Every cell in Sam’s body tingled with sensation the way it did whenever the details of a vexing case came into sharper focus. This guy—and his kid—had targeted and groomed Ethan and Tomas to make them willing to go along with whatever they suggested. The whole thing had been planned with meticulous attention to detail with the ultimate goal of luring Luna to whatever horrors they had in mind for her.
Mike, Brooke and Nate stepped into the cubicle, and Sam stood to give Mike and Brooke room to hug Ethan.
Tracy stayed right where she was, next to her son, where she would remain for every minute he was in the hospital. Then she would take him home and keep him there until he was thirty.
Chapter Fifteen
Sam had never seen Mike Hogan cry the way he did when he saw Ethan alive and mostly well. As someone who’d always been like a big brother to Sam, seeing him like that hurt her heart. She was deeply concerned about Tracy and Mike’s marriage and whether it would survive this incident.
While they talked with Ethan, Sam went to the hallway to compare notes with Ruiz.
“What’ve you got?” the captain asked.
Sam went through the facts that Ethan had relayed to her. “It sounds as if Mayfield and his son chose them for this mission after buttering them up during previous encounters.”
“That’s my impression as well.”
“Ethan was able to give me fairly specific information about where they were held.”
“We’ve got people canvassing the area now.”
“I wonder if they ran once they figured out that Ethan and Tomas had escaped.”
“That’s possible. I’ll pass all the new information on to everyone in the field and update the BOLO to include only Luna. We’ll need to update her parents, as well as notifying the media that Ethan and Tomas have been found. Do you want to handle those two things due to the intense public interest in your family connection to this case?”
“Sure, I can do that.”
“Thanks.”
“Thank you for letting me help.”
Ruiz nodded and went to make her calls.
Sam leaned back against the wall, closed her eyes and tried to process the information Ethan had imparted.
That’s where Nick found her when he came looking for her. “Hey,” he said softly. “Is he okay?”
Sam nodded. “He will be. Eventually. No serious injuries, thank goodness, and the multitool came in handy to cut through zip ties.”
“Wow, really?” Nick smiled. “He’ll be proud of that.”
“As he should be. It got them out of there.”
“Can you go home and get some rest now?”
“I have to go back to HQ and update the media.”
“You should be able to do that from here. Word is they followed us.”
“Oh, well… That’s handy.” She scrubbed a hand across her face as relief, elation and bone-deep exhaustion sparked a desperate need for sleep. “I have one call to make, and then I can do the briefing. Let me just check in with Tracy, Mike and Ethan first.”
“Tell them I’m here and that I love them.”
“Come in with me.”
“That’s okay. They need their space right now.”
She patted his arm. “I’ll be right back.”
