“Thanks.”
The line went dead.
She stared at her phone for a moment and sent up a prayer of thanks for placing David and his partner in Zoey’s path.
Chapter 5
Friday 5:00 p.m.
Tucked in Brandon’s spotless sedan, David scanned the area. Fifteen, maybe twenty cars lined the popular general store parking lot. Five or six sported heavily tinted windows.
Those were his targets.
He studied his phone then glanced at his watch, a gift from his late grandfather when he’d graduated from the academy. Shaking it next to his ear, he sighed. Had the timepiece stopped working? Only ten minutes had passed since the last time he’d checked. Cracking the windows an inch hadn’t allowed much air flow, but it had helped. He wiped the sweat from his brow, thankful the temperature hadn’t spiked. As is, the interior of the car reminded him of a sauna.
“Relax, would ya?” Brandon glared at him. “Just keep monitoring that phone. One of these creeps is bound to open a hotspot soon.”
“Not fast enough.” David rested his head on the back of his seat. They’d had success before, and he hoped it carried over to today. But until someone in the parking lot opened an access point, they’d have to wait and sweat in Brandon’s immaculate vehicle. The man had an OCD tendency when it came to cars, and David feared for his life if he so much as left a piece of trash behind. Okay, maybe not his life, but the idea of a lecture on cleanliness had no appeal.
His partner tapped the steering wheel. “So, what did you find out about our mystery woman?”
“Jennie? Only that she’s widowed and Emily Hanover’s niece.”
Brandon raised an eyebrow.
“Honest. Miss Emily was pretty tight-lipped after spilling the beans about Jennie’s deceased husband.”
“But you think there’s more.” Brandon shifted to face David and rested his back against the door.
“Yeah, I do. You saw the panic on her face at the hospital and the look between her and Zoey when we asked if anyone wanted to hurt her. Those aren’t the responses of someone at ease and unconcerned.”
“I agree. But if this investigation doesn’t pan out, we might have to dig into Jennie’s background.”
David's shoulders slumped. “I hate the thought of treating her like a criminal when she and Zoey are the victims.” He glanced at the screen of the phone and straightened. “The hotspotILikeChildrenjust popped up. Not very subtle, are they?”
“Nope. Never are.” Brandon grabbed his small notebook.
David scanned the lot. “I only see four cars occupied. Tag those license plates.”
“Got ‘em.” His partner scribbled down the numbers and lifted his gaze. “Wait. Blue sedan to your left. He’s parked at an odd angle. I can’t see the plate.”
“I’m on it. Be right back.” David slipped from the vehicle, clicked the door shut, and edged around several unoccupied cars. Head down, he pretended to text on his phone as he casually waltzed past the vehicle in question. Bingo. His fingers flew over his phone keys, sending the license plate number to Brandon and a request for pick up a block down the street.
Ten minutes later, he dropped into the passenger seat of his partner’s car. “Time to run the numbers and pray we get a hit.”
With a bit of luck and a lot of divine intervention, the database search would point David in the direction of the disgusting man who attempted to lure in Zoey.
If not, the road to stopping the man could be a long one.
**
Jennie’s thundering heart threatened to explode from her chest. The laptop on the kitchen table taunted her. The subject line from an unknown address simply statedZoey. Her finger hovered over the mouse. Should she click and see what waited inside? What if her past had come back to haunt her?
Ridiculous. Kenny had four more years in prison. She'd never understand how the man hadn’t received a life sentence. The difference between attempted voluntary manslaughter and murder, she guessed.
She ran her hand under her hair along the base of her neck and lingered on the raised skin that spanned three inches. The contact point of the coffee table’s edge on Kenny’s initial shove. Her knuckle feathered across her rebuilt cheekbone. The second point of his assault, and the one that mercifully knocked her unconscious before he continued his attack.
How had she allowed him to control her and abuse her like that? He’d isolated her from her friends before she’d knownwhat had happened. Then tore down her fragile self-esteem. In the end, he’d trapped her in his controlling world. If it hadn’t been for Tina…
