Wil took hold of Samantha’s arm.
“Be careful,” he said.
She smiled. “I’m not doing anything dangerous.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Wil said. “I wouldn’t be too quick to trust anyone.”
With that, he walked to his car, leaving Samantha to wonder why he’d given her such a grim warning when she was on her way to the home of her very best friend.
She backed out of her driveway, then followed Wil’s Firebird for a few minutes. They parted ways, Wil heading north to the airport. Samantha kept her mind busy as she drove, trying to think how she would approach her good friend. She didn’t want Barbara to think she didn’t trust her.
In truth, it wasn’t that she was worried about Barbara’s reaction to her question. It was just that, if she didn’t occupy her mind, she’d dwell on Julie and the danger she might be in at that moment. And if she did that, she’d become too upset to do anyone any good.
She reached Barbara’s apartment. When she pulled into the driveway, she saw that her friend’s car wasn’t there. But she knew that Barbara sometimes used the double garage, renting space from the family that owned the house.
As Samantha exited the car and walked up the driveway, she saw a little girl digging in a small garden. A child with rippling dark hair.
“Julie!”
She was so overwhelmed with excitement that her heart nearly stopped when the little stranger turned around. It wasn’t Julie at all. Samantha bit her lip.
“Oh, sorry,” she faltered. “I thought . . .”
The child was looking at her in a distrusting way. Samantha managed a smile, then went up to Barbara’s door and knocked.
“Nobody’s there,” the girl said.
She stood up and came to stand on the steps. Samantha saw now that she was several years younger than Julie.
“Barbara’s out?”
“Ms. Huston’s gone,” the child said. “She came to Daddy this morning and gave him all the money she owed him and then she put her things in the back of her car and then she drove away.”
Samantha knew at once what had happened. Barbara had taken Julie!
“Did she say . . . ?”
She stopped herself. There wasn’t much use in talking to a young child.
“Is your daddy home?”
“ ‘Course not,” the child said. “He went to work. Mommy’s here.”
In a few moments Samantha was talking to the landlady.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Barbara didn’t tell us where she was going. But she did seem to be in a hurry.”
“Did she have a child with her?”
The woman thought a moment, taking off her glasses to chew on an earpiece.
“Not that I noticed,” she said. “But it was so early it was still dark. I couldn’t tell.”
Samantha mumbled a thanks and turned away. She was filled with confusion and anger. Why had Barbara done this?
“I’m going to find you,” Samantha said furiously as she drove away. “I’m going to find you and make you tell me what you did with my Julie.”
She was too angry to realize she had used the word “my.”
Needing his help, Samantha decided to drive up to the airport to find Wil. It was a small one, just outside Boulder, and it wasn’t hard to find him. His unusual good looks and broad shoulders made him stand out in the crowd. His eyebrows went up, his face registering surprise to see her.
“Barbara’s gone too,” she said breathlessly. “The landlady said she left very early this morning. She couldn’t tell if she had a child with her.”
“Julie was seen here a few hours ago,” Wil said. “One of the ticket clerks was able to identify her from the copy I made of that Polaroid.”
Samantha sighed deeply. They’d just missed her!
“Where did she go?”
“Barbara bought a ticket to Newark, New Jersey.”
Samantha grabbed his arm, her eyes full of hope. Wil hated to see that expression. It was the kind of face parents wore when they heard their child had been found, right before they were told the bad news.
But Julie, he believed, was still alive.
“I wish I could tell you more right now,” he said, and his heart skipped a beat as Samantha’s expression darkened, “but at this point there’s no way of knowing where they’re headed.”
Samantha ran her fingers through her hair.
“There must be millions of people in that part of the country,” she said.
Wil took hold of her arms. “We don’t have time to worry, Samantha.”
She looked up at him, her watery eyes hardening with determination.
“What do we do next?” she asked.