Reliquary (Reliquary Series Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

him, but are you sure he didn’t fly the coop before the chickens came home to roost?”
    Using my last shred of self-control, I jabbed my thumb at my phone to end the call instead of screaming curses at the esteemed detective. I immediately hit my parents’ number. “You’re not going to believe this,” I sobbed into the phone when my dad picked up. “The detective on Ben’s case just suggested that he disappeared himself! It’s like they’re too incompetent to find his kidnapper, so they’re just going to blame it on him as an excuse.”
    “Oh, sweetheart,” Dad said sadly. “I’m sure the truth will come out soon enough. Ben was— is —a wonderful man. And we’ll figure out what happened to him. We want him back as badly as you do.”
    Someone grumbled in the background, and I clutched the phone tighter. “What was that?”
    Dad sighed. “Just Grandpa being Grandpa.”
    “And of course he thinks the worst of Ben,” I said just as Grandpa rasped out a complaint about being treated like an annoying toddler. “Dad, I’m gonna go. I can’t deal with him right now.”
    Angrily swiping at tears, I stuffed my phone back in my purse and headed inside. It was just as I’d left it a week ago, except for occasional signs of the police search and the fact that Barley was at my parents’ house so my mom could take care of him. I stood in the living room, trying to figure out how to feel less useless. Yes, Detective Logan had said they’d searched the whole house, but they could have missed something .
    Turning in place, I tried to think of what could have happened to cause Ben to withdraw money from his accounts. What had happened to that loan money? What had he done with it? My gaze lit on our walk-in closet, where all my clothes were tossed in a pile next to his, which were neatly arranged by color and season. I was going to search his pockets. Every single pocket. Hundreds of pockets until I found a clue. Even if I didn’t, at least the purposeful activity would keep me from going crazy for a few more hours.
    When I got to the clothes Ben was planning on taking to the dry cleaner’s, I found something. In the front pocket of a pair of black slacks was a business card. He’d last worn these pants the Friday before. I remembered telling him he looked hot as I’d headed out the door to have a girls’ night with some of my friends.
    A LESSANDRO’S , it said. F INE M EDITERRANEAN C UISINE . The place was on Michigan, a few blocks north of downtown. I’d driven past it plenty of times, but Ben and I had never eaten there. Still, it wasn’t the earth-shattering clue I’d been hoping for. He’d probably just gotten himself some takeout.
    Then I turned it over, and my heart skipped a beat.
    Eniro, 10pm was scrawled on the card.
    I knew for a fact that he didn’t have any clients or friends named Eniro. I’d never seen the name before in my life. My hands shaking, I called Detective Logan. “Hey. Sorry I hung up on you,” I said when she picked up. “I think I may have found something you guys missed. Can you check Ben’s phone and see if there’s a contact in there named Eniro? E-n-i-r-o.”
    She sighed. “Ms. Carver, we’ve already gone through all Dr. Ward’s contacts. If there’s an Eniro in there, we’ve already checked him out.”
    “But Ben might have been meeting him last Friday night. He didn’t mention it.”
    “O-kaaay.” The word was drawn out a second too long for my liking.
    “This could be something important, Detective. You said you had to cover all the bases.”
    “Ms. Carver, forgive me, but I’m going to be blunt. Please leave the investigation of Dr. Ward’s disappearance to us. Your amateur sleuthing might actually interfere with our ability to find your fiancé, assuming he wants to be found. And surely you’d be thinking more clearly if you took some time for yourself and got some rest instead of grasping at straws. I’ll be contacting you to schedule another