Page 34 of The Vanished

Quinn was already ringing Gabe as she pushed her feet into trainers, grabbed her bag and keys, and raced to the car.

“I’ll meet you there,” Gabe said. “Do not leave until I arrive.”

“I understand. I’m frightened, Gabe,” Quinn wailed. “What’s happening?”

“I don’t know, but we’re going to figure this out. Once we know Max is safe.”

The drive to the nursery school seemed to take an age. The streets were congested with lunchtime traffic, and Quinn found herself leaning on the horn a lot more often than was strictly necessary since there was little anyone could do other than wait for the traffic to clear. She breathed a sigh of relief when she pulled up in front of the school. Everything appeared to be quiet and there were no police cars in sight, which had to mean that Max was still safely inside.

One of the other teachers buzzed her in and escorted her to Ruth Watley’s office. Max sat on a beanbag in the corner, a picture book in his lap. He was pretending to read a story to a stuffed dog he was holding, and he seemed happy and calm. Ruth Watley sat across from him, her gaze fixed on the child as if he might vanish at any moment. Quinn noted that the positioning of the beanbag made it impossible to see Max through the window, which was good thinking on Ruth’s part in case someone was lurking behind the building.

“I just sent you the screenshot,” Ruth said.

Quinn pulled out her mobile and opened the attachment. Based on the angle of the image, the camera had to be above the front door, since the woman was walking up to the building. She must have been aware she was being filmed because she’d kept her head down. All Quinn could see was that the woman had wavy dark hair and pale skin. It was impossible to clearly see her features. Beneath a short black raincoat, she wore a green top and jeans, and white trainers on her feet. Quinn couldn’t even make out her age. She could have been anyone from anywhere.

“Is there anything more you can tell me about her? Did she resemble me?” Quinn asked.

“A bit, but I think she was younger.”

“And what sort of ID did she show you?”

“I don’t recall what it was,” Ruth admitted. “I became so flustered when she claimed to be you, I didn’t even bother to look at the identification.”

Quinn looked at the image again. There were probably few people in the UK who hadn’t seen a promotional advert for the Echoes from the Past program, but the host was listed as Dr. Quinn Allenby, not plain Quinn Russell, so whoever met this woman might not put two and two together and realize that she was meant to be the same person. This woman clearly knew that Quinn Russell was Max’s aunt and was listed as Logan’s emergency contact. And if she had presented her phony ID to someone who’d never met Quinn, they might have surrendered Max to her, which was a terrifying thought.

Max had finished reading the story and was watching Quinn from his spot in the corner.

“Ready to go home, buddy?” Quinn asked him.

She tried to sound upbeat and unconcerned, but Max’s expression turned quizzical. He knew it was too early to leave for the day since he’d just had lunch.

“My home?” he asked.

“No, my home.”

“Will Daddy be there?”

“No, sweetheart, but Uncle Gabe is coming to meet us.”

Max set aside the book and the dog and climbed off the beanbag. He silently walked to the door, his little shoulders hunched and his mouth turned down at the corners. He might be five, but he understood in that instinctive way children did that something bad was happening and he was at the center of it.

“Why would someone want to take Max?” Ruth hissed as soon as he was through the door.

“I don’t know,” Quinn replied. Then a thought occurred to her, and she asked, “Did this woman have an accent?”

“No. Why?”

“No reason. Thank you, Ms. Watley. I will keep you apprised of the situation.”

“Please do. We will all be thinking about Max.”

Quinn helped Max on with his jacket, then took his things from his cubby and put them in his school satchel. When Gabe texted to say he was outside, she took Max by the hand, and together they walked out, Max looking dejected and Quinn walking as if a hidden sniper were about to take her out. She breathed a sigh of relief when nothing happened.

“Hey, mate,” Gabe said to Max as soon as they reached the gate. “Did you have a good day?”

“No,” Max replied broodily.

“Me neither,” Gabe replied.