Bit by bit Cain, Kennett, Evans and Hastings were making their own lists for what had just happened. Soon enough, JB rolled one of the eight-by-four dry erase boards over to the end of the table. Evans and Hastings pulled another one into the room, while Kennett started his own Post-it notes arrangement on the white board attached to the wall. Cain kept working at his own list, with only the occasional note stacked to the side of his yellow legal pad. They all had their routines. Later they’d compare thoughts.
The meeting had been informative, including a lot of innuendo and links that tied some of his suspicions together. He was grateful. He was angry. He was ready to take this case forward a whole lot of steps. At the same time, part of that investigation would be decided by the Crayton Police Department.
JB’s phone rang and he accidentally pushed the speakerphone button as he answered. “Hey, Marcy, what are you?—”
“Help me, JB. Help.” Her voice was barely a whisper, but the intensity said everything loud and clear.
“Where are you?”
“I’m hiding among the cars at the dealership. I just came back from Pete’s Soda Fountain after picking up root beer for the three of us. Something’s wrong here. There’s a black SUV parked at the back door, and a black Gladiator I’ve never seen before, with the top removed. And there’s a strange man walking around dressed in all-over camo…carrying a long rifle, with a ski mask over his face.”
Everyone in the room was on their feet in a flash. After everything they’d learned in the meeting with Earl Millerton, this was a rocket launch to the next level.
“We’re on the way.” JB checked his gun and motioned the others in the room to circle up and move out. “Stay where you are. Understand, Marcy?
“Hurry. Please hurry. I thought I heard?—”
Pop! Pop-pop-pop!
Everyone in the office stopped. Listened. The phone seemed to take on a life of its own. One that blared through the air like a crack of lightning, over and over and over.
JB headed toward the door as Cain and Truman followed close behind. Kennett notified the SWAT team and grabbed his own SWAT gear. Office protocol fell into place as Officer Hastings grabbed the two-way and alerted other officers on duty to be ready to assist.
“Do you hear that?” Marcy’s voice broke with fear and worry. “Do you?”
“Yes, I hear.” JB walked faster. His expression rigid with the look of a person focused on the job at hand.
“Wait a minute. The back door’s opening,” Marcy whispered. “There’s a guy in a bomber-style camo jacket…holding on to Betsy as they come out. She’s fighting back and—” Marcy sucked in a shocked breath. “He…he just knocked her to the ground. A grey-haired man in a black overcoat and…and Papa C keep shouting at her. Pointing back at the office doorway. The masked guy in head-to-toe camo is walking toward the back door.”
Marcy’s voice quivered as she snuffled quietly. “Betsy’s shaking her head. Pleading. She’s trying to stand back up. Pumping her hands as if trying to calm people down. The guy in the overcoat just said something to the man in the mask and motioned him to the driver’s seat in the SUV.”
“Stay quiet, Marcy!” JB shouted. “Climb under a car and stay absolutely quiet.”
“I will. I will.” She grunted. “Papa C is in the SUV’s passenger seat. The guy who drug Betsy out the door has shoved her in the passenger seat of the Gladiator. Looks like?—”
“Get under the car. Now!” JB commanded in a tone he’d normally never use with his wife.
“I’m trying.” She grunted. Grunted again and again. “I’m under a maroon van. All I can see from here is them driving away.”
“We’re on the way. Stay where you are even when I get there. Have you seen Summer?”
“No.”
JB notified Kennett of the possible hostage situation, then glanced in Cain’s direction, raised his eyebrows in question. Cain nodded in return. He’d gotten that loud and clear. Summer was missing. Marcy was hidden. Betsy had been taken. They were all on the same mission, mindset and messaging. Yet, at the same time, they each had a specific goal.
“Let’s go.” JB shoved open the side door leading out of the police station. All the years of training were working like clockwork.
Cain had felt the moment JB had gone on lawman alert. Followed by the moment fear for his wife had catapulted the whole scenario in the office. Cain had had the same reactions himself. Betsy might not be his wife, but she was the person he’d promised to protect…the one he planned to marry someday. Hell, Betsy was everything to him.
Somehow, she’d become more important to him than life itself. There were no questions to ask regarding police protocols or backup or anything else. JB and the others would handle all those specifics. For him, only one thing mattered. He bolted out the front door, headed for his truck.
Truman ran right behind him, making a phone call. “Sadie, no time for questions. Safe room. Now! I’m on the way.”
As Cain jumped into his truck, ready to pull out, Truman pulled his Range Rover up beside him and rolled down his window.
“I’m headed home to Sadie.” Truman said. “You and JB are the front line now. You got this?”
“I’ve got this!” Cain had never said anything he’d been more sure of in his life. “Tell Sadie she can count on me. I will bring Betsy home.”
