“Hi, sweetheart,” Reid said softly.
Ella blinked rapidly. “Where’s Mommy?”
“She had to go out for a few minutes.” He took her hand and swallowed down the lump that had lodged in his throat.
“When will she be back?” Her sweet little face peered at him with trust and, if he was right, affection.
He didn’t know what to do. What to say. How did he answer an impossible question?
“I’m not quite sure, sweetheart, but she’ll be here as soon as she can.”
Ella clutched his hand. “But you’re here.”
“Yes, I’m here.”
Her eyes drifted closed, and her hand fell away. He laid it softly on the bed and stepped into the hallway to pace.
His phone rang. Was it helpful information? Bad news?
He could barely get his shaking hands to comply and dig it from his pocket to answer. No caller ID. Who? What?
Panic threatened to swamp him.
“Reid Maddox,” he got out through a closing throat and resumed pacing.
“Trent Ingram here.”
“Good. Trent.” Reid’s spirits lifted. “Tell me you have something for me.”
“I do. DNA has completed on both the device and vehicle, and we have a match.”
“Who?” Reid demanded.
“A William Smith. Goes by Billy.”
Billy Smith? The gas station friend? “So that’s proof positive that Fowler didn’t place the device.”
“Correct. We did recover Fowler’s DNA from the baseball cap and business card found at Megan’s house. The business card Santa delivered at the hospital had both Fowler’s and Smith’s DNA.”
“So maybe Fowler started this and then Smith killed him and took over to demand money.”
“You’ll want to be careful with this guy. He’s a piece of work. Record a mile long. Did time for manslaughter so could be dangerous.”
And he has Megan.
“Can you get a last known address for him?” Reid asked as Jack and Lauren strode down the hall toward him.
“Wish I could,” Trent said. “But that’ll be up to law enforcement. Iamsending you a printout of GPS locations Fowler visited in the past month. Perhaps Smith’s address is on it.”
“Thanks, man,” Reid said and hung up. He explained the latest news to Jack and Lauren.
“No worries about the address,” Jack said. “Lauren played on the manager’s sympathies and he caved.”
Lauren rattled off an address not far from the hospital.
“I doubt he took Megan to his place,” Jack said. “But we’ll scope it out to see if we can find a lead.”
No way Reid wouldn’t be in on that visit. “Lauren, can you stay here with Ella until Russ and Sydney get here?”
