“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I can’t ignore that call. It’s my ringtone for the police station.”
“I get it. Part of the perils of being involved with a law enforcement officer that I’ll have to get used to.”
“Officer Hookstead.” The caller identified himself. “Hey, Quint.”
I NEED SOMETHING GOOD
LUCAS
He lay back nextto her on the bed, his fingers threaded with the hand closest to him, letting her talk undistracted.
“I’ve got some cleanup to do, but luckily, they didn’t get through the whole house. Any leads?”
He heard the disappointment in her voice.
“I get it. Obviously, this person has some tech skills. It’s looking more and more like everything at my house is linked to the things at school, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a student.”
The lieutenant on the other end of the phone said something that upset her because she sat up, pulling her hand from his, and turned her back to him while she sat on the edge of the bed.
“When?”
He frowned, wondering what she was getting hit with now.
“No, I can come help. I’ll have access to things you won’t, as far as her background.”
Now he was concerned.
“I’ll be there as soon as possible. Thank you for calling.”
She disconnected the call and was immediately up and moving toward her bathroom. “I’m sorry, Lucas. I have to shower and go. All available officers are being called in.” She stood in the doorway. “Kennedy Dixon is missing.”
When she disconnected the call, conversation was brief. She didn’t have much information to share because she hadn’t been fully briefed and wouldn’t be until she was on scene. He promised to lock up behind him when he left and made her promise to update him when she could. Since Kennedy was still a minor, her disappearance would be treated like an abduction, even if she ran away. In those cases, if she’d been taken, the first twenty-four hours were the most critical.
The thought of the hiking trails no longer appealed, so he spent the day around the house. Nothing held his attention for very long, and the day dragged. Where the hell could Kennedy have gone? Did someone grab her? Had she finally had enough and run away?
While Kennedy should have been first on his mind, his thoughts naturally drifted to Elyxandre. There was a serious story there about her and her ex-husband. Not normally given to thoughts of violence, he had to admit that the man made him see red. One well-placed punch would probably make him feel better, although he knew he’d never do it.
Probably wouldn’t.
While he puttered around the house, he thought back to the end of the week. It had been touch and go whether the pep rally, game, and dance would happen as planned, and if someone had asked him outright, he would have been fine with canceling everything this weekend, concerned about the students’ safety. However, the parents had been adamant that the seniors not miss out on their “rite of passage,” flooding the superintendent with complaints. Since Sealy didn’t want any negative press, the ass had ordered things to continue.
He’d felt stretched thin Friday night after school, waiting for the other shoe to drop. However, the parade started on time, and the game was played to a 21–14 home win, with his son being named MVP.
Yesterday, he breathed an audible sigh of relief when the dance seemed to be progressing smoothly. But again, on a personal level, he’d been worried about Elyxandre and how she was handling seeing Jess with him at the game, then her run-in with her father, followed by the break-in at her home.
Now Kennedy was missing. He wasn’t sure whether the school, Elyxandre, or he could take the hit if something bad had happened. The thought of Monday seemed extra unappealing right now. This past week, it seemed like very little actual school work got done, and he was not looking forward to the cleanup of his email, voicemail, and getting back to his regular schedule of meetings, observations, and everything else required of him during a normal week, especially now with Kennedy missing.
He’d just sat down and turned on the baseball playoffs to try and distract himself when his phone rang. A glance told him it was Elyxandre.
“Hey. Any luck?”
“Dr. Vaughn. It’s Officer Hookstead.” Odd. She didn’t call him by his first name.
Then he realized he could hear people in the background, so she must be somewhere she didn’t feel comfortable being that familiar with him. “I’m sorry to call you at home, but I need to stop by and see you.” She paused. “It can’t wait. I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”
His heart raced. She was coming here? While part of him was thrilled to have her in his space again, this sounded like an official visit. That couldn’t be good. “I’ll be watching for you.”
He sat and absently watched the television screen, his thoughts a blur. Did she have actual news, or was Kennedystill missing? If she was safe, he would have thought Elyxandre would just tell him. If she had news, would it be bad? He wasn’t sure what would be better to know. If Kennedy was found dead, they’d know, but it would break his heart. If she was still missing, there’d be hope yet that she was safe, but the not knowing would be stressful.
