Page 86 of The Doctor's Twins

“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. I think so, though.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“Hang on,” the girl said as I was walking away. “She did say she was sorry for paying me in change. She said the barista gave her coins when she bought a coffee.”

“Barista?”

“Yeah. He’s got a little coffee cart around the corner.”

“Thank you very much,” Frank said.

“Sure thing. I hope you find her. She’s a nice lady.”

Frank and I headed in the direction that the teller pointed us and soon found the coffee cart.

“Excuse me,” I said to the young man.

“Yeah, what’s your poison man?” he grinned. “No, let me guess. Double espresso?” he grinned.

“No, thanks. I’m looking for someone.”

“Hey, aren’t we all, buddy?” he laughed.

I took out my cell phone and showed him a picture of Peyton.

“Oh, yeah. Early bird. Nice lady. Double cappuccino.”

“Okay. Did you see which way she went?”

“Uhm…let me think. Oh, yeah, she went that way,” he said and pointed. “She’s a bit clumsy, though. Dropped her eggs on the ground. Her man looked a little pissed at her, poor thing.”

“Her man? What man?” I asked, feeling the energy draining from my body as the shock of his words started to sink in.

“The guy who joined her after I gave her the coffee.”

“What did he look like?” Frank asked.

“Tall guy, dark hair, good looking.”

Fuck, no! Mateo!

“They left in an SUV.”

Frank and I looked at each other and moved as fast as we could to get back to the car.

“Mateo?” I asked.

“Mateo,” Frank nodded. “We have to call the cops.”

“I don’t think that’s going to do us any good, Frank. Mateo is Peyton’s husband. They’ll tell us to wait forty-eight hours. I’ll call Sam. He’ll know what to do.”

My phone rang as soon as I took it out of my pocket. It was Sam.

“Okay, Ben, I spoke to the driver. He said….”

“It’s too late, Sam. He’s got her.”

“Fuck. Okay, the driver told me she never came back from the greengrocer.”

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