Page 75 of Open Season

“I’m sorry, but Daisy isn’t working today. This is Kendra Owens; may I help you with something?”

Dear Lord, now what? “Is she at home? Can I reach her there?”

“Well, I don’t know. Her mother said she had a toothache, so she’s probably at the dentist’s office.”

“Do you know which dentist she uses?” Jennifer felt her control slipping. She needed a drink so bad. No. No, she did not need a drink; she needed to concentrate on what she was doing.

“No, I don’t.”

“This is important, damn it! Think! I need to get in touch with her immediately, someone is going to try to kill her.”

“Excuse me? Ma’am? What did you say?”

“You heard me!” Jennifer clenched the receiver so tightly her knuckles turned white. “You have to find her! I heard my husband on the phone talking to a man named Sykes who’s going to kill her, unless I can warn her first.”

“Maybe you’d better call the police—”

Jennifer slammed down the phone and buried her face in her hands. Now what? Dentists. How many dentists could there by in Hillsboro? Not many, but what if Daisy went to a dentist in, say, Fort Payne? Or Scottsboro?

No, wait. Call Daisy’s mother and find out which dentist she used.

She looked up that number, but the phone rang and rang, and no one answered.

Jennifer flipped to the Yellow Pages, located Dentists-Dentistry, and began dialing. She couldn’t give up now. She’d failed at a lot in her life, but she couldn’t fail at this.

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