Left to Vanish (An Adele Sharp Mystery—Book Eight) by Blake Pierce (books to read for 13 year olds .txt) 📗

What if they were already too late?

Would Mrs. Danis be in the city? In their apartment? Wouldshe already be on the move? Or worse, had she already reached the summer home?And had the killer been lying in wait?

This flurry of thoughts roused an indignant snarl, and shefloored the pedal, ripping through the streets and breezing through a redlight, ignoring the horns behind her.

She sped onto the highway, pushing the speedometer andmoving through traffic even faster than Agent Paige had when pursuing Mr.Lavigne.

Adele could feel that same sense of premonition she had backin that creepy basement. The same sense of fear cycling through her veins.

They were out of time. Already, she could feel it, like adark presence clouding her mind. Already, the forces of evil had closed in…

They were too late. Too late by far. Just like with hermother… like with Robert…

But there was nothing else to do but try. Now pushing nearlya hundred, Adele ripped through traffic, ignoring horns, ignoring flashinglights. She tore through the highway, heading toward Bordeaux, following theGPS chirping on her phone.

As she did, hastily, she reached for her device, realizingshe’d forgotten to text the phone number to Agent Paige. Someone had to warnMrs. Danis.

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

Her keys clinked in the porcelain dish by the front door,and Candace sighed softly, shutting the door and locking it behind her. Shepressed her shoulders against the wood, staring at the ceiling and breathingslowly. She had left the fan on earlier. Already, the heat was growingoppressive. The air-conditioning had been broken for nearly two weeks in the spaciousapartment. She wasn’t sure what the point of having another home in the citywas if it only made her sweat like a pig. The meetings she took couldn’t beentered without preparation. And now, as she stood, glancing up at the rotatingfan above, she wished she had prepared a bit more for this last venture incapitalism.

She adjusted her sleeves and pushed away from the door andthe porcelain dish.

It was a large apartment, on the higher end, just outsideBordeaux.

She massaged the back of her neck, wincing. Two days ago,she had taken a flight from Italy, their other home in the area. Sometimes,vaguely, she wondered if all this hopping around was worth it.

She was due to meet her husband at their home in Aquitainein the next couple of hours. Then she hoped there would be some relaxing.

There was nothing like the French countryside, especiallynear the coast, to help put effort in perspective.

“Go to business school,” she muttered to herself, “it willall be worth it,” she said. “Got to love golden handcuffs.” She shook her head,moving across the small space now and toward the bathroom.

A shower would be nice, some cool water in the hotapartment. Maybe a little bit of music, then, and a book. She could get a coupleof chapters in before having to head out to meet Gabriel.

For a moment she closed her eyes, pausing, beneath the fan,feeling the wind across her skin. It would be nice, one day, to simply retirein the countryside. To put the rest of this away. Maybe they could even selltheir home in Italy. Maybe even this apartment. They could use the money to geta boat, or a luxury mobile home. See the sights, spend some time together. Theynever had children. Which suited both of them just fine. They’d always beeneach other’s adventuring duo.

She smiled now, feeling the wind from the fan against herface.

It wasn’t all so bad. It wasn’t like this life they’dmanaged to carve out for themselves would have been possible without all theeffort. Still, sometimes it was nice to dream.

She placed her phone on the small counter next to the microwaveand plugged it into the charger, turning it on and pausing a second while itbooted.

No sooner had the phone roused than it began to ring.

She glanced down and blinked in surprise. Three missedcalls. All of them from her husband. She felt a flicker of worry. She hoped hewasn’t postponing the trip to the countryside. It would be just like him to tryto get in a couple of extra days of work.

This new call, though, was from a new number.

Sighing, she lifted her phone and answered, “Yes?”

“Mrs. Danis?” Came a crisp, clear voice on the other end. “Myname is Agent Paige, with the DGSI. Are you alone?”

Candace blinked, trying to track the words. As she did, aslow prickle began to creep up her spine. She shivered where she stood, shakingher head slowly. “Excuse me?”

“Are you alone?”

“Who is this?”

“Agent Sophie Paige. I’m with the police. We think you’rein danger.”

At this, Candace laughed softly. “I think you might havethe wrong number, madame.”

“You’re in an apartment outside Bordeaux, yes? You’re goingto meet your husband at your summer home in Aquitaine in the next hour, right?”

The smile died on her lips. She felt a chill, completelyout of place in the warm apartment. “How do you know that?”

“Like I said, I’m with DGSI. You need to tell me right now,are you alone?”

Her eyes darted around the room, and she breathed softly. “Yes,yes, I’m alone. Are you sure you have the right person?” she said, shaking herhead and trailing off.

“Look, I need you to stay on the line. We’re sending apolice presence over now. They’ll be at your apartment soon. We have an agentcoming too. She should be there within the hour. Please, stay where you are,lock your doors, and whatever you do, don’t let anyone in unless they’re police.Can you do that?”

Candace shivered at the tone in the woman’s voice. For abrief moment, she half expected the woman on the other end to break intolaughter, bringing her in on the sick joke. But the expected chortle nevercame. Instead, the self-proclaimed agent repeated, “Understand?”

Candace shivered now, glancing around her apartment and towardthe locked door.

No motion, no movement. She was alone, surely. Who wouldwant to kill her anyway? It didn’t make any sense.

“Agent Paige, is that your name, I think you’re probablyoverreacting. I don’t know what this is about. I work in finance.”

“Just stay put and don’t let anyone in.”

Another set of shivers crept up