Read Online Penumbra by Carolyn Haines - Free Book Online Page B

father was waiting outside at the car, and he told me Lucille was terrified her granddaughter was dead. He looked right sick himself.”
    “Did you see Marlena?” Jade wondered if she’d come around and begun to talk. After the incident where Marlena had called her daughter’s name and tossed on the bed, the nurse had administered more morphine. Marlena hadn’t said anything helpful. At least not while Jade was there.
    “No. Those fool doctors won’t allow anyone but family members.” She watched the mirror as Jade picked up lank strands of brown hair and held them out. “Do you have an idea for a new style?”
    “What about something Olivia de Haviland-ish?” Jade asked.
    Disappointment crossed Betsy’s face. “Isn’t she sort of a secondary character?”
    Jade kept her face serious. “She was the one who got Ashley Wilkes, after all.”
    Betsy brightened. “That’s right.”
    Jade set to work. Once she started concentrating, she could shut out the sound of Betsy’s voice. All she had to do was nod and make an occasional sound of agreement. Betsy did the rest. In a few moments, Betsy would be under the dryer.
    “Huey’s gone up to Quincy to get some tracking dogs,” Betsy said. “He’s probably in the woods right now with them.”
    That caught Jade’s attention. So they were looking for Suzanna. “Uh-hum,” she said, hoping to encourage Betsy more.
    “Huey said those dogs can pick up a trail that’s three days old and follow it through water.”
    “Uh-hum.” She started cutting.
    “They didn’t call the FBI in yet. They said they have to be able to prove that Suzanna was carried across a state line for it to be a federal matter.”
    “How will they know whether she’s across a state line or not?” Jade asked.
    Betsy shrugged. “I personally think Huey wants all the credit. Frank Kimble was out at the crack of dawn. Heck, it’s a good thing Frank’s on the case. Huey couldn’t find his way out of a paper sack.”
    Jade realized that Betsy was staring into the mirror, watching her expression. “Frank’s a good detective,” she said.
    “Yes, he is. And a handsome man,” Betsy prompted. When Jade didn’t respond, she continued. “You sat with Marlena all night. What all happened to her? I’ve heard the most terrible things. That she’ll never be able to have a baby again. Is it true?”
    Jade cut faster, knowing that her only salvation would be the dryer.
    The two hounds lunged on their leather leashes, pulling Nathan Ryan forward a step at a time. He held them, the corded muscles in his arms showing the strain as he waited on Huey to give the word to turn the dogs loose on Marlena’s trail in the hopes that it would lead to Suzanna. Frank knew the trail was empty. He’d backtracked it from the point where he’d recovered Marlena, up the river, and finally to the place where he’d found the Cadillac. Now he waited for Huey to make a decision. The sheriff had shown up with Ryan, the dogs, and five volunteers, among them Junior Clements and Pet Wilkinson. Several of the volunteers stood smoking under one of the oaks.
    If they found Suzanna Bramlett, Huey would have money to run his campaign for sheriff for the rest of his life. Frank could almost see the dollar signs in Huey’s eyes as he pointed down the trail and talked to Ryan.
    “The dogs’ll be trailin Marlena,” Huey repeated what Frank had told him. He waved Frank over. “The little girl could be anywhere in these woods. What we’re hoping is that Marlena’s trail will bring us to Suzanna. Should we show the blouse to the dogs?”
    Lucas had dropped one of Marlena’s blouses by the sheriff’s office, an unnecessary gesture because the dogs would strike a trail where they found it. But it was also a telling gesture, and one that made Frank consider what Lucas Bramlett truly hoped the outcome of the search would be.
    The blouse was navy blue with a sailor collar and white tie, expensive. Marlena had worn it at the