Time to Hide Read Online Free PDF

scene in his head. “I b’lieve she was, at least at first. I remember her sitting right over yonder and checking her watch.”
    â€œHow long ago?”
    â€œI b’lieve she was on the Zephyr from up north. That would’ve put her here round four o’clock. Like you said, five, six hours ago.”
    â€œDid somebody meet her?”
    â€œYessir, somebody did, after a few minutes. A nice-looking kid, dressed like he was goin’ to Harvard or somethin’. They was happy to see each other, too.”
    â€œHow do you mean?”
    â€œHow do I mean? I mean, they had this big hug, just like in the movies. He even twirled her around. You gotta smile at young love.”
    â€œThat wasn’t love,” Carter snapped, but then he pulled back. The clothing detail interested him. “What did this guy look like? Other than like he was nice?”
    Stewart gave that a hard thought. “That’s a hard one, you know? I don’t notice boys all that much, if you know what I mean. He just looked like any other kid. Tall, thin, big smile. Good lookin’ boy.”
    â€œSo you got the sense that the girl—my daughter—had been waiting for him?”
    â€œOh, yessir, without a doubt. One o’ the best things about this shitty job I got is watchin’ reunions. Lots o’ happiness in a reunion, you know? Make up for all the sad good-byes I see. That girl and that boy, well, I kinda feel this ain’t what you want to hear, but that there was a good reunion.”
    He was right; it wasn’t what Carter wanted to hear. “How about luggage? Did you see any of that?”
    â€œNo, sir, I didn’t, and I gotta tell you, that’s one o’ the things that drew my attention to the girl. You see somebody that size, that age hangin’ around a bus station, and you gotta think maybe somethin’ bad is happenin’. That’s how my own daughter did her slide downhill. She was a bus-rider all the way. When I saw your little girl sittin’ there on the bench by herself, I kinda kept an eye on her, just to make sure that she didn’t do something stupid.”
    Carter smiled. Stewart the guardian angel. “And when you saw the boy come in for her?”
    â€œWell, I just let them have their peace. If he was her pimp or some such, there’d’ve been a lot o’ that awkward shit, but not there. I stopped lookin’ because even in here, people deserve a little privacy.”
    â€œI don’t suppose you saw the kind of car he was driving.”
    Stewart displayed his corn-teeth again in a big grin. “No, sir, and that’s the God’s honest truth. If it don’t park out there into the stalls, or in here on the floor, I just plain don’t see what people drive.”
    Carter tried to think of another relevant question.
    â€œOh, an’ I got one other detail you prob’ly might like to know. I did overhear them talkin’ a little, an’ I heard him tell her he was gonna treat her like some queen. No, that he was gonna take her to a prom.”
    Carter scowled. “Prom, as in a high school dance?”
    â€œThat’s it, yessir, he was gonna take her to a prom. Even named the place they was gonna go to. He was gonna take her to her fantasy.”
    * * *
    Carter punched the numbers into his cell phone as he drove toward the Braddock County police headquarters, following the directions given to him by whoever was sitting on the watch desk. He’d been halfway through arguing with the watch officer about his need for police support when it hit him why the town of Brookfield rang such a strong bell in his mind. Four years ago, he’d done one hell of a favor for a detective in that department—a lieutenant—and once Carter put the pieces together in his mind, he knew exactly how to get the kind of help he needed. The watch officer refused to give out the lieutenant’s number, even when