Breath Of Malice Part 16

"Easy. What did Thames say?"

"We don't have time for this!"

"Take a breath. Think this through. Did Thames say anything that might give you a clue to what he's planning? Where he would take her?"

"No. Nothing like that. Don't you think I would have picked up on that? I've tried calling her. Her phone goes straight to voicemail. She ditched cla.s.s and left school with a boy named Chad. They were headed to Kirk County Park to watch a band warm up for a concert later tonight. I'm at the park. Harry, Dom, and Riley are with me. We've been up and down. There aren't that many people. We would have spotted her if she was here."

"How were they getting there?"

"On foot. The boy doesn't have a vehicle."

"Tell me what Thames said."

Paige did.

"When were they last seen?"

Paige gave Sam the time they were believed to have left the school.

"I have Ivy's cell number," Sam said. "Give me Chad's if you have it. If their phones are on, we'll trace them that way."

"I only have Ivy's number."

"Okay. If Chad has a cell phone, I can get that number from his parents. What's his last name?"

"Slater." Paige recited Chad's home address. Paige's breath caught. "I was certain she would be safe at school, that no one could get to her there. I never considered that she would leave on her own."

"We'll find her. I'll call you back."

Paige ran through the park again, looking for Ivy, hoping and praying that Ivy was just late in arriving, but Ivy wasn't there.

Paige returned to her van. Grabbing at any thread of hope, Paige wondered if maybe Ivy and Chad had taken a different route from the school and were still on their way to the park. As she drove up one street and down another, Paige continued to call Ivy's phone over and over with no success.

Paige's phone rang. Sam. "What did you find out?"

"I put out the alert. We'll find her, Paige."

Paige's chest tightened. She felt as if she was going to be sick.

"Where are you now?" Sam asked.

"Swanson Avenue."

"I've left the courthouse. I've put in a call to Chad's parents. We'll see if they can contact Chad." Sam paused, then said, "Hold on. I have a call coming in."

Paige waited out the silence. Her stomach was in knots. Finally, Sam came back on the line.

"That was the Kirk County sheriff's office," Sam said. "A convenience store owner on Church Street reported that two teens matching Ivy and Chad's descriptions stopped by a short while ago. They bought snacks, and the man overheard the teens say they were going to the Main Street Theater."

"How long ago was that?"

"The man pegged the time between thirty and forty-five minutes ago."

"Thames could have driven them out of Kirk County in that time." Paige fought panic. "I'm one street over. I'll be at the theater in a minute or two."

"I'm almost there myself. Wait for me."

An instant later, Paige saw Sam's truck come around a corner and then turn into the movie house. She turned as well. They parked beside a patrol car.

Paige leaped out of the van and ran toward the cop car. Ivy wasn't inside. Paige flashed her badge at the young officer leaning against the driver's door. "Did you see my sister and a boy enter the theater?"

"No, ma'am. I just got the call to stake out the theater to watch for anyone leaving."

Sam joined her by the car. Paige turned to him. "They might not even be here. Thames may have nabbed them sometime after they left the store."

Sam said to the officer, "Stay here and keep an eye out for anyone going in or coming out. Stop anyone leaving."

"Yes, sir."

Paige broke away from Sam. "We're wasting time."

She ran ahead. The marquee showed two movies on offer for the matinee. One was a foreign film with subt.i.tles. The second was the new superhero movie. Both must have started because there wasn't anyone manning the ticket booth.

She went inside to the attendant standing by the closed theater door. "Where are the lights? I need you to turn on the light inside the theater now."

"I can't do that. The movie's started."

Paige stuck her ID in front of his face. "Do it. Now."

The attendant paled, then nodded briskly. Paige followed him into the theater, where he went to a covered electrical box. Using a key he had on a bungee cord clipped to his belt, he unlocked the box, then flipped a couple of switches. The theater filled with light.

"Hey!"

"What's going on?"

Paige ignored the shouts from the few disgruntled patrons. The theater was by no means full, and Ivy, in her wheelchair, would be sitting down in front and at the end of an aisle. Paige spotted her sister near one of the exit doors and raced toward her.

Ivy's eyes widened. Paige dropped to a crouch in front of her sister, gripping Ivy's arms. Paige was shaking. She hugged Ivy tightly. "Are you all right?"

Murmurs and more raised voices came from the small crowd. Ivy pulled back from Paige, then glanced over her shoulder.

Paige cupped Ivy's chin. "Ivy?"

Ivy swallowed. "Of course I'm all right. Why wouldn't I be all right? Paige, what are you doing here?"

Paige needed a moment to catch her breath, to find her voice. Fear had closed her throat tight. "I got a call." Paige shook her head. "It doesn't matter now. You're okay. That's all that matters."

"I'm so embarra.s.sed. What were you thinking, barging in here?" Ivy's face was flame red. Tears shimmered in her eyes. "I have to get out of here."

She moved her wheelchair forward. Paige clasped the handles.

"Leave me alone!" Ivy shouted. "Just leave me alone!"

Ivy started forward. One of the wheels on her chair was stuck. When Paige moved to help, Ivy shouted again, "Just leave me alone!"

Ivy's chair shot forward, and she headed for the door Paige and Sam had entered from.

Paige turned to the gangly boy with the red hair and s.h.a.ggy bangs who'd been seated beside Ivy, presumably Chad. "It might be best if you went home. We'll give you a ride."

Chad stared from Paige to Ivy's fast-retreating back. "Ah, yes, ma'am."

Head down, Chad trotted after Ivy. Sam and the theater attendant were still at the door. When Ivy spotted Sam, she burst into tears.

Sam crouched in front of her. "It's okay, sweetie."

Ivy reached out to him, then clung to his neck, sobbing.

Ivy drove with Sam, not wanting to ride with Paige. Paige followed in her van while Sam drove Chad home and parked on the street as he spoke with the boy's parents.

Back in the living room at Sam's house, Paige went to her sister. "Ivy."

Ivy glared at Paige. "How could you do this to me? I'll be a laughingstock at school tomorrow. As if the kids don't laugh at me enough already."

"This was an emergency. I wouldn't have come to find you if it hadn't been. And what were you doing at the theater in the first place? You were supposed to be in school."

"You wouldn't let me go anywhere! I knew you wouldn't let me go out with Chad, just like you wouldn't have let me go to that cla.s.s party. Ditching school was the only way I could go out with Chad. He is my one friend at school. Now, because of you, he will probably never speak to me again. For sure, he'll never want to go out with me again. You've ruined my life. Again. I hate you! I hate you! I can't wait until I'm old enough to get away from you forever! I'll go so far away you won't ever find me!" Ivy was crying so hard, she broke into hiccups. Her eyes were overflowing with tears. "I wish Sam and Jonah were my family. I wish I lived with them!"

She wheeled past Paige and into Sam's guest bedroom. Paige released a trembling breath. Her own eyes filled with tears. Sam's arms came around her, comforting and strong. Paige leaned into him, needing both comfort and strength right now.

"She wants you and Jonah to be her family and not me," Paige said. "You can't know what it does to me to hear her say that."

"That's the anger talking."

"She hates me, Sam. I've done everything wrong with her."

"No, you haven't. She's a fine young woman. That's because of you."

"She's not like me. She's everything that I wasn't, that I'm not. She's everything good. I was the one who broke curfew, ditched school because it was what I wanted, and to h.e.l.l with what my actions did to anyone else. I pushed her to act out of character, to do what she knows is wrong. I pushed her to her breaking point."

"Hey. Listen to me." He tipped back her chin and then held it gently in his hand. "Stop beating yourself up. Ivy is okay, and she's going to stay that way."

Paige spoke over him. "This thing with Thames is all my fault. On that mountain, I set things up so I would put myself in his path. I went ahead of my squad so I would reach him first, on my own. I was so bold, thinking I would be the one to take down a serial killer. My actions have put Ivy on his radar. I should have realized he would use her to get to me."

Sam cupped her shoulders. "You can't know everything. He didn't get her, and he isn't going to." Sam's jaw hardened. "He's fixated on you. I got the trace back on the call he made to you. It came from a disposable phone. The number was scrambled and led back to an address in Asia. We won't find him that way."

Paige dashed tears from her face. "He'll use Ivy, hurt Ivy to get to me. I need to make sure Ivy is safe."

"I'll arrange for a safe house. It can be for both of you." Sam's eyes fixed on her. "It would be understandable for you to step back, Paige. Let me and our squad go after Thames."

And if she went to a safe house? She released a shaky breath. "If I go into hiding, Thames will likely go underground."

Sam's hold on her tightened as if he would never let her go. A long moment pa.s.sed before he loosened his grip.

Sam lowered his head and kissed Paige's brow softly. "Go talk with Ivy. I'll get everything set up."

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

While Sam arranged for a safe house for Ivy, Paige went to speak with her sister. Paige closed her eyes. She hated that her trouble with Thames had touched Ivy. So much for giving Ivy a normal life. Paige scoffed at herself. Ivy's life was not normal. Paige clenched her fists. She welcomed the anger over the despair she was feeling.

She hated that she was about to frighten Ivy, but Paige had no choice. She had to make Ivy understand the gravity of the situation. She had to protect Ivy at all costs. It was time she told Ivy about Thames.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked once on the bedroom door, then entered the room. "Ivy, we need to talk."

Ivy was on the bed, her back to the door, curled in a ball. She didn't turn at Paige's entrance. Paige perched on the edge of the mattress, facing Ivy. Ivy's face was as pale as her white pillowcase, her eyes red rimmed from crying. Paige linked her hands together to keep from reaching for her sister. "I need to tell you why I went looking for you today and why I panicked when I didn't find you. Why I've been keeping you isolated."

"I already know why. It's because you hate me."

Paige froze. "Hate you? Why would you say that, think that?"

Ivy turned her head and stared at Paige. "Don't treat me like an idiot, Paige. I know that you got stuck with me when Mom and Dad died. You didn't plan on having to raise a little sister, and one that couldn't walk on top of that."

Paige's breath hitched. How long had Ivy been feeling unwanted? How long had Paige made her feel that way? Paige closed her eyes. Tears leaked through her closed lids. "I'm sorry. So sorry that I've made you feel-made you think that I feel stuck with you." Paige's voice was weak. She opened her eyes. Her view of Ivy remained blurred from the tears that continued to fall. "If anyone is stuck, it's you with me. I've done so much wrong with you. More than even I realized if you doubt my love for you."

Ivy looked away from Paige. "It doesn't matter anymore."

Ivy sounded defeated, deflated. Paige swallowed hard. "One of the things I've done wrong is not trust you. I'm going to change that right now. I've been keeping something from you. No longer."

Ivy's gaze returned to Paige.

Paige drew a deep breath and told Ivy about that day on the mountain. "Todd Thames has been hunting me. That's why we left New York. That's why we left Denver. Now he's found me here." Paige's throat closed, recalling that horrific phone call about Ivy. "He called me. Told me he knew where you were. I was terrified that he had taken you." Paige reached for Ivy. She bent over her sister and held her against her, though Ivy didn't return Paige's embrace. "This has nothing to do with you. This is on me. All on me."

"This is because of what happened to you when you were an agent in New York?"

Paige heard tears in Ivy's voice as well. "Yes."

"This is the reason we left New York?"

"Yes." Paige swallowed tears that threatened to choke her. "I'm sorry that our parents were killed. I'm sorry I was too self-absorbed to see anyone's point of view but my own and that I didn't make things right with them. I'm sorry, so sorry that now I'll never be able to do that. But I'm not sorry that you're with me. I've shut you out. Kept you all to myself. Not trusted you. Go ahead and doubt every decision I've made that involves you. But don't ever doubt that I love you."

Ivy's tears soaked Paige's neck, and Ivy wrapped her arms around Paige. They went on holding each other, crying. Paige would have liked to go on holding her sister, but there was more to be said and done.