“Okay.”
A few minutes later, he stepped from the vehicle before Brandon had put it in park.
“Zoey?” he whisper-yelled. “Zoey?”
“I’m right here.” Zoey sat under a bush, knees to her chest and tears streaming down her face.
David scooped her up and held her.
Her arms flung around his neck. Hiccupping sobs sounded in his ear.
“I’ve got you.”
She pulled in a deep breath and swiped at her eyes.
“Better?”
She nodded.
He sat her on the backseat of Brandon’s car. “Can you tell me what happened?”
Zoey filled him in on how Adam had kidnapped her and tied her to the chair. Then how he’d lured Jennie to them by promising to release Zoey.
“He hit Momma a bunch of times. But when he left the room, she untied me and told me to run.” Zoey’s eyes shift to the ground. She wouldn’t look at him.
“What is it sweetheart? What aren’t you telling me?”
Zoey’s bottom lip quivered. “She told me to run, but I couldn’t just leave her there. So I snuck to the window and peaked in. That’s when I saw him hurt Momma really bad. She wasn’t moving. I knew I had to run and get you.”
David felt the blood drain from his face. He couldn’t lose Jennie. And the thought of this man laying a finger on her again, sent anger raging through him.
“Can you tell us where the cabin is?”
Zoey shook her head.
He was so close and yet they had no idea where she was.
“But I can show you.”
“What?”
“I didn’t take the road, I went through the woods. I can show you.”
He hesitated. He didn’t want Zoey anywhere near Adam, but to find Jennie, he didn’t have a choice.
David nodded. “All right, you can take us, but once we get there you are going with Detective Pratt.”
Sandy Pratt stepped up and shook Zoey’s hand. “Hi, Zoey.”
Zoey accepted the gesture and shifted her gaze to David. “Okay.” She paused. “But you’ll help my momma, right?”
He knelt next to her. “You know I will.” He squeezed her hand. “Give me a second, then you can lead the way.”
He stood and walked a few feet away to join Brandon. “Everyone ready?”
“Yup.” He handed David a Kevlar vest, sporting the bright yellow word Police. “Rick is ready. He requested an ambulance on stand-by. They’ll stay a few miles down the road out of the way once they arrive.”
“Then let’s get moving.” David returned to the car. “You ready, Zoey?”
