Into the Whirlwind Read Free

smile. Meg wasn’t smiling now.
    â€œAt least now I know what he looks like,” Dirk said.
    Her head came up. She knew what he meant. In Meg’s eyes, he hadn’t even been good enough to be in the same room with her son.
    â€œI was afraid if he got to know you, he would get attached to you. I didn’t want him to be hurt.”
    â€œRight.” He held up the three-by-five photo. “I need this for identification.”
    â€œOf course. Take it.”
    He slid the picture out of the frame and tucked it into his shirt pocket. He wished seeing the little boy’s face didn’t make things even more personal. He continued to survey the room. The kid had only been alone in the bedroom for an hour. How had the bastard gotten in and out without being seen?
    â€œWhat about your alarm system?” Dirk asked, turning back to Meg. “How did they get past the system without setting it off?”
    â€œWe don’t keep it on in the daytime. It’s a very secure neighborhood. Good for a family. That’s why I picked this house in the first place.”
    Made sense. “All right. What about security cameras? You got them, right? After I mentioned you needed to get some?”
    She glanced away. “Once the tour was over and the police caught Delilah’s killer, it didn’t seem important. I wasn’t in danger anymore.” She looked up at him, guilt sliding into her pretty blue eyes. “I should have gotten them like you said. They could help us find Charlie now. I should have gotten them, but I didn’t.”
    He caught her shoulders, wished he hadn’t as soon as he felt the zip of awareness roll through him. “Nothing about this is your fault. We’ll use what we’ve got, okay? We’re just getting started, yeah?”
    She swallowed, nodded. “Okay.”
    He left her and walked over to the window. The screen was missing. He spotted it lying on the grass in the yard below. The paned sash window had been raised and not completely pushed back down. A trace of cold air whispered past the pale blue curtains. Beyond it, the hip roof was easily accessed by a latticework trellis climbing up from the back of the house.
    Damn. He should have taken a better look at the security in the home when he’d been there. Would have insisted she make changes if he’d been around longer. As it was, he’d only been here a couple of days after the tour ended before Meg punted him out.
    â€œLooks like they came in from the backyard. I need to know who’s been out there. I need a list of people, anyone with access to the house. Repairmen, the guys who mow your lawn, cleaning people. Everyone.”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œGet Mrs. Wills to help. She might think of someone you miss.”
    â€œAll right.”
    He walked back to the little boy’s bed, bent down toward the boy’s pillow, recognized the pungent sweet smell. “Chloroform. That’s how they got Charlie out without him making any noise.”
    â€œOh, God. It won’t hurt him, will it?”
    â€œHe’ll be okay. Odds are he’ll sleep a couple of hours before he wakes up.” He didn’t mention the possibility of an overdose or the headache the kid was going to have when he regained consciousness. She had enough to worry about already.
    â€œI’ve got a fingerprint kit in my car. I’ll grab it and be right back. Don’t touch anything.”
    â€œI won’t,” Meg promised.
    â€œI need to take a look outside, see if I can find some footprints or any other trace of these guys.”
    â€œYou think it was more than one person?”
    â€œAs Rose said, it seems to have been well planned, so yeah. I think several people are involved.”
    Meg said nothing. The fear in her eyes said it all.
    â€œI need to move my car,” he said. “You got room in your garage?”
    â€œYou think they might be watching the