Forgetting the ice cream and roses, he turned off his engine and strode up Kenzie’s front walk. “What’s going on?”
The expression on Deputy Marcs’ face made his pulse skip.
“A man abducted Kenzie and Gizmo at gunpoint about fifteen minutes ago. From the description given by a witness, I think it was one of the two men who robbed the armored vehicle last month.”
Conrad’s heart hit the back of his sternum, adrenaline flooding his bloodstream, turning his blood to ice. “What the hell are you doing here? Shouldn’t you go after them?”
Deputy Marcs put her hand on his arm. “We’ve got deputies in pursuit and a call into SWAT, but we don’t want this to turn into a hostage situation. We’ve got a few things on our side. We just got a ping on her cellphone, so we know exactly where they are and which direction they’re headed. Also, we know the make, model, and license plate number of the vehicle.”
Conrad looked over at the empty driveway. “Her truck.”
“Yes.”
His gaze snapped back to Marcs. “Where’s Gabby? Where’s the puppy?”
“The little golden retriever? She’s safe with the rest of the dogs at the kennel.”
Thank God for that at least.
“You said there were a few things on our side. You named two.”
“The witness overheard the suspect tell Kenzie that he needed her to find someone for him. He wants her and Gizmo to track someone. That means he needs the two of them whole and alive—at least until he finds whoever he’s looking for.”
Conrad wasn’t reassured by that. A man could do a lot of things to a woman without killing her. “I want to ride along.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
“She needs me.”
“If you want to help her, you need to let us do our job.”
But Conrad couldn’t just sit on his ass, not when Kenzie’s life was on the line. “Just tell me which way they went. Did they head up the canyon?”
Deputy Marcs shook her head. “I’m not authorized to share that information.”
Conrad nodded, pretending to understand. “I know you’ll do your best.”
An idea half-formed in his mind, he started through Kenzie’s front door.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Deputy Marcs moved to stop him.
“I live here most of the time now. I’m coming home.” He walked around her and stepped into the familiar warmth of Kenzie’s house, locking the door behind him.
For a moment, he stood there, breathing deeply, trying to clear his mind and get control of his fear. If anything happened to Kenzie…
He banished that possibility from his thoughts and set off in search of her laptop. If the sheriff was using her cellphone to track her, he could, too.
* * *
“Pull off the road here.”
Kenzie did what her captor, who said his name was Don, told her to do, signaling and pulling off the main highway onto a dirt road. So far, he hadn’t done more than reach over and touch her thigh. She had smacked his hand away and told him that if he touched her again, she would refuse to help him.
Since then, he’d kept his hands to himself.
“Keep driving.”
By now someone must have noticed she was missing. Quinn would have come back, found the dogs in their kennels. She would wonder why Kenzie wasn’t there. But would she tell the police? If Quinn didn’t report it…
