Dead End Fix Read Online Free PDF Page A

than the reason—who knew how to build what she wanted without asking questions. Over the years it had proved to be her finest investment. This gear, this secured room in her basement, allowed her to monitor police activities around the world and track her targets no matter where they tried to hide. For years these monitors, keyboards, relays, and servers had kept her effective, safe, and invisible.
    But now, with the stakes never higher, her investment was yielding nothing.
    Mort’s daughter, Allie, a sociopath who could charm as easily as she could kill, had kidnapped his seven-year-old granddaughter. Mort was counting on Lydia to find them.
    And she had nothing.
    It had been only a few days ago. Four? Maybe five? Lydia and Mort were having a glass of wine on his houseboat. Mort had just wrapped up a difficult case. Lydia saw no need to spoil his well-deserved moment of relaxation by updating him on Allie’s recent murderous rampage. She wanted to believe Allie was gone.
    And then the phone rang.
    Mort’s son, Robbie, was calling. Lydia watched the color drain from Mort’s face. She saw fear in his eyes as he calmly gave directions to his son. When Mort hung up, he turned to her. These subsequent days of no sleep and constant vigilance had done nothing to wipe away the memory of Mort’s words.
    “Allie’s taken Hadley.” Mort relayed Robbie’s account. After an uneventful family dinner on a day Lydia had been so certain she’d contained any threat Allie posed to Mort’s family, his granddaughters took their baths. Hayden went first while Hadley read in their bedroom. When Hayden got out of the tub, Hadley wasn’t there. Hayden didn’t think anything of it, grabbed a robe and a brush, and went downstairs to have her mother brush her hair. Then Robbie sent Hayden back upstairs.
    That’s when Hayden found the note from her twin.
    Hadley had scrawled, in red crayon, that she was off on an adventure.
    Robbie and Claire searched the house. When they couldn’t find her, they pressed Hayden.
    “Allie must have made arrangements with Hadley. Convinced her to sneak out of the house.” Mort’s face was cloaked in frustration. “Robbie and Claire teach the girls about stranger danger. But Allie’s their aunt. Allie probably suggested a secret run for pizza or ice cream. Hadley would have thought it was a game. Allie has over an hour’s lead on them.”
    That had been nearly a week ago, but the dread she felt that night still lived in Lydia. She raised a hand to the side of her face, touching the swollen bruises marking her survival of a brutal assault by one of Allie’s henchmen. She knew what Mort’s daughter was capable of.
    She keyed in a search request. Her query would require bypassing law enforcement firewalls, but two heartbeats later a listing of police dispatches in King County appeared on her screen. She scanned them all. Robberies, car thefts, accidents, domestic conflict…nothing out of the ordinary for a large metropolitan area.
    No murders reported since I checked this morning,
she thought.
They haven’t found Staz’s body yet.
    But Allie surely knew by now the man she’d sent was dead. By Lydia’s hand.
    I expected to hear from you again, Allie. But I thought you’d come for me. I wasn’t ready for you to attack your own family.
    Lydia had been able to track Allie’s path out of the country. According to filed FAA flight plans, Allie had chartered a jet the night Hadley disappeared, leaving Seattle at 6:42 for Toronto. Two passengers: one adult, one child. But Allie’s plane had touched down in Calgary. Lydia was able to access the pilot’s digital log. His notes stated the adult passenger had requested an emergency landing due to illness but refused medical treatment after touchdown.
    Passenger left airport accompanied by minor in private vehicle. This pilot returning to base.
    She remembered Mort’s despair when she had relayed the news.
    “They could be anywhere,” he had said.