The chief closed his eyes and ran a hand through his graying hair, standing it on end. “When?”
With Ms. Reedy’s help, Nick filled him in.
The chief stood and shook Nick’s hand. “I’ll put extra men on patrol. If you hear anything...”
“I’ll let you know.” Nick left Ms. Reedy and her cat with the chief and spent the next hour patrolling North Pole, searching in vain for Santa and his daughter, the sense of impending doom weighing heavily on him.
When driving around brought nothing to the surface, he returned to his room and paced the floor, casting glances through the open doorway into the hall where Mary’s door remained closed. He’d already jimmied the lock and checked inside. As far as he could tell, she hadn’t been back since she’d disappeared.
Where the hell had she gone? He’d checked her room before dropping Ms. Betty off at the police station. He’d called Jimmy Janovich to see if Mary had been crazy enough to find her way out to her father’s friend’s house.
The older man nearly bit his head off over the phone, refusing to tell him anything. “How do I know you’re not the nut case trying to kill Santa? I heard what happened to Bobby Feegan. If you were the one who done it, you’ll pay.”
“Sir, I’m concerned about Mary. She’s disappeared and I’m afraid someone might hurt her if we don’t find her soon.”
“If I knew where she was, do you think I’d tell you? I don’t know you from Adam. I’m hanging up and calling the police. You hear me? I’m calling the police.” The line clicked and Janovich promptly dialed the police to report the call. Nick knew because he received a call on his cell shortly after from Chief Landham’s phone confirming.
A call to Royce revealed no new information on Charles Mercer or his unit. He tried Kat, but she wasn’t answering her cell.
Nick’s frustration mounted with each passing minute. He called Kat for the third time in as many minutes.
When Kat answered, she sounded out of breath. “Yeah.”
“We’ve got trouble.”
“You’re telling me,” she wheezed.
Nick’s pulse spiked. “Why? What’s happening there?”
“I just ran six blocks,” She paused to suck in a noisy breath.
“Why?”
“You wanted me to follow Gordon Thomas, didn’t you?”
Nick frowned. “Not on foot.”
“He slipped past his own security staff and out the back door of the hotel. Since I was inside the hotel at the time, I didn’t happen to be in a car.”
“Where’d he go?”
“The senator climbed into a car by himself and took off.” She took another deep breath and blew it out in his ear. “Instead of running around the other side of the hotel to get in my car, I cut through some streets and ran after him. Dumb mistake, but I wanted to know which direction he headed, I knew I’d lose him if I went all the way back to my car before following him.”
“Did you lose him?”
“I followed him until he hit Highway 2 headed east. It appears he’s headed your way. I didn’t get the opportunity to tell him about what’s going on in North Pole. Maybe he’s heard and is on his way to check it out for himself.”
“Without his gaggle of bodyguards for protection?” Nick scratched his chin. “Doesn’t sound right. But I’ll get the police chief involved. He can pull him in and brief him on the local happenings.” Nick gripped the phone tighter. “Right now, I need you here. ASAP.”
The sound of a car door slamming passed through Nick’s receiver before Kat asked, “More trouble?”
“Royce called. He thinks Cobra is involved.”
“The hired assassin?”
The knot in Nick’s gut tightened. “That’s the one.”
“Damn.”
