“Well, I knew about her husband, but the rest? How do we know this guy was here for Vienna?”
“He’s from the D.C. area. I called a few of my contacts out there and showed his picture once I had a decent one from Mrs. Higgins. Then when I started to look at where he spent the most time, several of theoffice ladies and teachers at the school recognized him, and I started to put two and two together.”
“Wait. He’s been at the school?”
“Yes. That’s what really startled me, especially after what happened to Hailey Zachmann.” Shaking his head, he says, “I don’t ever want to relive something like that again.”
I pull out my phone and try calling Vienna again with no luck. “Chief, Vienna isn’t answering her phone.”
His face grows pale. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“No. And she’s at home with Ellis. I need—”
“Don’t say another word. Go. I’ll send Brody as back-up just in case.”
“Thank you.”
Brody and I race out to our cruisers as fast as we can after I tell him that his assistance is urgent, and then we flip on the sirens and speed across town.
I know I joked with Vienna about how getting to put on the sirens in my cruiser has always been something that brings me joy, but right now? I feel nothing but dread as I close in on my house.
I’m trying to convince myself that my paranoia is just rearing its ugly head, but deep down, I know something is very wrong, and I’m not going to believe it for myself until I see with my own two eyes that my daughter and the woman I love are okay.
Every cell in my body is vibrating. My palms are sweaty and my chest is so tight that breathing is difficult.
Fuck. I can’t lose them too.
I spin my cruiser into my driveway and barely park before I leap from the vehicle and barge inside, finding the front door unlocked but the house silent. “Vienna? Ellis?” With no sign of them anywhere, Ireach for my gun on my hip, lift it into position, and slowly walk down the hallway, uneasy about what I might find.
But I find nothing.
They’re not in my room or Ellis’s.
They’re not in the backyard.
Maybe they went to Vienna’s house?
When I exit my house, I find Brody standing watch in the front yard. “Anything?”
“No. I’m going to Vienna’s house to see if they’re there.”
When I arrive at her door, I don’t bother knocking, entering the house with my gun poised just in case. But the silence is deafening, eerie even.
Then Roscoe scratches at the back door, begging to be let in. I head for the sliding door as I return my gun to my hip and let him inside. “Hey, buddy. Where’s your mom?”
He runs to the front door, scratching to go out there.
This dog and I haven’t exactly seen eye-to-eye since I’ve met him, but I know he might be my only shot at figuring out what happened to Vienna and my daughter at this moment.
“All right, let’s go for a walk.”
I grab his leash from the hook by the door, attach it to his collar, and open the front door.
“We’re walking the dog right now?” Brody calls out to me.
“He loves the girls. I’m hoping he might be able to pick up their scent, or something.”
Roscoe starts sniffing away from the house and down the sidewalk. He doesn’t stop to pee or doddle, though. No. He’s got something on his nose and he’s following it with a passion. We walk for a few blocks before he stops completely, fixated on something on the sidewalk.
