The direction of the interstate.
Addie got to him as fast as she could, and she soon saw what he was chasing. A black car. It was indeed speeding away, and in a blink, it disappeared around a steep curve.
“No,” Addie shouted, and she started running again.
She was nowhere near close to catching up with the black car or Judson when she heard the sound of a vehicle behind her. For a moment, Addie thought it was the black car, that a miracle had happened and it had turned around so the driver could bring back those precious baby girls.
But it was a Renegade Canyon cruiser.
Addie instantly recognized the driver—Deputy Livvy Walsh, her foster sister—and she saw that Livvy’s face was tight with nerves.
“Where’s Judson running?” Livvy asked, lowering her window.
“After a black car,” Addie blurted. “The babies are in there.”
At least she hoped they were and that the black car wasn’t some kind of decoy to get them searching in the wrong direction. But that was possible. Anything was at this point, and it occurred to her that the kidnapper could still be somewhere on that trail, hiding and waiting for a chance to escape.
“Get in,” Livvy insisted. She reached over to open the passenger’s door, and Addie practically dived inside.
Livvy took off, slamming her foot on the accelerator, which caused the tires to squeal against the asphalt. Judson no doubt heard it, because he spun toward them, already drawing his weapon, ready to respond to a possible threat. He quickly reholstered his gun, though, when he saw this wasn’t a threat but rather help in the form of his fellow deputy.
Judson hurried toward them, and Livvy slowed so that he could jump into the back seat. The moment he was in, Livvy gunned the engine again and took off.
“Did you see the driver?” Livvy asked.
“No,” Addie and Judson said in unison.
It was Judson who continued. “But I got a picture of the license plate. I’ll call it in now.”
Good. Addie wanted every cop in the area looking for this monster who’d taken Lily and Rose.
“I thought I saw someone in the back seat of the black car,” Judson muttered. “But maybe not. It could have been a shadow or even the seat headrest.”
Maybe the picture he’d taken would show that, but when Addie glanced back, she saw that Judson had only captured the license plate and part of the car’s trunk.
The cruiser’s tires squealed again when Livvy took the curve way too fast, and she had to fight to keep the cruiser on the asphalt. Because of the winding rural road, she immediately had to negotiate another curve, then another before they finally reached a straight stretch.
And Addie’s heart dropped.
Because she couldn’t see the black car. She couldn’t see any vehicle. It was possible that the driver was going so fast that they’d already managed to get out of sight, but there was also a chance that they’d pulled off onto a side road or a ranch trail.
“Keep watch,” Livvy ordered them. “See if you spot it. I’m going to keep driving.”
Addie did keep watch, but the scenery was practically flying by, and some of the trails were canopied with thick trees. If the driver had gone far enough down the trail, it could be impossible to see them from the road.
“The kidnapper and babies could still be on the southeast ranch trail,” Addie managed to say. The muscles in her throat were so tight, it was hard for her to speak. “That’s where Judson and I were when we heard one of the babies crying and the car engine.”
Livvy nodded and used a voice command on her phone to contact dispatch. “I need someone to check the trail on the southeast side of the Horseshoe Ranch. That’s the last known location of the missing infants.”
“Will do,” the dispatcher assured her and ended the call.
“The car is registered to an Yvette O’Dell,” Judson relayed to them in between the conversation that he was having with someone at the sheriff’s office.
Addie continued looking for the vehicle, but she also repeated the name several times to see if it was familiar. “That doesn’t ring any bells. Who is she? And why would she take the babies?”
“Not sure yet,” Judson replied.
Addie heard the hesitation in his voice and glanced back at him. “What?” she demanded.
