Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

this? No PTSD or anything?’
    ‘If you’re asking if I’m going to fall apart, then no.’ Alec’s eyes shifted and Clay could see the withdrawn kid he’d been back then. ‘Is this easy for me? No. When I saw Daphne I thought about how scared my mom must have been. But I was lucky. The bitch who took me had a “grand plan” so she didn’t hurt me. Just drugged me so I wouldn’t cause trouble. I hope the Millhouses have a grand plan for Ford. It’ll give us time to find him. If not . . .’ He shrugged. ‘It’ll be hard. On everybody.’
    ‘Then let’s hope for a grand plan,’ Clay said grimly.
    Alyssa pulled into the hospital parking lot. ‘Be careful. Call if you need us.’
    ‘I will.’ Clay stood in front of the hospital doors for a full minute trying to bring himself to go inside. He’d tried to start a relationship with Stevie several times. But, still grieving for her husband and son, she’d never been ready. Maybe nearly dying will show her how precious time really is .
    Or not. Either way, he would meet her parents and smile and pretend like he wasn’t as lovesick as a damn dog over their daughter.

Chapter Nine
    Tuesday, December 3, 4.15 P.M.
    J oseph had left Bill Millhouse to cool his heels in Interview to join Bo and Grayson for a conference call with Daphne, Paige, and Rivera.
    It had been Daphne’s meeting, from the first moment. She’d opened with a quietly dignified, ‘Nobody here has more to lose than I do. But nobody knows the Millhouses better than I do. Let me help you find my son.’
    What had followed was her incredibly complete assessment of the Millhouses, their associates most likely to be trusted with both Ford and the baby, and the properties where they might be held.
    God, she was smart. Even if she didn’t have legs to her shoulders, he would have found her brain sexy as hell.
    ‘So if I can summarize,’ he said. ‘George is the weak link. Reggie would be the heir apparent were he not in prison. Bill is making tons of money, misrepresenting himself to hundreds of thousands of followers as a “patriot” who just wants to protect the ordinary guy when in reality he’s tried to raise a small militia.’
    ‘It’s the money that interested us,’ Daphne said. ‘And what he was doing with it.’
    Joseph searched his memory. ‘In one of his talk-show interviews he said it would go toward Reggie’s defense fund.’
    ‘You know, it’s a funny thing about lawyers,’ Daphne said wryly. ‘We can’t talk about anything regarding a case, but spouses don’t take any such vow. The wife of a defense attorney who hasn’t been paid can be quite talkative. Especially when she now has an ER bill to cover because the client broke her husband’s arm.’
    ‘And his ankle,’ Paige added. ‘In three places. Ellis is going to have to have surgery to get his ankle pinned because Reggie tossed the table on him this morning.’
    ‘Ellis hasn’t been paid by the Millhouses?’ Grayson asked.
    ‘No,’ Daphne answered. ‘Only about a third of what he’s billed out.’
    ‘How do you know this?’ Grayson asked, brows lowered.
    ‘Because I asked,’ Paige said evenly, ‘when Ellis’s wife, Shannon, called me to ask if I had any places open in my next self-defense class.’
    Grayson sat back, surprised. ‘ She called you ?’
    ‘She called my school. I have it set up to forward to my cell phone.’
    ‘Shannon Ellis was in the courtroom today,’ Daphne said. ‘She saw Cindy attack me, saw me block her – right before one of the Millhouse cousins hit her hard enough so that she had to be taken to the hospital.’
    ‘I’m missing something,’ Bo said. ‘Why did Ellis’s wife come to you, Paige? How did she know you, much less that you gave Daphne self-defense lessons?’
    ‘We can thank that reporter Phin Radcliffe for that,’ Paige said. ‘Shannon said she saw one of his TV news reports on my school. He’s given our center a lot of good press. Which was the least he could do after making me an Internet sensation,’ she added grumpily, then her voice brightened. ‘Kind of like you are now, Joseph.’
    It wasn’t the same thing at all , Joseph thought. Paige had been filmed while attempting to save the victim of a shooting, the video instantly uploaded to the Internet and shown on every news network in the country. Okay, I guess it’s completely the same thing . Of course it marked the beginning of Paige and Grayson’s relationship and now they