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Back The Short Drop Save as PDF
Chapters (61)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. CONTENTS
  5. START READING
  6. PART ONE
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. PART TWO
  23. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  24. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  25. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  26. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  49. PART THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  56. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  57. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY
  59. EPILOGUE
  60. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  61. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Another photograph appeared on the screen. This time, Gibson rose from his seat, his mind reeling as it fought to acknowledge what it saw: the same photograph, only larger. The first image had been cropped from this one, and this photo just might be worth ten million dollars.

Suzanne Lombard.

Still the child she’d been when she ran away, sitting at an old kitchen table. The backpack sat at her left elbow. She was cupping a glass of what looked like milk and giving the camera a weary half smile. A Phillies baseball cap was pushed back high on her head.

Gibson stared dumbly at Bear.

“We all had the same reaction,” Abe said.

“And you think . . .” Gibson trailed off, not knowing how to finish his thought.

“We do.”

Gibson looked back and forth between George and the photo. It was unbelievable.

“We believe it’s authentic,” Abe said. “Likely taken the night she disappeared in Breezewood. And I would very much like to speak to the person who took it.”

Gibson nodded, fury stoking itself back to life inside him. That was a conversation he very much wanted in on. Whoever this guy was, he was playing games. Playing games and using Bear as a pawn. He realized now why he was here.

“But you can’t. Can you?”

Abe nodded thoughtfully.

“Let me guess. You tried to hack the e-mail server.”

“Yes.”

“But you fumbled it. Spooked him, and he went to ground.”

Mike began to protest, but Abe cut him off. “Yes.”

“And you think I’m going to find him for you.”

“Can you?”

“No. I can’t. It doesn’t work like that, George. You burned the only lead with that e-mail stunt. If he’s clever enough to have covered his tracks all this time, then how are we even going to . . . ?” Gibson drifted into silence, lost in thought. Something was wrong here.

“What is it?”

Gibson held up a hand for quiet. What was he missing? He shut his eyes to block everyone and everything out. He stood there until the answer appeared. It was exactly what he would have done. Exactly what he’d advised Abe to do.

Bait the hook.

“You ever ask yourself why he sent that first picture?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” asked Jenn.

Gibson turned to each of them in turn, grinning at the realization.

“Oh, he’s clever, isn’t he? Folks, I do believe you’ve been played.”

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER TEN

Gibson rubbed feeling back into his face with the heel of his hand. He took out his earbuds and stretched backward in his chair—a satisfying crack ran the length of his spine.

Better.

His phone said it was two thirty a.m.

On Friday.