by Josie Belle
Sam reached out to her as if he thought she might faint. Maggie looked at him, and she knew her terror was in her voice when she said, “I texted Laura, but she hasn’t answered.”
“How did he pay for the gown?” Joel asked. “If it was a credit card transaction, we could try to trace him that way.”
“It was cash,” Maggie said. She felt woozy. “He even made a joke about how he hadn’t planned to blow his whole shopping budget on one gift. Oh, god, I thought he was being romantic.”
“What did Laura tell you the last time you spoke with her?” Sam asked.
Maggie started to pace. What had Laura said exactly?
“It was when she was leaving the reception,” Maggie said. “She said she was going for coffee with friends.”
“That could include Max and Bianca or Aaron, right?” Sam asked. He pulled out his phone. “I’ll call Max.”
“Yes, she definitely said friends plural,” Maggie said. She took out her phone, too, and called Bianca.
Both Joel and Dot stood quietly watching them as Maggie and Sam talked.
“Max, it’s Sam. Have you seen Laura?” Sam asked.
“Bianca, it’s Maggie. Is Laura with you?” Maggie said a second later. She was trying to listen to Sam’s conversation and have her own at the same time.
“No,” Bianca answered. “We were at the Daily Grind together, but she and Blake left a while ago.”
“Where did they go?” Maggie asked.
“When did they leave?” Sam asked.
“A half an hour ago, maybe more,” Bianca said. “Maggie, you sound funny. Is everything okay?”
Maggie glanced at Sam. She didn’t know how much to say, so she listened as he said, “If you see or hear from Laura, tell her to get in touch immediately. And if you see or hear from Blake Caulfield, let me know. It’s important. No, I can’t go into the details right now.”
Maggie repeated what Sam said and then ended her call. She looked at Sam, and asked, “Now what?”
“Now we find Laura,” he said. “Does she have your car? What does Caulfield’s car look like?”
“My car is at my shop,” Maggie said. “I only saw Blake’s car once, at night, when he picked Laura up to go see a band at the Daily Grind. It was a generic silver sedan.”
“Does Laura have a GPS app on her phone?” Joel asked.
“Not that I know of,” Maggie said. “But I don’t know half of what she has on there. Why?”
“That would be the easiest way to track her,” Joel said. “Give me all the info you know about her phone, and I’ll see what I can do.”
While Joel turned his attention to Sam’s computer, Dot and Maggie each began calling around town to anyone who might have seen Laura. Maggie started with Sandy and Jake in case Laura had gone home. She hadn’t. Sandy and Jake packed Josh into his car seat and went looking for her. Then she called the Good Buy Girls. No one had seen her. Ginger put Roger and her boys on high alert, and Roger and Aaron went out looking for her. Claire let everyone at the library know to be on the lookout, and Joanne started calling around to the stores that Laura was known to frequent to see if she was shopping for gifts.
Sam radioed all of the deputies who were on duty and let them know to be on the lookout for Laura, and then he called in all of the deputies who were off duty and told them to pick up cars at the station and start searching.
Joel worked away on Sam’s office computer to see if he could track her through the cell phone information Maggie had just given him.
As Maggie ended her call with Joanne, she tried to find comfort in the flurry of activity around her, but the reality was that Laura was a type-A personality. She got top marks in school, she was never late, she always said please and thank you and she always answered her phone, especially if it was Maggie calling.
Down in the deepest part of herself, Maggie knew that Laura was in trouble. She could feel her insides fracturing from the weight of the terror that was crushing her, but she knew she couldn’t give in to it. She had to stay strong; she had to think; she had to find her daughter.
As everyone finished their calls, only the clicking of the computer keys under Joel’s fingers broke the silence of the room.
“How’s it going, Joel?” Sam asked.
“It’ll take time,” he said. “I’m going to use the SS7 public switched network routes to try to pinpoint the location of her cell phone number. It includes the home location register, which cellular networks use to determine phone location.”
“In English?” Sam asked.
“I’m piggybacking onto other networks and searching for her,” he said.
“How do you have access to this information?” Sam asked. “Never mind. I’m not sure I want to know.”
Joel gave him a shifty glance. “Let’s just leave it at ‘I’m a computer geek.’”
“If you ever have a hankering to be a deputy in Virginia . . .” Sam began, and Joel interrupted, “I’ll let you know.”
The sound of voices came from the lobby, and Dot ducked out to see what was happening.
“Maggie,” her voice said over the intercom a moment later, “you’ve got people here.”
Maggie hurried out to the front. Claire and Ginger stood there, looking wide-eyed and worried. Maggie went right into their arms. What little strength she had in reserve was slipping away from her like sand through an hourglass with every minute that Laura was unaccounted for.
“Any sign of her yet?” Claire asked.
“None,” Maggie said.
Sam stepped out of his office, shrugging on his jacket as he went.
“I’m going out to look for her,” he said. “I want you to stay here.”
“No!” Maggie protested. “I have to go, too. I have to try to find her.”
“I can’t let you do that,” Sam said.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think you have a heck of a lot to say about it,” Maggie said. All of her fear was rapidly boiling into misdirected rage. This was her daughter, and she would do whatever it took to find her.
“I got it!” Joel hurried into the main part of the station with a printout in his hand. “Her phone is showing a location off River Road. It looks like an industrial building.”
“The abandoned wire factory,” Sam and Maggie said together.
Maggie made for the door, but Sam grabbed her elbow.
“Let me go!” she snapped as she tried to jerk free.
“Maggie, no!” Sam’s voice was fierce. “You can’t go.”
“She’s my baby, Sam,” she protested.
“And if you go barging in there, you’ll likely get her killed,” he said.
Maggie stilled. That was the last thing she wanted. Sam cupped her face and forced her to meet his gaze.
“This is my job. This is what I do,” he said. “I’ll get Laura for you, but you have to stay here . . . because I love you, Maggie, and I can’t do my job if I’m worried about you.”
His blue eyes were steady, and Maggie felt her breath catch.
She took a deep breath. Laura was the most precious thing in the world to her, and she knew if anyone was going to be able to get her home safely, it was Sam. Still, she felt it was the biggest leap of faith she’d ever taken when she said, “Go get our girl.”
Sam gave her a swift kiss and strode out the door, calling to Joel after him, “Come on.”
“Mind the phones for me,” Dot called as she followed them out.
The station was alarmingly quiet after their departure, and Maggie shivered. She was cold all the way to her bones, and she knew it wasn’t from the temperature in the toasty-warm building. She started to straighten the flyers on the bulletin board.
It was a haphazard collection of notices about everything from the curfew ordinance for teens to picking up after your dog. Each flyer was layered over another, rendering the entire board useless.
She began pulling flyers off and soon Ginger and Claire joined her. In minutes the entire bulletin board
had been denuded. Maggie stared at the plain brown board. Her insides felt equally as barren.
There was a crackle and squawk on the radio as the other deputies radioed in that they were on their way. It made her jump, and she noticed that Claire and Ginger were equally tense.
She wanted to yell and scream and rip at her hair, but she knew that if she lost it, she might never regain control, so instead, she sifted through the flyers, sorting out the older ones, which had been superseded by newer ones.
Wordlessly, Claire gathered all of the thumbtacks while Ginger continued with the sorting. As Ginger handed her each notice, Maggie took thumbtacks from Claire and fastened the papers so that each was visible by pushing the thumbtacks into the corkboard. Feeling the points stab into the board was satisfying, and the repetitive busywork kept her from having a complete mental collapse. All too soon the board was done, the older papers recycled and the station house quiet.
When the phone rang, the three of them started, and Maggie swallowed hard. This could be very good or very bad. Either way, she had to know.
She snatched up the receiver and said, “Sam.”
“I’ve got her, and she’s fine,” he said.
A sob of relief gushed out of Maggie in a guttural noise that made both Claire and Ginger step forward as if to brace her.
“Thank you, Sam.” Maggie was full-on crying now, and she looked at the others, and said, “She’s okay.”
Ginger and Claire let out whoops of joy and hugged each other.
“Mom.” A voice came on the phone, and Maggie pressed it close to her ear.
“Hi, baby,” she said. “Are you all right?”
“Well, I’m here,” Laura said. Her voice was shaky. “And up until fifteen minutes ago, I wasn’t sure I would be, so, yeah, I’m good.”
“Oh, honey,” Maggie said. She wanted to hug her daughter so badly she ached with the need.
“It was Blake, Mom,” Laura said. Her voice cracked, and Maggie could tell she was sobbing.
“I know, baby,” Maggie said. “But it’s all right. He can’t hurt you now.”
“I love you, Mom,” Laura said.
“I love you, too,” Maggie said.
She heard a low voice in the background, and Laura said, “Sam wants the EMTs to look me over.”
“That’s probably a good idea.”
“I’ll see you in a little bit.”
“I’ll be here.”
Maggie closed her eyes, trying to regroup as a riot of emotions coursed through her, leaving her insides as wrecked as if they’d been caught in the path of a hurricane.
“Maggie, listen.” Sam was back on the phone now. “We didn’t find Blake. I don’t know if he heard us coming and split or what.”
“Oh no,” Maggie said. “You don’t think he’ll come after Laura again, do you?”
“I don’t know. For now I’m keeping her with me, and I’m sending an extra deputy over to the Claramottas,” he said.
“Are they—?” Maggie began, but Sam interrupted.
“They’re fine, but I want to be cautious until we apprehend Caulfield. He may be afraid that Michael will remember him and try to get rid of him. We’re going to have to be very careful. Speaking of which, I want you to stay at the station.”
“But Laura,” Maggie said. “I need to see her.”
“I know, and I’m going to bring her to you as soon as she’s been checked out,” he said.
“Thank you, Sam,” Maggie said. It felt like too little to say to the man who had saved her daughter. And she realized that, while he had told her how he felt about her, she had been too consumed with fear for her daughter to respond. She needed to tell him now. “Sam, about what you said earlier—”
“It’s all right, Maggie,” he said, interrupting her. “I know it was premature for me to say anything. We can just blame it on the heat of the moment or something.”
“Or something,” she agreed. “Or I could screw up the courage to tell you that I love you, too.”
She saw Claire and Ginger exchange grins, and she felt one part her lips as well.
“Aw, Maggie,” Sam said, his voice was rough. “I’m going to kiss you senseless the minute I see you.”
Maggie laughed. “Well, get back here quick, then.”
“Will do,” Sam said, and he ended the call.
Maggie hung up the phone and was immediately embraced by Ginger.
“In the words of my boys,” Ginger said, “that was epic.”
Claire was next with a hug and a pat on the back.
“I had a feeling about you two,” she said.
“It’s not all good news,” Maggie said. “They found Laura and she was unharmed, but they didn’t catch Blake.”
Claire frowned. “Do you think he heard them coming and bailed?”
“I don’t know,” Maggie said. “Sam doesn’t either.”
“What about Michael?” Ginger asked. “Do they think he’s going to go after him?”
“Sam already thought of that and sent an extra deputy over there,” Maggie said. “He talked to them and they’re fine, but I know he’s worried that Caulfield got away.”
“I wonder if he’ll leave town,” Ginger said. “Any sane criminal would.”
“Sadly, there’s not much evidence that he’s sane,” Maggie said. “Look what he did to Leann and how easily he fooled us all.”
“And how,” Ginger agreed. “I actually encouraged my boys to befriend him.”
“They say one in four people is a sociopath,” Claire said. Maggie and Ginger both looked at her. “What? I read it in a book.”
“I never thought I’d say this, but I think you read too much,” Maggie said.
Claire smiled, but Ginger frowned.
“I was just kidding,” Maggie said.
“No, it’s not you,” Ginger said. “I thought I heard something. Did either of you hear that?”
They were clustered around the front desk, having not moved away from the phone.
“Hear what?” Claire said.
It was then that Maggie noted how eerily quiet the station was without the radio squawking or the phone ringing. In the early evening darkness, the shadows made by the dim lighting seemed thicker and more ominous.
Maggie felt her heart start to beat hard, and the hair on the back of her neck prickled. She and Ginger exchanged a glance, and she knew her friend felt it, too.
“I don’t want to sound paranoid,” Ginger said. “But I think there is someone in here with us.”
And there it was, the sound of someone coming toward them out of the darkness.
Chapter 25
“Who’s there?” Maggie called out.
She saw Claire start beside her, and Ginger turned and scanned the opposite direction. A panicked image of the lush and lithe Charlie’s Angels girls filled Maggie’s head, and she noted that the three of them looked nothing like that. The thought almost made her smile, but then the sound started again.
She strained her ears and noted that it wasn’t the sound of footsteps coming toward them; it was more like a scratching noise.
“It’s coming from the back, near Sam’s office,” Maggie said.
“Let’s get out of here,” Claire said. “Now, while we have the chance.”
“But—” Maggie protested.
“No,” Ginger said. “Claire is right. We’re not prepared to take on a killer. Think about what he did to Leann.”
Maggie shuddered as she remembered the still form of the young woman, a life ended too soon because of a madman.
“You’re right,” Maggie said.
The three of them backed toward the door, keeping the room in full view at all times. They were almost free and clear, and the door was in reach, when a high-pitched wail cut through the quiet like a ragged blade, making all three of them jump and grab one another.
“That was a cry for help,” Maggie said. “He’s got someone.”
She didn’t hesitate. She broke ranks and
rushed to the back, grabbing the only weapon she could find on the way—the stapler sitting on the front desk.
She shoved open the door to Sam’s office, ready to do some damage. It was empty. She spun around to see Ginger and Claire crowded in the doorway, offering backup against their better judgment.
“I know I heard someone in here,” Maggie said.
The three of them stood frozen, listening. The wail sounded again, and this time Claire frowned.
“That sounds like . . .” Her voice trailed off as she turned and went across the hall to the interview room.
She shoved open the door and leapt back. Maggie and Ginger peered around the door frame. The room was empty except for a battered table and chairs.
A noise sounded from under the table, and Maggie felt her whole body go tense just as a small gray cat jumped up onto the table. He blinked at them under the bright fluorescent lights and then began to lick his chest. It was Marshall Dillon.
“It’s a cat!” Claire exclaimed, and she slumped against the doorjamb.
“He’s Sam’s cat,” Maggie said. “Meet Marshall Dillon.”
She crossed the room and held out her hand for him to sniff. He rubbed the side of his face against the back of her fingers in approval, and Maggie commenced with the scratching.
“Really?” Ginger asked. “I always saw Sam as more of a dog guy.”
“The cat chooses the human,” Maggie said.
“Ah,” Ginger nodded in understanding. “Sam was adopted.”
“He said Marshall likes to hang out at the station sometimes,” Maggie said. “Today must have been one of those days.”
“He sure is a handsome fella,” Claire said. She was a certified cat lover.
Maggie scratched his favorite spot just under his chin, and when he started to purr, she felt all of her tension evaporate.
“Well, I’m sure glad the noise turned out to be a few pounds of annoyed cat and not a few hundred pounds of psychotic male,” Ginger said.
The door slammed behind them, and Maggie whirled around to find Blake Caulfield standing there in his camel-colored coat, blocking the only exit.
Maggie felt her heart drop to her feet, dragging all of the blood in her body with it.
