Scream for Me Read Online Free PDF Page B

like that. Get trackers out there. Get the county’s canine unit, and give them some of Lily’s clothes.” They needed to start tracking right away. Cadence pushed from the table and rose to her feet. “Let’s not waste any more time.”
    “Does that mean we’re clear, ma’am?” Jason wanted to know. He’d risen too, cautiously unfurling from his seat.
    “It means I’m not spending any more time in here. We all need to be searching the town, the woods, to see if we can find Lily.” Cadence knew exactly where she’d start her hunt.
    The last spot Lily had been seen alive.
    She opened the door, marched outside. “I want everyone’s attention!”
    She already had it. All eyes had sprung to her the moment the door flew open.
    “Canine units.” She snapped out the words and gestured over her shoulder to Jason. “Officer Marsh is calling them in. We want them searching the woods for Lily. Start at the spot where her car was abandoned and work out from there. Check any”—damn, she hated to say it, but—“potential body dump sites you can think of. You know this area. Search it.”
    Kyle had come to her side. “We need a guard to stay with Lily’s family, and we want a trace put on their phone lines.” He knew the drill perfectly. After a year working with her, he should.
    “Why?” This came from Officer Randall Hollings. They’d talked to the slightly paunchy, balding officer earlier. “Do you think whoever took Lily might call for some kind of ransom?” He shook his head. “Lily didn’t have any money. Why else do you think she was working a double shift at Striker’s?”
    “It’s not always about money,” Cadence replied. If only it were . Greed was easy to understand. The sadistic motives of the killersshe had faced over the years? Not so easy . “It’s possible our perp might want to taunt the family, or…” Hate saying this, hate saying it… “If he has already killed Lily, then guilt might grow in him. He may feel the urge to reach out to the family. Even to confess his crimes.” She’d seen that happen, too.
    Randall gave a low whistle. “That’s messed up.”
    Killers often were. That was why they were killers.
    “We’ll all need to stay in close contact,” Kyle said, his voice strong and hard. “If you discover anything, everyone needs to know. Lily Adams is out there, and we are going to locate her.”
    It wasn’t a promise Cadence was ready to make. It was a vow Kyle shouldn’t have made.
    Cadence had checked the weather report earlier that day. A major storm system was coming their way. They needed to hunt, before that storm hit. Because once it did, the storm would wash away any trace that Lily’s abductor might have left behind.
    Mother Nature was going to work against them. That meant they had to work even faster, even harder, if they were going to beat her.
    Then the doors to the station opened. A woman with graying hair and worried eyes stepped inside. A little girl, blonde, shaking, was at her side. Cadence recognized the girl from pictures she’d seen just a little while before.
    Lily’s daughter . Carrie.
    “Please,” the woman said, as she glanced around the station. “Please, tell me where my daughter is!”
    Tears slid down the little girl’s cheeks.
    Deep inside of Cadence, something seemed to break.

    “What happened back there?” Kyle asked as the car they’d taken from the station slid to a stop. It was a patrol car, so it wasn’t like they were keeping a low profile as they headed toward Striker’s.
    “We got the officers organized and took control of the case. That’s what happened.” She wouldn’t have thought the guy needed a point-by-point breakdown of a situation he’d seen plenty of times before. They’d talked with the cops, confirmed alibis, a very necessary step because they didn’t want the perp working with them. Unfortunately, they’d been there and done that before, too. They’d cleared officers and then they’d