I raced to the basement and flung myself down the steps. I heard Skinner following me but paid him no heed. I searchedLindsey’s desk for her phone but didn’t find it. Spinning, I almost knocked Skinner off his feet.
“What are you doing?” he demanded.
“Her cell,” I replied, my voice ragged. “If it’s not here, she has it on her.”
“And? It hasn’t pinged anywhere in the last several hours.”
“We put Find My Friend apps on our phones,” I told him, dashing past him and up the stairs. “Maybe that will track her.”
“Only if the cell’s on, man,” he said, chasing me up and into the kitchen. “If it’s off, it’s no good.”
I searched our bedroom and didn’t find it. Nor was it in the TV room, nor the guest room. Grabbing my own, I hit the app, and – nothing.
“Damn it.”
Inwardly cursing, I paced, trying to not imagine what Lindsey was going through at that moment. Was Austin a rapist like his pal? Did he torture her?Has he killed her already?My mind shied away from all those scenarios, reminding myself that Lindsey was a dragon. And it’s mighty hard to kill a dragon, even by another dragon.
I tried the app again. Nothing. “Come on, Lindsey,” I begged. “Turn your phone on. Turn it on.”
Outside, full night had fallen. Every two minutes I tried to raise Lindsey’s phone even as Skinner directed his police in their search. “Try every place he’s ever lived in,” Skinner snapped into his phone. “Check every associate. He drives a black Lincoln sedan, pull over every one you see. Turn every bit of this city upside down. I want that man caught.”
Skinner hung up and eyed me. “Rivers hasn’t called with a place or time to drop his money. Has he?”
I shook my head. “No. Can you trace where he’s calling from if and when he does?”
“I’ll do my best.”
While Skinner got back on his cell to instruct the phone folks to keep tabs on Austin’s cell, I tried the app again. Nada. Zilch. Zero.
“Lindsey,” I whispered, near tears. “Come home, baby. You escaped once. You can do it again. I know you can.”
Her cell stayed off. Skinner shut down his call and gazed at me with sympathy. “If Rivers uses his phone, we’ll know right where he is.”
“And where did his cell last ping from?”
“Unfortunately, right here. I guess he was sharp enough to turn it off after abducting Lindsey.”
“He’ll have to turn it on again,” I said, my hands running through my hair, “to call me. Right?”
“Unless he’s sharp enough to use someone else’s phone.”
“Shit.”
“Or a burner phone.”
“Fuck.”
“You wouldn’t make a very good criminal, I’m guessing.”
“Gee, what makes you say that?”
I sat at the table and tried the app again. “Dammit, Lindsey, turn your cell on.”
“She will.” Skinner also sat. “We’ll get her back, Brody. Believe in that.”
“I wish I could.” I stared at him. “Austin has been three steps ahead all the way.”
“Crooks make mistakes. And one mistake Austin made is to underestimate Lindsey.”
