As soon as Ethan put two and two together, controlled chaos erupted. “Stacy, let Wyatt know what’s happening and see who’s in the bullpen—we need someone to stay with Rafe.” As she hurried from the room, he looked at Rafe, whose face had gone white as a sheet. “Did you know about this?”
“No. I didn’t even know he was back in town. Maybe this means—”
Ethan stopped him with a slash of his hand. “We’ll figure that out later. Gordon, you and Stacy are with me,” he said as she came back in with Heston on her heels. “Heston, stay with him until you hear otherwise.”
“Yes, sir.”
As he led the way down the hall toward the door that opened to the street across from The Brown Bag, he asked Stacy about Wyatt.
“He’s on his way down now. Do we know where they’re meeting?” she asked.
They waited for traffic to clear before dashing across the street. “Beth said they’re at the site. Gordon, are you carrying?”
The other man grimaced. “Yeah.”
Ethan wasn’t about to bust him for that. “Good. Maybe Lewis is wrong and it isn’t Travis,” Ethan said, the words almost a plea.
But when they got to the end of the street, there was no sign of Annie or Travis, though her car was there.
“Goddamn it!” Ethan raked a hand through his hair as he frantically scanned the area, including the backseat and trunk of her car, which were visible through the glass of the hatchback. “There’s no purse. We couldn’t have missed them by much.”
“Ethan…” Stacy’s voice was full of dread. “Isn’t this her phone? There’s a syringe with it.” She hunkered down next to a phone on the sidewalk, its case a bright and cheerful green covered in daisies and easily recognizable as Annie’s.
“He really has her, doesn’t he?” Ethan asked, watching as Wyatt hurried toward them.
Gordon laid a hand on Ethan’s shoulder briefly, speaking into his own phone. From the sounds of things, he was updating his supervisor. “Yeah, okay. Not yet, but he’s coming down the street right now. I’ll let them know. Thanks, Fran.”
“What the hell is going on?” Wyatt demanded as he came to a stop beside them.
Ethan briefed him. “Given that Annie isn’t here, her phone is, and what we think we know about Travis? I’d say he has her.”
The sheriff cursed roundly. “We have to figure out where he’d take her. Where does he live? Who would know?”
“Rafe Lewis probably,” Ethan said. “He’s familiar enough with the guy’s dealings that he should be able to help us. What’d your supervisor say?” he asked Gordon.
“Whatever resources we need, they’re ours for the asking. If we didn’t have Annie’s phone, we might be able to trace it.” Gordon shook his head. “We can try to trace his. We need to get back to the courthouse. How good is your tech department at doing live traces?”
“Maria’s the best. Stacy, stay here. I’ll get CSU dispatched right over. Boys, you’re with me. Where’s Chase? Do we know?” Wyatt asked as they half jogged back down the street.
“He’s supposed to be on his way to the hospital. Lauren’s in labor,” Ethan said.
“Call and find out if he is. I’ll get Maria geared up to do the live trace,” Wyatt told them as they reached the courthouse. He held the door open for them, then followed them inside. “I’ll also get things set up in the large conference room. We’ll need a central hub to work from.”
“I’ll see what I can find out from Rafe,” Gordon said.
Ethan stopped outside the door as his call went through.
“Any news?” Beth asked in lieu of a greeting.
“Some,” he answered, making a concerted effort to keep his voice level. “Who all’s there with you?”
He could practically hear the frown in her voice. “Chase, Jason, Hannah, Lauren’s parents. What’s going on?”
Ethan closed his eyes. “Have you heard from Annie?”
“Ethan…”
“Beth, please.”
“Hold on. Let me get away from these rowdy critters,” she said, her tone falsely bright. She exhaled a few seconds later, the sound shaky, and a click sounded with a hard echo around her. “I’m in the restroom. I figured the boys wouldn’t follow me in here. They know something’s up. I haven’t heard from Annie, and I should have by now. It’s him, isn’t it? He has her.”
“We think so. We’re fairly certain Travis is the killer.”
“Oh, God. Are you serious? Travis Tyler?” Her voice was soft, and the sound echoed around her. “Did you check the site?”
“Yeah. Her car’s there, but she isn’t. Stacy found her phone on the ground not far from it.”
“I need a minute.” Even though the sound was muffled, he could still hear her crying softly. After a few seconds, she was back. “Okay. Okay. We have to—wait. You said her phone was on the ground. What about Chase’s?”
Ethan frowned. “What about it?”
“She has his phone! He left it this morning, and she has it. You know he put that phone-finding app on there because Murphy kept stealing it. If we can tap into that, we might be able to find her.”
He had to rub his eyes and swallow hard to keep from choking up. There was so much optimism and frantic hope in her voice it destroyed him. “Sweetheart, we’re on it, I promise you. Listen. You stay there with Chase and Jason, okay? Swear to me. I need to know you’re safe.”
“I will. Be careful?”
“I promise. Try not to tell anyone what’s happening. I don’t want to have to tell Chase until we know a little more, okay?”
“Okay. I love you.”
“I love you too,” he said in a low voice.
Ending the call, he pulled in a shaking breath as he fought for emotional control. He cleared his throat and looked away as Gordon stepped outside the room where Lewis was being held.
“Everything okay?”
Ethan nodded. “Chase and Jason are there with Beth but no Annie. Beth said Annie has Chase’s phone with her, and she reminded me that Chase has that phone-finding app because of Murphy. If she has it in her purse or whatever, if we get into that app, we might be able to track them that way.”
“Good. I have Travis’s number, and Lewis thinks he’d probably take her back to his house outside Madison. It’s private, off the beaten path, and he could take his time there,” Gordon said quietly. “I told Wyatt, and he’s on the horn with Jefferson County or the state police to see if he can get someone headed that way to check the house.”
Ethan clenched his jaw. “We have to find them before he has a chance to start torturing her.”
Gordon nodded. “Agreed. I hope I’m not wrong when I say that I think he’ll draw things out with her, make this as slow and as painful as possible. That gives her the best shot at survival. If he goes into an all-out blitz like he did with Parker Riley…”
“Don’t say it.” Ethan nodded at Maria and Wyatt as they came down the hall. He and Gordon met them outside the door to the large conference room, and he brought them up to speed. “What do you need from us?”
Maria said, “Get me in contact with Chase so that I can run that app. I’ll see what I can find out without him, but having his help would make it go faster.”
“You two go bring him in,” Wyatt said. “Tell Jason I said to stay with Beth and not leave her side until we get this settled.”
As Ethan and Gordon headed for the hospital, which was less than a mile away, they didn’t speak.
Once he’d parked though, Ethan looked at Gordon. “How do we handle this?”
“Bring the Hudson kids down to the lobby. Don’t take this up to Lauren and Charlie. You realize we’re going to have a hell of a battle on our hands, keeping the three of them from going with us?” Gordon asked as they got out of the car.
Ethan snorted. “I’m well aware. I don’t want to have to tell Chase she’s gone. How the hell am I supposed to do that?”
“Succinctly and to the point. He can take it. It might knock him back a bit, but he’ll be fine.”
“So long as we can find her in time, yeah. If we can’t? There won’t be anything left of him to put back together.”
They exchanged a look. Gordon knew as well as Ethan that it was the truth. He nodded. “Then let’s do what we can to not let that happen.”