Silent Run - Barbara Freethy [65]
The bathroom door opened again. Sarah had put on clean jeans and a cream-colored sweater over a camisole top. Her hair was still damp and curling wildly, despite her efforts to brush and straighten it. Her eyes were clearer now, and her bruises didn’t seem so intense. She’d removed the bandage from her forehead, revealing a long deep cut just below her hairline.
“I feel better,” she said. “That was a good idea. What have you been doing?”
“I spoke to Dylan. Does the name Catherine Hilliard ring a bell?”
Sarah thought for a moment, then shook her head. “Why? Who is she?”
“The woman who called in to the news broadcast last night. She says you look like a girl she lived with in foster care—a girl named Jessica.” He watched her closely to see if she flinched or responded in any way, but she simply gave him her usual blank expression.
“Are you saying I grew up in foster care?”
“If you’re this girl Jessica, you did.”
“Then I don’t have a family?” Shadows of disappointment filled her eyes.
“You told me your parents died when you were young. Maybe that’s why you were in foster care, although you also said you lived with your grandparents in Boston, which wasn’t true.”
“Why would I lie about that?”
He shrugged. “Catherine told Dylan that her friend Jessica disappeared from Chicago eight years ago, in much the same manner you disappeared from me.”
“Chicago?” Sarah rubbed her temple again. “My headache is coming back.”
“I’ll bet. Maybe your head hurts because you can’t keep track of all the lies. At any rate, Dylan is going to bring Catherine here to meet you. Hopefully if you’re face-to-face, your memory will return.”
“Hopefully,” she echoed. Sarah glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s almost four. I wonder why Amanda never came back.”
It was a good question. Amanda had acted concerned for Sarah, even wanted to call the police, but she hadn’t rushed back after her lunchtime class to check on her friend. Why was that? “Where did
Amanda say she worked?” he asked.
“Something about a gym.”
Jake got up and walked over to the kitchen wall. There were several numbers listed, including Amanda’s cell and work. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the first number, then handed the phone to Sarah. “She’ll be more likely to talk to you.”
A moment later Sarah shook her head. “No answer.”
“Try the other number,” he suggested, reading it off the paper to her.
“Yes, hello,” Sarah said. “I’m looking for Amanda. Is she there?” She paused. “Okay, thank you.” She hung up the phone. “I’ll call back later. The gym said she isn’t working today, but I thought she told us she had a lunchtime aerobics class. That’s odd.”
“She’s the only close friend of yours that we’ve identified,” Jake mused. “And she used to watch Caitlyn.”
Sarah’s gaze met his. “She also didn’t let us into her apartment. She shut the door when she went to get the key.”
Jake jumped up, cursing himself for missing the obvious.
Sarah beat him down the hall to Amanda’s door. She pounded hard on the wood, calling out Amanda’s name, but there was no answer. “What if Caitlyn is in there?” Sarah asked, desperation in her voice, in her expression.
“She’s not there now,” he said, his own nerves on edge. “Look, Sarah, even if Caitlyn was with Amanda earlier, Amanda would have taken her somewhere else as soon as she got rid of us. She would have wanted to put some space between us until she knew what to do.”
“Why? Why wouldn’t she just give my daughter to me?”
“Because you don’t remember who you are. You didn’t know your name, and Amanda didn’t recognize me,” he said. “Damn, I was a fool not to think of this earlier.”
“Break the door