Page 100 of Almost Dead (The Cahills 2)

“My father stopped by, and Tanya came for her check. Dad wanted to have a talk with me, and she offered to take him to the park, so I let her. I was just going to find them.”

“How long have they been gone? Hopefully she got him back in her car before this rain started.” Cissy grabbed her purse, then glanced at the rain some more. “I’ll come with you.”

“Maybe you should stay in case she comes back.”

“The park’s not that far. If we miss her, she’ll wait.”

They hurried to Jack’s car, getting soaked as they ran. “So, what did your dad want to talk about? Swamp land in Florida?”

“Basically,” Jack said.

Cissy heard the resignation in his voice as they climbed into his Jeep. He knew as well as she did that his father was a five-star flake.

The unmarked police car rounded the corner as they got in Jack’s Jeep. Both Cissy and Jack glanced at it as they traveled the short distance to the park. There was no sign of Tanya’s car.

They circled the park, peering through the silvery rain that blew in front of them in waving curtains. There was no one about. The parking lots were empty, the place deserted with the advent of the rain.

“Could they have gone to a different park?” Jack asked.

“That would be a first. Tanya takes the path of least resistance. This one’s closest. Can I use your cell?” Jack handed it over, and Cissy dialed Tanya’s cell phone number from memory. It rang several times, and then Tanya’s voice said to leave a message. Cissy hung up and called her a second time, hoping Tanya might respond to the urgency of a second call on the heels of the first. But again, Cissy heard her message. At the end of the beep, she said, “Tanya, it’s Cissy. I know B.J.’s with you, but it’s raining cats and dogs. Can you bring him back? Jack and I are looking for you, but you’re not at the park. Thanks for taking him, but we’ve got things to do. We really need him back. Soon.”

She hung up, tamping down a growing panic.

Jack’s expression was grim. “Want me to take you back to the house?”

“I can’t imagine where they are.” She pressed her knuckles to her lips. “She should have come back as soon as it started raining. Beej should be home.”

“Isn’t there a park about five blocks up? It has more swings.”

“Yes…” Cissy’s breath felt like it was trapped in her lungs.

“We’ll go there,” Jack said, shooting her a concerned glance. “Tanya’s taking good care of him. Maybe they went for ice cream or something.”

Cissy didn’t say anything. She should never have allowed Tanya to be B.J.’s nanny, should never have listened to Jonathan. The man was no judge of character. Far from it! He was the worst. A flim-flam man. A womanizer. He probably had been involved with Tanya!

And now her son was missing!

She fought back a tide of paranoia. Don’t panic. Don’t freak out. Tanya wasn’t perfect, but she loved Beej. That had never been in question.

“How’d it go with the lawyers?” Jack asked.

She understood his attempt to keep her from flipping into a full-blown panic, but it only deepened her anxiety. “It was fine. Uncle Nick’s the executor, but we knew that already. There they are!”

Through the rain Cissy could see a woman carrying a toddler wrapped in a dark coat, hurrying down the sidewalk alongside the other park.

“That’s not B.J.’s coat,” Cissy realized, her spurt of relief fading quickly.

“And that’s not Tanya.”

Jack wheeled the Jeep around and back to the house. Before the vehicle was in park, Cissy sprang out and flew into their home.

No B.J. No Tanya.

“Where else would Tanya take him?” he asked her.

“Nowhere else. Well, wait…maybe her apartment?” Cissy ran out the door of the house.

“You have the address?”

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