Blind Faith (2 page)

"He was supposed to meet me at Lafarge dance studio for Phoebe's dance recital this evening and he never showed up."

Knowing how forgetful
Victoria
's husband could be when he was working,

Kelly tried to sound reassuring. "He must have been detained at the

office
. You know how he is when he gets busy--"

"He's not at the office!"
Victoria
's voice had turned shrill. "He left for
Miami
this morning and never came back!"

The panic in
Victoria
's voice was enough to snap Kelly to attention. Her own problems momentarily forgotten, she glanced at her watch. "Where are you?"

"At the shop."

"Stay there. I'll be right over."

Two.

Kelly parked the VW in a small lot on
Manning Street
, took the ticket from the attendant and walked briskly toward
Rittenhouse Square
. Named after the president of the American Philosophical Society and designed more than a hundred years ago, the famous square at Eighteenth and Walnut had long been one of the city's swankiest addresses. Luxury condominiums, hotels and elegant boutiques surrounded a small park, creating an exclusive enclave that attracted thousands of sight-seers every year.

Victoria
's antiques shop, aptly named All My Yesterdays, was on the west side of the square, nestled between a branch of the
Philadelphia
library and a tea salon. Although her wealthy aunt, Cecily Sanders, owned the shop, it was
Victoria
's exquisite taste and knowledge of art that had made All My Yesterdays the success it was today. The small space was crammed with unique, carefully chosen items, from antique clocks to delicate stemware and accessories
Victoria
brought back from all over the world.

Victoria
sat at her desk, her hands clasped in front of her mouth, her eyes closed. Her long blond hair was coiled into an elegant knot at the back of her neck, a style that emphasized her great bone structure. She wore a cranberry pantsuit that accentuated her small frame and a white blouse with a hint of lace at the collar. Other than a modest diamond engagement ring, she wore no jewelry.

At the tinkling sound of the bell,
Victoria
looked up, her beautiful green eyes heavy with worry.
"Oh, Kelly."
She sprang from her chair and waited for Kelly to close the door before coming forward to give her a warm hug. "I'm so glad you're here."

"No." Her friend's voice was tight and controlled and Kelly knew she was making a supreme effort to stay calm.

Taking
Victoria
's cold hand in hers, Kelly drew her toward the twin Queen Anne chairs that faced the desk. "All right," she said when both had sat down.
"First things first.
What was Jonathan doing in
Miami
?"

"I don't know. And neither does
Syd
."

Syd
Webber was the owner of the
Chenonceau
Hotel and Casino in
Atlantic City
, where Jonathan was a vice president. A controversial man with a some what shady past,
Syd
had been the major reason
Victoria
's aunt had been so against her niece marrying Jonathan.

"Yes. He's as puzzled as I am. He said that Jonathan called in sick this morning and he assumed he was home."

Calling in sick didn't sound like Jonathan at all. He practically had to be at death's door before he missed a day's work. "How do you know he went to
Miami
?"

"He called me from his cell phone this morning. At least I assumed it was his cell phone because it kept cutting out on him. He said that
Syd
was sending him to
Miami
on business and he'd be back that same afternoon."

"We were disconnected before we could even discuss it. I tried to call him back to remind him, but he must have been in a dead zone because I couldn't reach him."

"Every five minutes for the last two and a half hours."

Victoria
's voice broke and she pressed her fists against her mouth as if to keep from crying. A superb businesswoman with a reputation for remaining cool under the heat of tough bidding,
Victoria
was worthless in a family crisis.

"What airline does he normally use?" Kelly asked, reaching for her phone.

"American and I've already called them. They confirmed that Jonathan boarded Flight 2399 to
Miami
at 9:02 this morning. He was scheduled to return on the 2:58 p.m. flight, but never showed up."

"He paid cash."

Kelly was silent for a moment, trying to understand what she had just heard. No one paid cash for an airline ticket anymore--unless they had something to hide. But that wasn't the case with Jonathan, since he had told
Victoria
about the trip. "Does he know anyone in
Miami
?" She would have known if he did, but Kelly asked the question anyway.

"Not a soul. We've only been to
Florida
once, when we took Phoebe to Walt Disney World and that was Orlando, not
Miami
."

"Are you sure Jonathan doesn't have a relative there, a business acquaintance, an army buddy?"

"No one that I know of.
Jonathan's only family consists of an elderly uncle who lives in
San Diego
and some distant cousins we haven't heard from since our wedding." On her lap,
Victoria
's hands clasped even tighter. "I keep thinking of the crime wave in
Miami
in recent weeks and I imagine Jonathan lying in the street, the victim of a mugging or carjacking." She closed her eyes.
"Or worse."

Kelly shook her head. "Someone would have found him and reported the incident to the police. In fact ..." She flipped her cell phone open and pulled out the short antenna.

"Who are you calling?"
Victoria
asked.

"The
Miami
police.
They're the only ones who can put your fears to rest." She dialed the
longdistance
operator, asked for the number of
Miami
police headquarters and wrote down the information on a pad she had taken from her bag. "What was Jonathan wearing?" she asked as she dialed again.

Victoria
spoke without hesitation. "A navy pinstriped suit, a white shirt, a red and navy-blue tie in a geometric design and black wingtips."

An officer named Barry Brown took Kelly's call. After identifying herself, she gave him what little information she had, along with a description of Jonathan. She also gave him her cell phone number.

"All right, ma'am," the officer said. "I'll check and see what we come up with."

"Now," Kelly said, turning to face
Victoria
. "Let's try to figure out what could have happened while we wait. Is everything all right between you and Jonathan? Did you have an argument?"

"No."

Victoria
pressed a rolled-up handkerchief to one eye. "Well ... now that you mention it, he did seem a little ... moody the last few days."

"No." She looked away, as if feeling guilty. "My mind was on that auction I had to attend this morning. I'm afraid I wasn't paying much attention to anything else."

"No."
Victoria
stood up and walked over to her desk where she started to straighten a stack of catalogs that didn't need straightening. "It was a morning like all the others, or so I thought at the time. We had breakfast and we talked about the week ahead. I reminded him of the recital and how much Phoebe was looking forward to it. He said he'd meet me at the studio at six this evening. Then he kissed me goodbye and left."

"A little after seven."
She turned to face Kelly. "At eight-thirty he called to tell me he was on his way to
Miami
."

"The airport.
The connection was terrible. There was a lot of static and I could barely hear him."

The connection shouldn't have been that bad. Not from the airport.

Her arms folded across her chest,
Victoria
walked over to the window and gazed at the lit-up square. "Earlier you asked me if anything out of the ordinary had happened."

"Something did, though I'm not sure it has anything to do with Jonathan."

"Tell me anyway."

Turning around,
Victoria
let her gaze drift toward a wall-mounted glass cabinet where a collection of antique Chinese snuff bottles were displayed. They ranged from carved and hollowed hard stone to molded and inscribed coconut shells. All were collector's items and very expensive.
 
"One of my bottles is missing."

Kelly, who knew nothing about Oriental art except what she had learned from
Victoria
over the years, followed her friend's gaze.
"Which one?"

"The blue enamel.
It was part of the Chinese Whisper collection. It was gone when I opened the shop this morning."

"Are you sure you didn't misplace it?" The question was unnecessary.

Victoria
was as well organized as Jonathan was reliable, and misplacing an object of such value was simply unthinkable.

"I'm sure."

"That's possible but unlikely. I rarely leave the showroom when someone is in the shop. In fact, most of the time I'm by their side, helping them
select
something or answering their questions. Friday was busy, though. And I did have to go in the back a couple of times." She shook her head. "I can't imagine any of the people who patronize my shop stealing from me."

"No. I wanted a chance to talk to my aunt first." She continued to gaze at the cabinet. "Now I don't know what to do."

"No!"
Victoria
ran a weary hand along her smooth hair. "I don't know what to think anymore,
Kel
. I'm so confused." She pressed her index fingers against her temples. "I don't give a damn about the snuff bottle. I just want my husband to come home."

Kelly pushed the up sleeve of her leather jacket to check her watch.

Nine o'clock. "I tell you what. It could be a while until we hear from Officer Brown. What do you say we close the shop and go home? We'll search through Jonathan's clothes once we get there. He may have left a clue about the
Miami
trip."

Victoria
was already reaching for the phone. "Give me a minute to make sure Lucy put Phoebe to bed. I don't want to have to explain to my little girl why her daddy not only missed her recital but isn't home."

Three.

The
Bowmans
lived in Bryn
Mawr
, a pleasant, upper-class neighborhood that was less than a twenty minute drive from downtown
Philadelphia
.

Shortly after Jonathan was promoted to vice president,
Victoria
had suggested moving out of their little Cape Cod in Haverford, and buying a house in
New Jersey
so Jonathan wouldn't have such a long daily commute.

Knowing how much his wife enjoyed being close to her aunt and uncle, however, Jonathan had taken her to see the Bryn
Mawr
house instead, knowing she would fall in love with it.

Such generous gestures on Jonathan's part were commonplace. He loved to shower
Victoria
with attention, and whenever possible, with presents.

The gifts, expensive at times, were his way of showing not only Victoria but her aunt as well that he was quite capable of giving his wife the kind of lifestyle she had enjoyed all her life. To
Victoria
, those attestations were unnecessary, but she understood why Jonathan did what he did and she loved him for it.

The baby-sitter, an attractive teenager with waist long brown hair, sat in the living room with the television on when Kelly and Victoria arrived. As per
Victoria
's instructions, Lucy had already put Phoebe to bed. Doing her best not to show her anxieties, Victoria paid her, escorted her to the door and waited until the high-school senior had reached her front door, two houses down, before going back inside.

"I'll go and check on Phoebe," she said, rubbing her arms to ward off the night chill.

"I'll come with you."

At the sight of her little goddaughter sleeping peacefully, her arms wrapped around her redheaded Cabbage Patch doll, Kelly felt the same wave of affection she always did when she saw Phoebe. With her long, lustrous blond hair, her flawless complexion and her heart-shaped mouth, the five-year old was a tiny replica of her mother. Only her eyes, a light hazel like her father's, identified her as a Bowman.

After she and Victoria had kissed Phoebe on the forehead, both tiptoed out and walked soundlessly to the master bedroom at the end of the hall.

They started searching Jonathan's closet, which was as neat and orderly as the person himself. All his suit pockets were empty and Kelly and Victoria soon turned their attention to his bedside table. The single drawer was filled with neatly stacked parking receipts, credit card charges, little reminders hastily jotted down on scraps of paper and an E-Z pass voucher from the Delaware Port Authority.

After a half hour of fruitless searching, Kelly shook her head and both women headed back downstairs. In the cozy yellow kitchen,
Victoria
immediately busied herself with the mundane task of preparing coffee.

"Would you like me to do that?" Kelly offered.
Victoria
shook her head.
 
"I need something to do." With movements that were stiff and controlled she opened the refrigerator, took out a small white bag and spooned some of the contents into the basket of the coffeemaker. Moments later, the carafe began filling and
Victoria
came to sit at the round maple table across from Kelly.