Elusive (On The Run Book #1) Read Online Free PDF

At this point in a normal conversation, she would have made some flip
remark about their living arrangements. Maybe a joke about how they should have
a line down the middle of the house to divide the territory, but this wasn’t
that kind of conversation. Zoe nervously pressed her hands together in her lap.
    Officer Isles said, “We’re sorry
to inform you that his car was found abandoned after the storm. It was on the
side of Highway 375, above a bridge. There was no sign of him, but a men’s suit
jacket and a dress shoe were found in the creek, which was moving swiftly.
Emergency dispatch received a call today, after the storm. A man was spotted
struggling in the water downstream.”
    Zoe felt as if she were listening
to a conversation in another language. She heard the words, but couldn’t seem
to process the meaning. She leaned forward, noticing how tired the officer’s
eyes looked. “Are you saying it was Jack? He was in the water? I don’t
understand.”
    “It looks like he was caught in
the storm,” Officer Isles explained, his voice gentle. “A tornado touched down
near there early this afternoon. He would have been able to see the funnel
cloud from the road. We’re theorizing that he pulled over and sought shelter
under cover of the bridge, then slipped into the water and was carried
downstream. We’ve been searching the creek for several hours, and there’s no
sign of him. No record of his admission to any local hospital, either.”
    Zoe lost track of what he was
saying for a few moments, thinking of the time she’d spent in the hall bathroom
after the sirens sounded. Jack had been out in the storm? Not Jack. Nothing
could have happened to Jack. “Are you sure?” she said, not realizing she was
interrupting Isles. “Jack’s not the kind of person who does things like
that...he’s careful and so...so safe. He wouldn’t be out driving in the storm. He
always does everything right. He’s got an emergency kit in his car. He always
drives the speed limit, stuff like that.”
    That driving the speed limit
trait had annoyed Zoe to no end. Everyone speeds on the Beltway—everyone, but
not Jack. He’d putt along as cars doing eighty or ninety whipped around him.
    “We can’t confirm it was him, but
there haven’t been any other reports of missing persons. The search had to be
called off because there’s another storm moving into the area, but it will
resume in the morning.” Zoe searched his face then glanced at the other man.
Both were solemn and sympathetic.
    She took a deep breath, then said,
“If that was him in the water, do you think...is there a chance...”
    The men exchanged a quick glance.
“We can’t say for sure right now. We’ll know more in the morning.” There wasn’t
even a glimmer of hope in their expressions. Zoe closed her eyes. They thought
Jack was dead. A vise seemed to close around her chest.
    Isles continued, “Getting out of
the car and under the bridge was probably the safest thing to do. You don’t
want to be in a car when a tornado touches down. Do you have someone you can
call to come stay with you tonight?”
    Zoe didn’t respond right away. He
repeated the question.
    “What? Oh. Right, um...” She’d
almost said, it was okay, Jack would be back later from wherever he was...his
dinner or business meeting with Connor. The response was so automatic, so
natural, that she opened her mouth to say it, but then realized he wasn’t
coming home. That thought was like a physical blow that made it hard to
breathe. It felt exactly like that time when she missed her footing on the tree
house ladder when she was a kid. She’d slipped and fell hard, landing on her
back and knocking all the air out of her.
    The next few moments were fuzzy
and dark spots clouded her vision. But then the smudges evaporated and she was
in the dismal front room with its clash of white and blue paint. The officer
who hadn’t been talking brought her a glass of water from the kitchen.