Reckoning: A Fallen Siren Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

drawers, a small desk, and a bookcase along the wall under a window. Mrs. Simmons points to the bed on the right—the one made up with a bedspread of daisies that matches the wallpaper border. “That’s Julie’s.”
    We thank her and ask if we can have a few minutes alone in the room.
    “I’ll be in the kitchen. Would you like coffee when you’re finished?”
    Zack says yes immediately. I know it’s more to ensure we have privacy than because he needs the caffeine. Mrs. Simmons leaves us. Zack and I pull out pairs of latex gloves and get to work.
    The first thing we do is open the laptop that’s sitting on the desk. The screen comes to life, displaying Julie’s San Diego County Library account page. Zack hits the refresh button and the “Log-in expired” message displays. Fortunately, she stored her ID and password; one more click and we can see that fines have begun to accrue.
    “She never made it to the library,” says Zack. Then he closes the device and begins to unplug it. “Let’s ask if wecan take it. Billings might find something worthwhile on the hard drive.”
    I nod in agreement. Zack begins to rummage through the desk. I turn my attention to the dresser closest to Julie’s bed, opening and closing each drawer. Nothing unusual, just neatly stacked piles of under things, T-shirts, sleepwear. I pass my hand under each drawer. Nothing here, either. I draw a penlight from my bag and get down on my knees and check under the dresser and bed. Nothing again.
    Zack has been looking through the closet. One side is lined with Julie’s school uniforms, slacks and jeans, blouses. Shoes are lined up on the bottom. He picks up each shoe, shakes it, puts it back in its place.
    I’m just about to turn to Gracie’s dresser when her small hand touches mine. I’d been so intent on what I doing, I hadn’t realized she’d entered the room. “I’m looking for anything that might tell us where Julie is,” I explain, smiling down at Gracie. “Do you mind if I look in your dresser?”
    She shakes her head.
    With Gracie glued to my side, I do the same check I did before. Her eyes follow my every move. I find nothing. Zack has moved on to the bookcase. It’s the only thing we haven’t searched. I wait. Gracie, now bored with this game, is perched on her bed.
    Zack sighs. “Nothing.”
    We’ve finished our respective searches and, save the possibility that we might find something of value on the laptop, we’ve come up empty.
    “You’re way cold,” Gracie says.
    “Cold?” asks Zack.
    “Not anywhere near it.”
    I sit down alongside her. “Near what?”
    The little girl raises a finger to her lips and in a hushed, almost imperceptible whisper says, “Julie’s special hiding place. Would you like to see it?”
    Out of the mouths of babes.
“We would.”
    She tiptoes to the bedroom door, closes it, and gets down on her hands and knees in front of the furnace register near the foot of her bed. Little fingers pry at the grate covering the vent. In a moment, it falls free. “Look in here,” she says triumphantly. “Julie didn’t think I ever saw her but I did.”
    I want to hug the child. Instead I kneel down beside her and pass my hand inside. At first, I don’t feel anything. I reach deeper. My fingertips brush something. I look up at Zack. “Something’s in there, a bag, I think. But I can’t quite reach it.”
    Zack doesn’t question, just slips off his suit coat, tossing it on the nearby bed before crouching down next to me. He rolls up his shirtsleeve, then reaches inside. I hear the crinkling of plastic as he grabs hold of the bag.
    We climb to our feet. I brush the dust from the knees of my slacks. I’m eager to see the contents. “What is it?”
    Zack pulls out what looks to be a checkbook and an envelope.
    Gracie scrambles up beside me.
    Zack has opened the checkbook. He gives a low whistle and hands it to me. “Fifty-two hundred dollars deposited weekly, two hundred dollars at a time, for