Ultimate Concealer, A Toni Diamond Mystery: A Toni Diamond Mystery (Toni Diamond Mysteries) Read Free Page B

missing person,” she said, sounding unlike herself. No smile in the voice.
    “What happened?” But in his gut, he knew.
    “It’s Tiffany. She’s gone.”
    “You know where she’s gone, right?”
    “Yes. She emailed me this morning.”
    “The sleepover?” He was pretty sure there hadn’t been any sleepover, which gave Tiffany a big head start.
    “There was no sleepover.” She tried to stifle a sob, which sounded more heartrending than an actual sob.
    He scanned through everything he knew about teenaged runaways. “Her cell phone must have GPS. We can track her.”
    “She left her cell in her room. The messages were all wiped clean.” She sighed. “I’m looking up the phone log online, at least I’ll be able to see what numbers she was calling and texting, but none of the content.”
    “Hang tight. I’m coming over.” There wasn’t much he could do, but Toni needed him.
    As he headed out, he said to Henderson, his partner, “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.
    “But we brought the guy who shot his neighbor in for questioning. I was going to put him in the interview room.”
    “Put him in the holding tank. Let him sweat.”
    Toni couldn’t panic. She knew emotion could only make her do something foolish. Still, when Luke arrived she wanted to throw herself against his strong chest and sob. But Toni didn’t have time for weakness. She had to find her daughter.
    He pulled her to him and hugged her anyway, as though knowing how much she needed it. “Tiffany’s smart,” he said against her hair. “She’ll be okay.”
    “But how’s she getting to Vegas? What if she’s hitchhiking?”
    “Let me see the email she sent you.”
    “Of course. I’m sorry. I can’t seem to think straight.” For the first time since she had joined Lady Bianca, Toni had no cosmetics on. She hadn’t even combed her hair or dressed. Her robe swished before her as she ran upstairs to her office. The article Tiff had pinned to her corkboard fluttered as she opened the door, filling her with a pain so sharp she almost couldn’t breathe.
    The email was still open on her computer screen. All she had to do was push a button on her keyboard to get rid of her screensaver, the kaleidoscope of relentlessly positive motivational mantras that seemed pretty hollow right now.
    Success wasn’t achieved in a series of small steps. Right now, success would be achieved when she got her daughter home where she belonged.
    Luke sat in her office chair and she read the message over his shoulder, as though it wasn’t burned into her brain.
    “Hey, Mom,” it began. “Don’t worry. I’m going to visit my dad. He and I both figure it’s time we got to know each other. I know you don’t want me to go, but I have a right to know my own father. I’m fine. My schoolwork’s up to date. I’ll call you when I get to Vegas. DON’T WORRY! Love, Tiffany.”
    Apart from the nagging drag of fear, she felt furious with both of them. “That’s Dwayne, right there. That line, I have a right to know my own father. That’s him. Putting ideas in her head.”
    Luke turned his head and regarded her, his dark eyes serious. “She does have a right to know her father,” he said.
    “He abandoned her. Plus, she’s underage. Can’t the police do something?”
    He shook his head slowly. “She’s getting close to the age of emancipation. With no sign of foul play, and an email telling you where she’s going, which is to her father…” He made a gesture with open hands that seemed very Italian considering he’d been born in the states, and clearly implied that the cops weren’t going to rush out and bring her daughter back home.
    “Her father,” she exploded. “He can come here and see her if he wants a relationship so bad. Why the hell would he want her to go to Vegas? It’s not like Dwayne. He’d never want to be bothered with a teenager. She’ll remind him he’s getting older. She’ll be an expense. She’ll sure as hell curtail