Into the Whirlwind by Kat Martin Page B

ready.”
    Dirk sighed. “We won’t be leaving for a while. Take all the time you need.”
    Turning, Meg disappeared up the stairs.
    Dirk’s gaze slid to the window. It was dark outside, clouds drifting over a waning moon, a sharp wind blowing in off Puget Sound, whistling through the naked branches of the trees in Meg’s yard.
    They’d been waiting for night to fall. Luke insisted they had one chance to get to Feng, and that meant they had to be sure he was there when they got to his bar, the Golden Lily. He’d be there, Luke was fairly certain, because he came in around midnight most nights.
    Waiting for the hours to pass, they’d spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening following up on the leads they were still working, Dirk praying the entire time they’d find something that would give them a break in the case so they wouldn’t have to go to kinky Quan Feng’s bar.
    By the time darkness had settled in, they knew the fingerprint he had found on Pam’s nightstand belonged to Pam. No help there, but along with the DNA on the paper cup, at least they knew for certain she and Santini were connected.
    Luke had knocked on a few doors in the neighborhood and spoken to an elderly lady who remembered the PG&E van. It was white with the company logo on the side. She hadn’t noticed the license plate number. The two repairmen the neighbor had seen, one tall and skinny, one stocky and balding, had confirmed Rose’s description. Nothing new there either.
    Sadie was still digging into Bob Algreen. That iron was still in the fire, but so far she’d found zip. They were down to the short strokes on this. At the moment, Santini was all they had. Finding him through Feng was a long shot, but with time running out, there was no other option.
    Rose had come to the house and stayed with Meg all afternoon, fixed a meat loaf dinner for all of them, then returned home for the night. Edwin O’Brien had phoned several times, stopped by again, then went home to his wife, thank God.
    Dirk didn’t want to imagine the tirade O’Brien would launch into if he knew the plans Dirk had for his daughter tonight.
    A noise overhead, footfalls in the bedroom upstairs, drew Dirk’s attention. He glanced up at the ceiling as if he could will Meg to come down, started pacing at the bottom of the stairs.
    â€œTake it easy.” Luke sauntered up beside him. “She’s a woman. Doesn’t matter how pretty she is, she’s got to go through the routine. She has to do her makeup, fix her hair, find exactly the right outfit. It’s like planning the invasion of Normandy.”
    Dirk just grunted and wished the evening was already over.
    * * *
    Seated at the dressing table in her bathroom, Meg stared at the woman in the mirror. When she’d been modeling for La Belle, her appearance had been everything. It was the reason she’d had the expensive lighted dressing table installed in her big marble bathroom off the master bedroom.
    She studied her tear-ravaged face. Always fair-skinned, she looked pale to the point of sickly tonight. Every freckle stood out, her eyelids were puffy, worry lines marred her forehead. Her lips were dry and chaffed and a little too pale.
    Feeling suddenly overwhelmed, she rested her head on the table and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to look pretty. Not when her son was out there somewhere crying for his mommy. Not when he might be hurt, when terrible things might be happening to him. Not when she wasn’t there to protect him.
    She dragged in a steadying breath. Now wasn’t the time for self-pity. She had to find her son and bring him home. Meg sat up and faced herself in the mirror. Dirk and Luke were doing their best to find Charlie. She had to do whatever it took to help them.
    She glanced at the clock. Nine p.m. She could do this. She just needed a little time to pull herself together.
    Turning on the water in the