Vanish: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel

matters now?” He tossed the diaper bag at her feet. “Let her lie down on that.”
    Jane knelt, her heart now thumping so wildly she thought it would slam through her ribs. I have one chance, she thought. Reach in the bag, grab the weapon. Turn and squeeze off the round before he knows what’s happening. No mercy, just blow out his brains.
    “Poor baby,” she murmured as she crouched over the bag. As she quietly slipped her hand inside. “Mommy has to put you down now . . .” Her hand brushed across her wallet, a baby bottle, diapers.
My gun. Where is my goddamn gun?
    “Just set the baby down.”
    It’s not here.
Her breath whooshed out of her in a sob.
Of course he took it. He’s not stupid. I’m a cop; he knew I’d be carrying.
    “Dig.”
    She bent down to give Regina a kiss, a caress, then laid her on the ground with the diaper bag as a cushion. She picked up the shovel and slowly rose to her feet. Her legs felt drained of all energy, all hope. He was standing too far away for her to swing at him with the shovel. Even if she threw it, it would stun him only for a few seconds. Not enough time to pick up Regina and run.
    She looked down at the ground. Under the light of the half-moon, she saw a scattering of leaves on moss. Her bed for eternity.
Gabriel will never find us here. He will never know.
    She planted the spade in the soil, and felt the first tears trickle down her cheek as she began to dig.

THIRTY-SIX
    The door to his apartment was ajar.
    Gabriel paused in the hallway, instincts prickling with alarm. He heard voices talking inside, and the sound of footsteps pacing across the floor. He gave the door a push and stepped in. “What are you doing here?”
    John Barsanti turned from the window to face him. His first question took Gabriel aback. “Do you know where your wife is, Agent Dean?”
    “Isn’t she here?” His gaze swung to the second visitor, who’d just emerged from the baby’s room. It was Helen Glasser from the Justice Department, her silver hair pulled back in a tight ponytail, starkly emphasizing the worried lines of her face.
    “The bedroom window’s wide open,” she said.
    “How did you two get in here?”
    “Your building super let us in,” said Glasser. “We couldn’t wait any longer.”
    “Where’s Jane?”
    “That’s what we’d like to know.”
    “She should be here.”
    “How long have you been gone? When did you last see your wife?”
    He stared at Glasser, unnerved by the urgency in her voice. “I’ve been gone about an hour. I drove her mother home.”
    “Has Jane called you since you left?”
    “No.” He started toward the telephone.
    “She doesn’t answer her cell, Agent Dean,” said Glasser. “We’ve already tried reaching her. We
need
to reach her.”
    He turned to look at them. “What the hell is going on?”
    Glasser asked, quietly: “Is she with Mila right now?”
    “The girl never showed up at the . . .” He paused. “You already knew that. You were watching the park, too.”
    “That girl is our last witness,” said Glasser. “If she’s with your wife, we need to know.”
    “Jane and the baby were alone here when I left.”
    “Then where are they now?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “You understand, Agent Dean, that if Mila is with her, Jane is in a very dangerous situation.”
    “My wife knows how to take care of herself. She wouldn’t walk into anything without making damn sure she’s prepared.” He crossed to the drawer where Jane usually stored her weapon and found the drawer unlocked. He yanked it open and stared at the empty holster.
    She took her gun.
    “Agent Dean?”
    Gabriel slammed the drawer shut and went into the bedroom. As Glasser had reported, the window was wide open. Now he was scared. He walked back into the living room and felt Glasser’s gaze searching his face, reading his fear.
    “Where would she go?” Glasser said.
    “She’d call
me,
that’s what she’d do.”
    “Not if she thought her phone was tapped.”
    “Then she’d go to the police. She’d drive straight to Schroeder Plaza.”
    “We’ve already called Boston PD. She’s not there.”
    “We need to find that girl,” said Barsanti. “We need her alive.”
    “Let me try her cell phone one more time. Maybe this is nothing at all. Maybe she just ran out to the store to buy milk.”
Right. And she took her gun with her.
He picked up the receiver and was about to punch in the first number when he suddenly frowned, his gaze on the