Vanished Read Free Page B

a couple old factories. The free clinic."
    "Typical old Northeast city."
    "You could say that."
    Logan gazed at the clinic, thinking about Kaya de los Santos
packing up to leave Barcester. She'd be missed in the Flats.
Framingham was three towns over-she had promised to come
back every Thursday for the divorce support group. But those
kinds of promises were seldom kept.
    "Over there?" Pappas pointed at the only high-rise in the
vista.
    "That's the John F. Kennedy public housing. Everyone calls it
the Tower. The place has its own security and crawls with narcs.
Even your ATF guys go under on occasion, but..."
    "Nothing seems to work."
    "I didn't say that."
    "You didn't need to."
    Logan bristled. "For all the lowlifes, there're ten times as
many good people in the Flats. They lead honest lives and raise
their kids to do the same."
    Pappas raised his hands in appeasement. "Hey, man. I'm not
here to judge."
    Logan clenched his fist, startled by the rush of anger that
made him want to punch out the guy. Not here to judge-that
was a lie. Pappas's presence in Barcester meant the Flats had
already been judged as dangerous. Just for being what it was
and who its people were.
    Just as Logan had been judged.
    Two weeks ago a technician had swabbed the inside of his
mouth. He had been assigned a number, and his anonymous sample sent to some distant lab, along with the slime from Carlton
Reynolds's mouth and a sample from Kimmie and Hilary.

    Logan had been unraveled and inspected at the deepest part
of his being, all the way down to the level of his DNA. Judged
and found lacking.
    Today Carlton Reynolds would receive his own letter, special
delivery and signature required. Would he be thrilled if his
letter read positive for paternity, or was Kimmie just the price of
admission to Hilary Sousa Logan? A judge had granted Hilary
temporary custody, ruling that a stay-at-home mother-even
staying in someone else's home-could provide a more stable
environment than a hardworking cop.
    "You OK?" Pappas said.
    "Why wouldn't I be?"
    "You're flushed, that's all."
    "It's steamin' hot out here."
    Pappas nodded at the rocky cliffs that bordered North Spire.
"What's up there?"
    "The Ledges. Highest spot in this part of the state. The only
idiots that venture to the top are rock climbers. Further up the
Boulevard is the airport. The runways take off over the cliffs.
Kinda dicey if you ask me, but we've never had a crash."
    Pappas scanned the area, snapping photos and speaking
into a tiny recorder on his wrist. Logan suppressed the urge
to pat the small gun and notepad in his back pocket. Talk
about a dinosaur.
    "Over there? That's quite a contrast." Pappas pointed northwest at the stately homes nestled under leafy oak canopies.
    "That's Walden Estates. A gated community. Less than a mile
from the Flats, but it might as well be a million."
    Kimmie was there now, behind the high walls that set
Walden apart from-and above-Barcester. It had taken every
ounce of Logan's strength to say good-bye to her this morning. Reynolds's restraining order against him meant Logan's mother
had to drive Kimmie back and forth for their weekend visits.

    Must be nice to be able to buy a judge with a packet of lies
and a bigger packet of promises. Guy's a cop. Quick temper,
quick with the fists. He's made threats.
    Logan was lucky to even have a job after Reynolds's attorney
got done with the accusations. He probably would be on desk
duty if anyone else on the force wanted the substation job.
    Ma said Kimmie had run to Marita with a big hug. Great
that she had a connection with her nanny, though why Hilary
needed one when she didn't work was just another thorn in
his side.
    Got to keep his mind on the job, with a fed sniffing around
his duty area. Logan took another gulp of water, then turned
back to the Circle, sighting directly down the path. "It's hazy,
but if you look on the diagonal-there, between East University and South