“We’re going to find him,” he said.
“They got to Sydney to get to the real target: the sheriff. But why? It doesn’t make sense. I’ve thought about it, and now I don’t think she was acting anything but curious. That poor woman. She felt bad for Uncle Wayne.” She tried hard to keep the tears from falling, but the thought of losing her only family was too much to bear.
McGaven wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to find him. I’m sure there’s a logicalexplanation.”
“You really think so? I don’t. And I don’t understand why Junior and whoever else would want to hurt him? What does he have to do with the family killings and those buried bodies?”
“Let’s go back to the department and bring Hamilton and anyone else into this,” he said.
“I’m going back to my house to see if he’s been there recently and then the condo.”
“I don’t want you to go alone.”
“I’ll be fine. We have to check everywhere. There might be a clue to where he is and what happened.”
The detectives hurried out of the medical examiner’s office. McGaven got behind the wheel to drive them back to the department where Katie would pick up her Jeep.
After they had arrived, McGaven stopped Katie. “Someone should be with you. Let me call John. Okay?”
Katie had been trying with all the strength she had to keep herself composed and strong. She slowed her breathing and calmly said, “Okay, I’ll wait for him.” She got out of the car and hurried to get to her vehicle.
“Katie!” McGaven called out after her, but she didn’t stop. He called John. “We have a problem. I need your help.”
Katie drove out of the parking lot.
Driving to her house, everything kept coming back to the question: why the sheriff? Was it to make a point? Was the sheriff a figure that would get the most attention? Or would they use him as the sacrificial lamb when they murdered him?
But why?
Katie drove into her driveway and was relieved when she saw her uncle’s SUV parked where it usually was—just to the right of the garage. She turned off her Jeep and ran to her porch without even shutting the car door.
Her front door was unlocked, and she slammed it openexpecting to see her uncle and Cisco, but didn’t see either. There was barking and whining coming from her bedroom. She rushed to the door and opened it as Cisco ran out, agitated.
“You okay?” she said, dropping to her knees, checking the dog all over. “Uncle Wayne! You here?”
Katie checked the entire house. There was no sign of her uncle anywhere. The bed was neatly made in the guest room and his overnight bag was on a chair. All his toiletries were in the bathroom. He was intending to come back.
Cisco ran around with her, seeming to check every room as well. The distress and worry overwhelmed Katie and she felt as if she were going to pass out. She returned to her room and sat on the edge of her bed. Not knowing what to do at that moment, she began to cry. Someone had been there. Her uncle was gone and Cisco had been shut into her bedroom. Yet the house didn’t look like there had been a struggle or anything had happened there.
Cisco jumped up on the bed next to her and tried to console her in his own way. She checked her phone, but there weren’t any voicemails or messages. She wiped her face and got hold of herself. She figured she would go to her uncle’s condo—she had to keep herself busy until she heard from him.
Walking back into the living room, she saw she had left the front door open. She went to close it and saw Buck’s military dog tags were hanging on the inside doorknob.
“No…” she whispered. Katie had put the tags on top of her dresser and now someone had moved them to where she would see them—they were sending a message. Was Buck involved or was the killer just mocking her?
She watched John pull his truck into the driveway and hurry into the house. “Katie,” he said.
She was sitting on the sofa trying to make sense of everything.
“Hey,” he said dropping next to her. “You okay?”
“I have to be okay.”
“Why do you say that?”
“My uncle is missing.”
“You have an entire department working out a plan—and not stopping until they find him.” He hugged her tight. “I can’t imagine how difficult this is for you. But one thing McGaven did say is that you can’t be working this investigation.”
