Betrayal - Fern Michaels [18]
Kate didn’t want to scare Emily any more than she was already. “As Alex said, there’s an explanation for her . . . disappearance.” Kate couldn’t stand to think further about Sara. One minute at a time, she told herself.
The three police officers sauntered across the drive, all appearing as if they were on a casual call. A cat stuck in a tree, Kate thought.
“Ma’am,” Officer Furdell said, “there doesn’t seem to be any sign of forced entry. The bathroom is empty. We searched your house and the small cottage as well. The only thing we saw was a young girl sound asleep in one of the upstairs bedrooms.”
“Oh, thank God Sara’s safe! I don’t see how I could’ve missed her. But if she was sleeping, she must not’ve heard me call.”
The two officers smiled and returned to their cruisers. Officer Furdell reached in his breast pocket and pulled out one of his cards. “If you have any more problems, just call. I’m at a loss as to what happened in your studio, ma’am. I’m going to write up a vandalism report. If I were you, I’d change all the locks just to be on the safe side. This could be the work of some bored teenagers. You know how they are.” He gestured toward Emily. Kate wanted to say unfortunately she hadn’t experienced the pleasure of raising a child, but decided it didn’t matter. She gave Emily a wan smile.
“Thanks. I’ll have Alex change the locks today.” She shook his offered hand, and, with a quick nod, he returned to his patrol car and headed down the drive.
“I need to check on Sara.”
“I’ll go with you. I can’t believe she didn’t hear you. She’s a light sleeper. Or nosy, I’m not sure which. She never seems to miss anything at home. She’ll be surprised when she realizes she missed the cops. I can’t imagine her sleeping through those loud sirens.”
Kate couldn’t either but didn’t say so out loud. She berated herself for the negative thoughts she had concerning Sara. Something was going on with her, and Kate was going to get to the bottom of it. Suddenly, she knew she didn’t need to change the locks on the doors. She knew exactly what had happened to her studio. Until she could prove it, however, she would remain silent.
Chapter 5
“Sara, you should’ve told me you were here. You scared us half to death,” Kate explained.
“I’m sorry, Aunt Kate. I was just so full from breakfast. That raw bacon you served made me so sick, all I wanted to do was lie down and rest. I might be poisoned.”
“I’d give her an enema. That’ll clean her out. Just in case she’s poisoned,” Emily said.
Kate laughed. “I think she’ll be okay. I’ll make sure you eat lightly for the next twenty-fours hours. If you’re no better, then I’ll take you to the emergency room myself,” Kate informed Sara.
“I’m okay. Now. This happens only when I eat raw pork. Mommy cooks it well-done, like I told you before,” she snapped.
“I promise this won’t happen again. Emily, Alex is still at the kennel with the Taylor family. Why don’t you run down there and see if he needs any help. I’m going to stay with Sara a while before I tackle the mess in the studio.”
Kate hadn’t mentioned one word about the police or the so-called break-in to Sara. She wanted to watch her, see if she hinted at anything about it, which would cast suspicion on her.
“You’re sure you don’t need me here? I can start cleaning the studio when the Taylors leave.”
“No, I don’t want you to risk hurting yourself, just go see if Alex needs your help. Tell the Taylors I’ve got a sick child and can’t say good-bye. I’m sure they’ll understand.”
“Okay.” Emily paused, glaring at her sister. “Don’t give Aunt Kate any trouble.”
“See, this is what she does all the time! She blames me for stuff I don’t even do. I can’t wait till Mommy gets back. I’m going to tell her—”
“Enough, Sara,” Kate admonished.
“Well, I am going to tell her about almost dying from food poisoning. I bet she’ll never let me out of her sight again. She won’t want to go on one of those stupid cruise ships ever again!” Sara whirled