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out of patience and no longer cautious, shouted out frantically. "Annie! You here?" He pushed open the door to the tiny bathroom and glanced at the tub. He was almost afraid to look.
    No one. It was empty. What Joe feared most had happened. Annie was gone!

Chapter 6
    "Where is she?" Joe groaned and leaned against the bathroom doorframe. Frank could hear the pain in his brother's voice, but there was little he could do to comfort him. "I don't know, Joe, but when I went to take a look at Sidler's room in the Bayport Downtowner, it looked just like this."
    "Why didn't you tell me last night?" Joe asked. "You knew Annie was in danger. We could have come and gotten her."
    "I wasn't thinking straight, Joe. Sorry, but I guess I thought she'd be fine." Frank leaned in to touch his brother's arm. "Joe — "
    "Leave me alone." Joe knocked Frank's hand away.
    "Joe, Annie may have left town. She may have run away. She drew her pay, quit her job. That means she must have had a plan."
    "She wouldn't have left town without telling me, Frank." Joe's voice pleaded that she hadn't. "I know she wouldn't."
    "Let's search the building." Frank gave Joe new hope.
    "I know she said there's storage in the basement. She put her suitcases down there. But she would have to take them if she'd left." With restored purpose, Joe took off into the hall and down the stairs to check out the basement.
    Frank took the time to stop at the open door they'd passed. He knocked and looked down at the child, who smiled up at him.
    "Cammie — Who?" A tired-looking woman snatched up her child. "Who are you? Get out of here."
    "Sorry, ma'am. The door was open. I wanted to ask if you heard anything - unusual last night or this morning. Or if you've seen the red-haired woman who lives on this floor."
    "I didn't hear anything. I didn't see anything, or anyone, either. We mind our own business here. Now, get out."
    Frank backed away from the door and left the woman scolding her daughter for opening it in the first place. Bounding down the stairs, he caught up with Joe, who had just checked out the first floor.
    "The basement's this way," Joe said, leading Frank to a door at the end of the hall.
    The light Joe flicked on at the top of the stairs didn't help much. The stairwell was dim, and the Stairs were dusty. If anyone in the building was in charge of maintenance, he or she took the job rightly. Frank stepped in front of Joe and started down slowly, one step at a time.
    Frank doubted that whoever searched Annie's room would think to check the storage area, but it paid to proceed cautiously. He knew that Joe wanted to throw caution aside and burst into the basement.
    The basement was empty. Joe's face was grim. "I think that's probably a storage room over there," he said loudly, his voice bouncing off the concrete walls.
    Just as they reached the storage room and were inspecting the padlock on the door, they were surprised by a voice behind them. "Joe?" The whisper seemed like a shout in the cool quiet.
    "Annie!" Joe turned and ran to her as she stepped out of a nearby closet. He caught her just as she started to collapse.
    "Joe, I was so afraid I'd never see you again," Annie said faintly.
    "You know better than that. I'm just glad I thought about the basement. What are you doing here?"
    "Hoping you'd find me!" Annie burst into tears.
    Joe reassured Annie that he was there to help her.
    Frank sighed. Although glad Annie had been found, he couldn't help wishing they could put her on a bus with a ticket to someplace far away. Whatever trouble Annie had gotten herself into now directly involved Joe.
    "What happened, Annie?" Frank asked, questioning the girl. "Who searched your room?"
    "I don't know, Frank." Annie stepped from the safety of Joe's arms. She blew her nose on a tissue Joe provided. The tears on her face streaked the dirt and dust she had collected in her hiding place, and even Frank felt protective. She looked as vulnerable as a young child.
    "I came back from