Sister, Missing Read Online Free PDF Page B

account.
    ‘You’ll have to get your bank to wire you the money here,’ Rick said thoughtfully.
    ‘Yes.’ Annie nodded. ‘I’m sure that’ll work, even if I have to go to a local office here to sign for it.’
    ‘Or we could call the police,’ Shelby said angrily. ‘See what they advise.’
    ‘No.’ Annie and I spoke at once.
    ‘Shelby, don’t you get it?’ I said. ‘I’m almost certain the kidnapper is Sonia Holtwood. She says she’ll kill Madison if we contact the police. And she will.
Come on, you know she’s capable of . . .’
    ‘Will you stay, Rick? Come with me if I have to go anywhere?’ Annie pleaded. ‘I can’t do this alone.’
    ‘Of course,’ Rick said.
    ‘No!’ Shelby’s lip trembled. ‘Why do you have to do everything Lauren and Rick tell you, Mom?’
    For goodness’ sake.
    ‘Maybe because Rick and I aren’t stupid and hysterical,’ I said.
    Shelby threw down her coffee cup. ‘You always think you’re right, don’t you, Lauren?’
    ‘This isn’t about me being right, this is about Mad—’
    ‘Yeah, you’re always sucking up to Madison too, thinking she’s so cute still playing with her stupid dolls,’ Shelby interrupted. ‘The two of you always leave me out
of everything.’
    ‘What?’ I couldn’t believe what Shelby was saying. She was the one who pushed us away.
    ‘I hate you,’ Shelby yelled. ‘It’s your fault no-one listens to me.’ And with that, she stormed out of the room.
    Annie looked at me reproachfully. ‘Please don’t wind her up, Lauren.’
    ‘Right,’ I said, feeling aggrieved. I mean, what had I ever done to Shelby that justified her being so rude?
    The wait until we had the money in our hands was hell. Annie spent an agonising hour on the phone to her bank in the States, then the rest of the afternoon with Rick, sorting
out the international wire transfer at an office in Southampton, just along the coast. She returned exhausted, having had to fill out multiple forms, repeat her password endlessly and sign in
triplicate for the cash.
    ‘We can pick up the money in the morning,’ she said, white-faced, then disappeared upstairs to lie down. Rick and Shelby followed her, while Jam went out to buy us all fish and
chips.
    I was left alone downstairs. Silent minutes ticked past. I paced up and down the kitchen. There was nothing I could do until tomorrow morning which seemed like a million years away.
    Hold on, Mo , I repeated in my head like a prayer. Hold on, we’re going to get you back.
    I just hoped she wasn’t hurt. Still, why would Sonia Holtwood – and I was more and more certain that she was the kidnapper – harm Madison? She must know that we would only hand
over the money if Madison was OK.
    Shouts issued from upstairs. I went into the hall. Shelby was yelling again about how everyone was ignoring her. A second later she stormed down the stairs, past me and out into the garden,
slamming the kitchen door behind her.
    Selfish cow. How could she go on and on about not being listened to, as if this whole situation was about her? Didn’t she realise how terrified Madison must be, spending the night alone
with Sonia Holtwood?
    Nothing else mattered to me except getting Madison back. And though there was no reason why Sonia Holtwood wouldn’t let her go once she had her two million, anxiety gnawed through me like
a rat on a rope.
    I could hear Annie sobbing in her bedroom. Should I go up and try and comfort her? No, Rick was there. I could hear his voice now, soft and low, attempting to calm her down.
    I walked back into the kitchen and sat down at the table. My heart literally hurt inside my chest. How could my little sister be gone? I couldn’t bear it.
    My phone rang. It was Mum . . . calling from Disney World. I let it go to voice mail. My head was too full of worry about Madison to explain everything again – and deal with
Mum’s reaction.
    ‘Missed your phone call?’ Shelby’s thin, accusing voice came from the