fitted T-shirts, which looked as if they would fit Shelby as well, and stuffed them into her bag. Then, she slid the drawer shut, left the bedroom and went downstairs.
    In the laundry room she found a pile of Jeremy’s clothes that she had already washed and folded. She put them in a bag. In the same bag she packed some of his toys from the playroom, and, in the kitchen, a woven grocery sack of his favorite foods. She worked quickly, trying to concentrate, trying not to think of why she was doing all of this. She waited until the last minute to go back upstairs and wake her slumbering grandson.
    ‘Jeremy,’ she whispered. ‘Come on, honey. You have to get up.’
    ‘No,’ he protested.
    ‘Yes. Come, come. Come on, Jeremy.’
    Jeremy frowned, and blinked at her. ‘Why?’
    Shelby tried to make her voice sound cheerful, as if this were some wonderful adventure. ‘You’re going to go and stay at Molly’s for a little while.’
    A fleeting look of pleasure crossed his little face. And then he frowned again. ‘Are you staying at Molly’s, too?’ he asked.
    Shelby