Devil in Disguise Read Online Free PDF Page A

have any idea where she went?”
    “None. I’m not even sure how long she’s been gone. The police say she ran away, so they can’t do anything. Mom swears she didn’t. She sounds desperate. I have no idea what’s what.”
    “I’m getting in my car now. I can be at your mom’s in fifteen minutes. Maybe I can sort things out. I’ll give you a call as soon as I know something.”
    “Thank you. I’m getting in my car too, but it’ll be a couple of hours before I can get there.”
    “It’ll be okay,” he promised. Rachel knew he had no way of knowing that, but the words soothed her anyway.
    “Thank you,” she repeated. He hung up, leaving her alone with her thoughts and the road. She tried to organize those thoughts, to formulate a plan. Anything was better than sinking into frantic worry.
    It took Conrad thirty minutes to call Rachel back. They were the longest thirty minutes of her life.
    “She’s been gone since right after you left,” he informed her solemnly. “The police found a chat room exchange between Julia and some guy. She agreed to meet him at the park down the street, so she left the house willingly.”
    “Okay,” Rachel answered slowly, processing his words. “How’s Mom?”
    “A nervous wreck and very surprised to see me.”
    “Guess I should have called her to warn her, huh?”
    “Hey, Rachel.” Conrad lowered his voice. “I think your mom is right to be so worried. I’ve seen stuff like this before. At work. I can’t explain now, over the phone.”
    “Conrad,” Rachel breathed his name, unsure what else to say.
    “Didn’t you date a guy in the FBI? Did you two part on good terms?”
    “As good as any, I guess.” Rachel thought back to her brief fling with Jeff Talbot. She’d known he was a playboy from the word “go,” but somehow she’d been sucked in by his charm anyway. It was too bad, too, because the relationship had put a wedge in a blossoming friendship with his sister, Veronica, who’d warned her how it would end.
    “Do you think you could give him a call? Explain what you know and see if he can get someone from the field office here to swing by.”
    “Can’t you just tell the police what you know?”
    “Babe, they know it already. They don’t give a damn. The only way you’re going to get your little sister back is to get someone to care she’s gone—someone with the ability to find her.”
    “Conrad, you’re scaring me. I wish you would just spit out what you’re trying to say.”
    “Call the ex-boyfriend. We’ll talk when you get here.”
    He hung up on her. Rachel frowned at the phone before dialing Information. Jeff was unlisted, but his parents’ number was still in her phone since she never purged contacts. Thankfully, Sean Talbot remembered her, and she was soon dialing Jeff’s new number.
    He answered on the third ring.
    “Jeff, it’s Rachel Cooper.”
    “Rachel. Now there’s a fond memory. To what do I owe the pleasure? Did you miss me?”
    Rachel rolled her eyes. “Terribly. Actually, I feel a little silly calling, but a friend of mine is kind of adamant that you’re the only one who can help.”
    “Anything. What’s up?” His voice took on a serious tone at the urgency in hers.
    She took a deep breath and spilled out the day’s events. When she finally finished, she waited for him to tell her to call the local police. Instead, he hung up on her with the promise to call back in ten minutes.
    Fifteen excruciating minutes later, he was back on the line to get her mom’s address. “Veronica will meet you at your mom’s. She’s hopping on a commuter flight now. You wouldn’t happen to know your little sister’s Chatspace login information, would you?”
    “No, but I’ll get it to you. Can I call you back with it?”
    “If you can’t find it, don’t worry. We’ll just use the back door. You did the right thing calling me. Just try to keep your mom still until we get there. We’ll get your sister back.”
    “Okay.