He forced his grip on the phone to ease. He didn’t need to break it. “Thanks for the heads-up.”
“We’ll be in the living room. Daphne managed to drag a few clues from them before they took her. Leo’s and Ryan’s teams are tracking them down,” Mantis said before leaving, closing the door behind him.
He stared at the phone, then took a seat on the corner of the bed. Pulling up the recording app, he pressed Play. Ten minutes later, he emerged from the room, handing the phone back to Ryan on his way to Leo.
“The park has CCTV. What are you finding?” he said.
“It’s only at the entrance, but we did get video of a blue truck towing a snowmobile entering at ten minutes after four this afternoon. Ryan and his team ran the plates.”
“Let me guess, stolen?”
“The owners are part-timers,” Ryan said, joining them. “It’s parked in their garage, and they weren’t even aware it was missing.”
“What time did it leave the park?” Lovell asked.
“It didn’t,” Leo replied. “At about five fifteen, a Volvo station wagon was caught leaving.”
“It’s registered to Hannah and Jack Watson of Joshua Tree,” Ryan said. “They are wildlife photographers and actually registered with the department two days ago.”
“Registered?” he asked.
“Not required by law, but they are camping in the park for a week to take a series of winter photos and said they like to make sure law enforcement knows where they are in case of an emergency,” Ryan answered.
“Weeks and Beeker drove in with a stolen truck and snowmobile and left with another stolen car?” he asked.
Leo nodded. “We caught a glimpse of Weeks in the passenger seat when they exited the park. No sign of Daphne, but if she was incapacitated, they likely had her bundled into the cargo area.”
“What now?” he asked, itching to be out doing something.
“Now, I’m tracking CCTV around town to see if we can find the direction they headed. We don’t think they’ll travel far because, well…”
“They’re using her for bait, and they still have to kill me.”
Ryan and Leo nodded.
“What about the gun? The Alien? It’s rare.”
Leo nodded. “Ava’s tracking that lead down.”
Lovell turned his gaze toward the picture window that looked out onto the porch. Less than two hours ago, Daphne stood on that wooden decking and did everything she could to protect her sister. He admired her for that, respected it. And it made him furious. Glancing over his shoulder, he stared at Callie. As if sensing his regard, she lifted her eyes. His stomach pitched when she rose and started toward him, Philly at her side. He wasn’t ready to talk with her, but there was nowhere for him to go. Not unless he wanted to bolt out the back door—tempting, but he wasn’t that much of a dick.
“I’m sorry,” Callie said.
What was he supposed to say? “It’s okay”? Because it wasn’t. “We’ll find her”? True, but inadequate. “It’s not your fault”? He wasn’t prepared to exonerate her. Not yet.
He nodded.
“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have gone to lie down. She insisted, but I should have ignored her,” Callie continued.
“I can’t do this right now, Callie,” he bit out.
She blinked, then did something he never thought he’d see. She shrank in on herself. Her shoulders curled, her gaze dropped to the floor, and she all but slumped into Philly when he put his arm around her. Pulling his wife into his embrace, Philly glared at him. Lovell met his gaze with a steely one of his own. Maybe it wasn’t fair to blame Callie, but right now, he did.
“Send me the details of the Volvo,” he said to Leo, drawing both Leo’s and Ryan’s attention.
“I can do that,” Leo said at the same time Ryan asked, “Why?”
“I’m going to look for her,” he responded. He couldn’t sit around and wait for intel to trickle in. Besides, if they stuck tothe plan Daphne had teased out, Weeks and Beeker planned to contact him, using her as leverage. They wouldn’t dare drop a message off at the club, and they had to know he’d moved out of his apartment, leaving his phone as the most likely channel. Which meant he could be anywhere so long as he had cell service.
