Vanishing Girls

Chapter Forty-Five

The stall door clanged open and Josie rushed toward the toilet, falling to her knees and vomiting up everything that her precious five dollars had bought her. Her body rebelled against her. Once everything was up, she dry-heaved until her abdomen contracted painfully. A woman who had been in the restroom two stalls over stood anxiously behind her. Josie could see her white sneakers beneath her dark blue scrubs.

“Honey, are you okay?” she asked.

Josie had no idea where Lara had gone; hopefully she was still at the table. She nodded her forehead against the toilet seat. “Something I ate,” she breathed. “I’m fine.”

The woman’s feet left and returned again, closer this time. A paper towel appeared next to Josie’s face. “Take this.”

Josie thanked her and stumbled to her feet. The woman was young and blond and smiling sympathetically at Josie. Maybe it was the blond hair or her perfect skin, but she fleetingly reminded Josie of Misty.

“I’m sorry,” she told the nurse. “I’m going to be sick again.”

She turned back toward the toilet, leaning over it while her body convulsed, wishing she was alone to process what she had just seen and heard.

Ray. The man she had known and loved her entire life. He had lied about the acrylic nail. Why? There was no way he was involved in Isabelle Coleman’s abduction, but was he covering for someone? Dusty? The chief? Were they all covering for someone, or multiple someones? How far did it go? Her head spun.

The nurse laid a palm on Josie’s back, between her shoulder blades. “Do you need me to call someone, hon?”

The FBI, Josie thought.

“No, no,” she told the nurse. “I’m fine, really.”

She straightened, turned and headed for the sink where she splashed water on her face. In the mirror she could see the nurse hovering, still looking concerned. Josie forced a tight smile. “Really, I’m okay now. You don’t have to stay with me.”

The nurse pulled a cell phone from one of her scrubs pockets and looked at the display. “I really have to get back to work,” she said.

“Go ahead,” Josie told her. “I just need a few moments to compose myself. I’m fine now. Thank you.”

With one last anxious glance in Josie’s direction, she left the restroom. Josie splashed cold water on her face a few more times, rinsed her mouth with water from the faucet, and smoothed her hair down. The door swung open and Josie tensed, watching the mirror. But it was just Lara.

“What the hell was that?” she asked. She held out the granola and protein bars that Josie had bought with her credit card. “You sick or something?”

Josie took the bars from her and stuffed them into her jacket pockets. “Or something,” she said ruefully. “Listen, do you have somewhere safe you can go, for today? Can you stay out of sight?”

Lara leaned against the sink next to Josie, her fingers fidgeting with the zipper on her hoodie. “Sure,” she said. “What are you going to do now?”

Josie tore a paper towel from the dispenser beside the sinks and dried her hands. “I’m going to talk to my husband.”