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I stared at ain the little girl&039;s tiny voice: "I scared I so scared"

The iPhone soon drifted to sleeper mode, then powered down I inhaled deeply There were tears on rip on the phone Any harder and it would have broken The call had gone straight to ht to the heart of any ht to the heart of anyone with an ounce of humanity

I wiped the tears from my eyes and cheeks

So her in a dark and cold place A badher

I inhaled I was rattled, totally shaken The call had caught ht anyone off guard I foundtime, completely unsure what to do next

I heard the fear in her voice I heard again and again her childish attempt to keep her voice quiet

Who was she? Who was her est question of all: How had little Maddie gottento find out

Knowing I was incurring the wrath of my kids&039; principal, a man who already didn&039;t look very kindly onthe One tient Now, because of circuone private

Chad picked up on the fourth ring I said, "I&039;lad I answered on the fourth ring, Saator"

"Uh huh, and whatcha doing now?"

"Waiting in line at Starbucks"

"And it took you four rings to pick up?"

"It tookup onup on your ood"

I told hi it nearly word for word since it would be forever seared intothis Finally, he said, "Brave little girl And savvy"

"Brave and savvy aren&039;t going to be enough," I said "She&039;s with asharply "I can look into recentinvolves an abducted child, too"

"The ood chance she hasn&039;t been found And may never be found"

"An abduction, then"

"Yes, look for amother and child There won&039;t be a murder reported At least not yet"

"And you know this how?"

"Call it a hunch"

"Fine" He paused "Any chance the child was playing a prank on you?"

"Not a chance in hell"

"Don&039;t hold back, Sam Tell me what you really think"

"Smart ass"

He said, "My question is: How did Maddie find your nu that, too I bit my lip, and looked at my watch Shit I was already seriously late "Hard to know, but rammed into the phone"

"Her mother&039;s phone? Or the killers?"

"The million-dollar question," I said

"Maybe Maddie hit redial Who was your last call?"

I could have s on as I quickly scrolled through the iPhone

"A creditor," I said

"Keep scrolling"

I did "Nothing unusual Nothing out of the ordinary"

"Keep looking," said Chad "Perhaps a past client"

"Nothing," I said "But I&039;ll go through it again when I&039;m not in a hurry"

"When you&039;re not in a hurry? Hey, I was the one jonesing for coffee"

"Just please find out what you can," I said "And tell your mother sorry"

He said he would and before he clicked off I heard hi an iced venti vanilla latteand my mouth watered

God, I missed coffee

Still shaken, I quickly scra my sunhat and my purse I had already slathered my cheeks and hands with a heavy application of the h that did little to stop the searing pain as I now dashed out of the house and crossed the se Oh, how I envied those with connecting garages!

I was gasping by the tietmy kids up but me

When my hot, irritated, inflamed skin had calmed down, I started the minivan, turned on the AC, and headed out to my kids&039; school