In Broad Daylight Read Free Page B

feeling that he was
    wasting precious time with these trivial details.

    "The students each take turns telling the parents about the different activities we have
    here at Harwood." She enumerated some of the highlights. "There's a little theater group, an art room, things the regular schools cut back on."

    His face never changed expression as he listened to her description. She liked the
    shorter detective better, she thought. At least Detective Brown looked compassionate.

    "And where was Annie during this show-and-tell process?" the suspicious detective asked.

    In her mind's eye, she could see the little girl. Annie had begun at the head of the group
    but with each step taken, she kept drifting toward the rear of the line. Strangers always
    affected her that way; made her even shyer than she was.

    "She was hanging back."

    The poker face remained. "And you didn't coax her forward?"

    Was that suspicion she heard in his voice? Did he actually think she'd do anything to harm
    any of the children, especially Annie? Just what kind of a monster did he think she was?
    Fueled by guilt, it took effort to bank down her anger. "I was just about to do that when
    the alarm went off."

    "And then what?"

    She'd heard the alarm just as they'd left the art room. She remembered feeling a sense
    of panic. The idea of a fire spreading through the school had always horrified her. Because
    of that, she had been the one to suggest to Matthew that they double the amount of fire
    drills performed. "And then I made sure that I got my class outside the building."

    Dax deliberately moved into her space, crowding her. "You didn't stop to count heads?"

    Her eyes narrowed. "No, not until we were all outside the building."

    "And then you counted heads."

    Brenda could feel her temper unraveling as guilt danced around it. She should have kept
    Annie with her. But she could remember how painful it was at times not to be able to just
    shrink away, to hang back. Annie had been making progress, opening up a little, but there'd
    been a relapse in the last few days and she'd been trying to get at the source of it without
    much success.

    So she'd tried not to push too hard and then this had happened.

    Brenda raised her chin up as if she were silently showing him she was up to any challenge
    he was throwing her way.

    His sister did that move, Dax thought. Just before she lit into him.

    "Yes," the teacher responded between clenched teeth, "then I counted heads."

    Nathan looked up from the notes he was taking. "When you saw she was missing, what did
    you do?"

    There had been no hesitation on her part. "I ran back into the building."

    As if he felt he had to vouch for her actions, Harwood interjected, "One of the
    firefighters attempted to stop her, but she went right around him."

    Nathan smiled at her before resuming his notes. "Brave lady."

    Stubborn would have been the way he'd have put it, Dax thought. He was well-acquainted
    with stubborn. His family, especially the female portion of it, had a patent on the emotion.

    Brenda shrugged off the praise. Bravery had nothing to do with it.

    "I had no idea where the fire was or how bad it was. I was just worried that Annie might
    have run back to the classroom." She saw the silent question in the taller detective's eyes
    and explained. "She has this stuffed animal she keeps in her desk, a rabbit." It had taken more than a week of coaxing before Annie had told her about the rabbit. It had been a
    gift from her father and she clung to it whenever she missed him and wanted him close. "I
    thought she might have gone back for it."

    Dax never took his eyes from her face. "But she didn't?"

    Brenda shook her head. "She wasn't there."

    "Was the rabbit?"

    The question caught her short. "I didn't think to check." There had been a fireman in the room. He'd just finished putting out the fire and there was water everywhere. Water,
    smoke, but no Annie. "Why, was that important?"

    At this point, until things