maybe she had seen the child on the street, but none of the small faces looked familiar.
She was tired by the time she got home.
And no closer to discovering who the little girl was than she had been before.
That night Autumn had the dream. It was exactly the same as the past three nights, though each time she noticed more details. Tonight she saw that the man with the puppy was blond and fair, with a friendly smile and eyes that crinkled at the corners.
And the little red-haired boy was named Robbie. She heard one of the other children call him that. But just as before, as the little blond girl climbed into the car and the vehicle drove away, Autumn jerked awake and the warning on her lips died as she realized none of it was real.
Leaning back against the white wrought-iron headboard of her canopy bed, Autumn raked a hand through her sweat-damp auburn hair. She tried to tell herself she hadn’t really seen anything bad—only a little girl getting into someone’s car—but she couldn’t imagine why a man would take a child he didn’t seem to know away from her friends and family unless he had some evil intent.
It was two in the morning. Autumn lay back on her pillow and tried to fall asleep, but an hour ticked past and then another. Exhaustion finally overcame her and she drifted into a restless sleep.
Three
It was Tuesday. Autumn didn’t have a climbing class this morning. Figuring a good solid workout might clear her head, revive her tired body and rejuvenate her lagging spirits, she headed for the gym. Afterward, she planned to call Joe Duffy, a fellow climber and friend who worked for the Seattle police.
As soon as she got back to her apartment, a little before noon, she left a message for Joe. Joe was a detective in the burglary division but she figured he might be able to help her. She wanted to ask him if there was a way she could look at the list of registered pedophiles living in the Seattle area to see if she recognized the blond man in the dream.
She was trying to think of what she might say to him without mentioning the dream when the phone in her apartment began to ring.
It was Joe, returning her call. “Hey, hot stuff, what can I do for you?”
“I need a favor, Joe.” Now for the lie, which she told very poorly. “…Um…just before school let out for the summer, I saw a guy loitering near the playground. At the time I didn’t think anything about it, but I was wondering if maybe you could arrange for me to take a look at your files…you know, the ones that show photos of known pedophiles in the area. I just want to be on the safe side, make sure he wasn’t one of them.”
“Sure. I’ll tell the sergeant you want to take a look at the mug book. When do you want to come down?”
“How about this afternoon?”
“You got it. Stop by anytime after…say two o’clock. That should give the guys time to get the stuff ready.”
It was two-fifteen when she walked into the modern structure on Virginia Street that housed the west precinct of the Seattle police department. She gave Joe’s name to the desk sergeant who sent her down the hall. Joe, a ruddy complexioned, dark-haired man who claimed to be at least half Irish, was waiting.
“Hey Autumn, good to see you.”
“You too, Joe.”
“This is a little out of my area, but one of the guys got the stuff together. It’s all on computer these days but we’ve also got photos—easier for lay people to use.” Joe led her into a room and she sat down at a table with several albums stacked on top. She opened the first and began to thumb through pages of pictures. There were some very rough-looking men in the books—guys with earrings and beards and long, scraggly hair—while others looked completely harmless. She figured those were probably the ones to really worry about.
She spent nearly two hours going through the photo albums, but no face jumped out at her or even looked vaguely familiar. Twice she had tried and come up empty, she thought as she left the building.
In a way she was glad.
It’s just a dream, that’s all. Even if it isn’t, you’ve done everything you can think of to stop it from happening.
She tried to convince herself, but still it bothered her. So much so she took an Ambien that night and slept straight through till morning.
For the first time in days, Autumn awakened fully rested. She said a little thank you that the pill had worked and the nightmare hadn’t come and prayed it would never come again. Deciding to forego her morning workout, she lay back against the pillow and slept for a little longer, just to indulge herself.
She had a climbing class today and a couple of private lessons in the afternoon, which made her some extra money, then she planned to meet Terri at the gym that evening, after her friend got off work. Terri was a legal secretary at Hughes, Jones, Weinstein and Meyers, one of the city’s most prestigious law firms. She wasn’t a member at Pike’s Gym but occasionally worked out using one of the guest passes Autumn got as part of her teaching deal. Terri wasn’t much on exercise, but she liked looking at the men.
At six o’clock, Autumn headed for the gym, hoping to get the serious part of her workout done before Terri arrived and they wound up sitting at one of the tables in the health bar drinking smoothies.
She had just finished using the thigh machine, stretching and working muscles that were invaluable in climbing, when she spotted her friend. Terri was wearing tight black leotards and a pink-and-black midrift top and she looked terrific. She had a fabulous figure and she showed it off whenever she could.
“Hi ya’ll!” Terri waved and walked toward her. She was born in Virginia but raised out west and her southern accent was mostly gone, surfacing only on occasion just for fun.
“I see you’re ready to sweat,” Autumn teased, knowing that was the last thing Terri wanted.
“Sure thing, honey. I’ll just go put my bag in a locker and be right back.” She disappeared for a few minutes, turning several male heads as she walked past. While she was gone, Josh Kendall, Autumn’s climbing partner, walked into the gym.
“Hey, Autumn, how’s it hangin’?”
Autumn smiled at Josh’s favorite expression and gave her usual reply. “By the thumbs, Josh, how about you?” They had met during a four-man climb up in the Cascade Mountains two years ago. Josh was long and lanky, with sandy hair and a slightly freckled face. He wasn’t killer handsome, but good-looking in a sort of nerdy way.
“We still going up next weekend?” he asked.
“You bet. I’ve really been looking forward to it. I can’t wait to tackle Castle Rock.”
“Yeah, me too.”
A climbing partner had to be someone you could trust with your life because that was literally what you had to do. Autumn had admired Josh’s skill and he had respected hers so they had decided to make a climb together. Their styles turned out to be extremely compatible. They were both certified guides and in the summer they headed for the mountains whenever they weren’t giving classes or doing private coaching.
They were friends. Close friends. Climbing together had a way of doing that. Autumn felt safe with Josh—in more ways than one. She knew he had no interest in her beyond their climbing partnership. It was Terri he wanted, Terri who snagged his attention whenever she walked into a room. Considering she saw him only as a friend and it didn’t look like that was going to change anytime soon, Autumn felt sorry for him.
Josh’s gaze darted away from her to the shapely brunette sauntering toward him. Terri’s hips swayed provocatively, her gaze moving over the guys with the bulging muscles who were working out on the weight machines.
“Hi, Terri,” Josh said, his smile a little too bright.
“Hi, Josh.”
“How’s