“You’ll be fine with Markie,” he said.
With reluctance, she left the room. As she stepped through the threshold, she glanced back and caught his gaze one last time. God, she hoped it wasn’t the last time. She needed him. He made her feel safe. If he volunteered to look after her again, she’d never do anything as stupid as leaving his sight again until this whole mess was resolved.
There was still at least one Colombian on the loose who knew she had the drugs. Until he was caught, she’d never be safe.
Chapter Eleven
Captain Tomie stepped into the conference room and focused on Cap. “We’ve figured out how Milbourne survived the water, got back to town, and got a gun. How he knew to find Emma at your house is still a mystery.”
“How?” Cap asked.
“We ran the plates on the sedan parked next to where Jonathan’s truck had been parked at the boat ramp. Came back to a Howard LaVine. He’s got a place out on South Lake Michigan Drive. I called him and asked about his car. He said he was just about to call the Sheriff’s department because when he woke up, the car was missing.”
“Woke up? Jonathan stole the car?” Cap asked.
Tomie sat on the chair next to him and continued. “Turns out LaVine spotted Milbourne in the water, kayaked over to him, and dragged him back to shore. Said he thought the guy was dead at first. Milbourne fed him a line, telling him he’d been kidnapped, which is why his hands were bound. Once on shore, LaVine cut him loose, and they went into his house so Milbourne could call the cops. The next thing LaVine knew, he woke up on the floor with a grapefruit-sized lump on the back of his head. Quite a headache, too, I guess. To make matters worse, Milbourne had hogtied him with an extension cord. Took him a while to get loose. Anyhow, when he came to, Milbourne was gone. His car was gone and, worst of all, his 9mm was gone. He kept the gun in a holster slung on the coat rack. Don’t even get me started on that.”
“I knew I saw a kayaker out there. Dammit. How did they slip under the radar of the shore search?” Cap asked.
He wanted to kick himself for not following through better regarding the kayaker and shore search.
“There were a lot of doors to knock on and a sizeable area to cover. Not everyone was home, either,” Tomie answered.
“No good deed goes unpunished,” Chief Mertz added with a shake of his head, “at least it sounds like LaVine is okay.”
“Still, how did he track Emma down at my place?” Cap asked.
“I’ve been thinking about that. Turns out Milbourne had a lot of time to plan his next move. Maybe he simply drove his stolen car back to town and watched the dock to see what we did when we came in from the water. He could have had eyes on the police station and saw you and Emma get into your truck. It could be that simple.”
Cap didn’t recall any headlights following him when he drove Emma to his home, but right now, Captain Tomie’s theory was as good as any.
“The pieces of the puzzle are falling together,” Mertz said.
“They are, and knowing this information now, let’s refocus on the next steps. I think we should put out a press release saying Emma is missing, hoping nobody saw her walk in here. It’s early. Maybe we can get away with that. Even if we get tips, we can handle them by saying they didn’t check out. We’ll say she hasn’t been seen since early this morning. See if we can’t keep the Colombians interested in sticking around,” Chief Deputy Styles said.
“That could work,” Chief Mertz agreed.
“Use her as bait?” Cap questioned.
He already knew the answer. It was the right move if they wanted to catch the dealer and get him off the street. Knowing that didn’t make the knot in his chest loosen.
Hell, Emma was already in danger. Danger is danger, but this meant leaning into it. Drawing it closer. If it worked, they’d eliminate the immediate threat, but what about the cartel leader? What would he do? Would he come after her, too? The amount of drugs in the bag suggested money, but not a ton, so maybe the police attention brought to this would cause him to walk away from it. They could only hope.
“Do you think we could get her to agree?” Styles asked.
Cap thought for a moment. “In the long run, catching the remaining guy is probably her best shot at getting out of this. So, I would hope she’d understand that.”
“We can stash her at the safe house on Glidden. I’ll have one of our female deputies stay with her, and we’ll heavily patrol the area,” Styles said.
Cap’s chest tightened. He wanted to be the one to stay with her and keep her safe. But he wasn’t on the force anymore. Plus, keeping her in the safe house out of the city limits made her the Sheriff’s Department’s responsibility, not the city’s. Would they let him go, too? Maybe, since they included him in this conversation. He could have his brother take his charters. With as much as he and Hunter looked alike, that probably wasn’t a good idea in the event the Colombian came after him. He couldn’t use his brother in the crosshairs like that.
“Cap, do you have any charters booked for the next couple of days?” Chief Mertz asked.
Cap’s pulse spiked. Was the chief about to propose that he stay with Emma, too?
“Yeah, I’m full up.”
Mertz rubbed his hand over his face. “I think you should keep those. Go on as normal. We can put Captain Tomie on the boat with you as a deckhand in case they come looking for you. If the Colombians try to reach you by water, it’ll be easy to spot them from a distance. We’ll staff another boat nearby so they never reach you or your clients.”
