Heart of the Night Read Online Free Page B

eight-thirty?”
    â€œAnthony,” Paul growled, “for God’s sake.”
    â€œThere are some people,” Savannah felt called upon to instruct him, “who don’t work the same hours we do. Look, Anthony, I know you have little patience for those who have more money than you do, but I think some open-mindedness is called for here. It doesn’t matter whether you’re rich or poor, it hurts when you’re mugged.”
    â€œKidnapped,” Anthony corrected. He’d made a fist and was lightly rapping his knuckles on the wood.
    She refused to respond. Instead, she turned again to Will. “You said that you think Meg was in the library when the break-in occurred. Even if she had fallen asleep on the sofa, she would have woken up when the door shattered. Was there anything besides the broken glass? Any sign of a struggle? Meggie was a fighter. She wouldn’t have calmly and quietly gone along.”
    â€œNot Megan,” Will acknowledged, more appalled than proud. “Part of a row of books had been knocked from one of the shelves, like she might have tried to grab at something to hold on to. The cushions on the sofa were disturbed. The umbrella stand by the hall door was overturned. One of the walking sticks I kept there was broken.”
    Savannah’s stomach was feeling hollow and it had nothing to do with hunger. Will was painting a picture in her mind of the scene of the crime, but she didn’t know how vividly to color it. After a brief hesitation, she asked as quickly as she could, “Was there any blood?”
    Will recoiled. “No. Thank God, no. So help me, if those bastards do anything—”
    â€œBastards—plural?” Anthony interrupted with a loud knock. “How do you know there were more than one?”
    Will drew himself straighter in his chair, looking for a minute like his usual aristocratic self. “Because I’m not stupid, Mr. Alt. Kidnappers don’t operate alone. Technically, it won’t work. They need one person to stay with the hostage while the other drops notes or makes calls or picks up the money.”
    Savannah agreed. “At least if there wasn’t any blood, we can hope they haven’t hurt her.” She was beginning to feel the reality of the situation. It brought a new urgency to her voice. “Was there anything else? Did you see anything else, find anything else that might tell us more about what happened?”
    He shook his head and ran a shaky hand through his hair. That, in itself, was a telling gesture, Savannah mused. Will was always particular about appearances. His clothes were never wrinkled, his tie never crooked, his hair never mussed. He might have put the handkerchief in his pocket out of sheer habit that morning, but, right now, he was deeply upset.
    Anthony didn’t seem to notice. With several more loud raps of his knuckles, he asked, “What about a maid? You have one, don’t you?”
    â€œNot at the moment. We’re between maids.”
    â€œSo who cleans?”
    â€œWe have a service that comes in once a week.”
    Wearing a faint smirk, Anthony nodded.
    Savannah, who hated cleaning as much as Megan did and saw nothing wrong with having a service if one could afford it, was faintly piqued. “Is there a purpose to this line of questioning?”
    â€œSure,” Anthony replied. “Since Will seems to have slept through his wife’s kidnapping, I was hoping to find someone who hadn’t. A maid might have heard voices or cries. She might have looked outside and seen tall figures or short figures, a car or a van. I’m surprised you didn’t ask the same question yourself.”
    â€œI didn’t have to. I already knew there was no maid. Given that fact, the issue of who cleans is irrelevant for present purposes.” Sending a brief look at Paul, who was perched on his desk again, Savannah went on. “Okay, Will. You found the