“Burt,” he said, his heart beat beginning to race.
“What about him?” Daniel looked at him curiously.
“I spoke briefly to Sunny when I was at the café. She told me Burt hadn’t been in since Dominique went missing. Why isn’t he going in to eat his breakfast as usual?”
“He had an alibi for the night in question,” Daniel protested.
“An alibi we didn’t check,” Luke said. He realized in the thick of things, they hadn’t followed up on Burt’s alibi. “We checked his alibi but we didn’t follow up on it and we didn’t check out his house.” Luke leaned forward, a new burst of adrenaline rushing through him. “Daniel, we need to get inside his house.”
“We’ll head to his office and get him to come with us and let us in to look around. I’ll contact Judge Blakely and see if he’ll sign off on a search warrant for Burt’s place.”
“We need to go there as soon as possible,” Luke replied, his stomach churning. “Can’t we just go there and break down the door?”
“Luke, the last thing we want to do is jeopardize the case. We do things by the book. Give me five minutes to cross my t’s and dot my i’s so we don’t make any mistakes. Wait for me in the lobby and when I’m done here, we’ll go talk to Burt.”
Luke walked out to the lobby, where Gus sat behind the desk. “How are you doing, Luke?” the older man asked.
“I’m okay,” Luke replied. But of course, he wasn’t okay. He began to pace, his thoughts on the possibility that Burt might be their kidnapper.
Was this just another wild-goose chase? Was he taking a casual statement from a waitress and making too big a deal out of it? He didn’t know. All he did know for sure was that they needed to check this out.
Daniel joined him and together the two men swiftly walked to city hall. “I got hold of Judge Blakely but he wouldn’t sign off on a search warrant. We don’t have enough evidence for one. We’ll just have to hope Burt lets us in without needing the warrant.”
“All I know is I want to get into his house as quickly as possible,” Luke replied. “If she’s not there, then at least it’s one place we cleared.”
They reached city hall and headed down the hallway to Burt’s office. When they reached it, Daniel knocked firmly on the door. There was no response. Daniel knocked again, this time louder. “Burt, it’s Chief LeCroix,” he called.
The door to the office next to Burt’s opened up. “He’s not there,” Margaret Delaney, the city clerk, said.
“Do you know where he’s at?” Luke asked.
“I’m assuming he’s at home. He called in sick this morning,” she replied.
The tension in Luke’s body tightened. Was he right about this? It felt right.Please let it be right. He turned and practically ran out of the building with Daniel hot on his heels.
When they reached the police station they got into Daniel’s car to head to Burt’s place. As they drove, Daniel called in several more officers to meet them there.
Luke’s heart beat so hard it felt as if it might explode out of his chest. Hope surged up inside him, a hope he prayed wouldn’t be dashed by the end of this search.
By the time they reached Burt’s house, a rich adrenaline flooded Luke’s veins. Burt’s house was a ranch located at the back of a dead end. On one side some distance away was a house that was obviously abandoned and on the other side was another ranch house, also some distance away. There was a red pickup truck in the driveway, indicating that Burt was home.
Before he could get out of the car, Daniel grabbed his arm to hold him in place. “We go in slow, Luke. If she’s in there, the last thing we want is for any sort of a hostage situation to unfold.”
Luke nodded. Even though he was ready to storm the door, he knew Daniel was right. They didn’t know if Burt would be armed and they didn’t know where, exactly, in the house Dominique might be located. The best they could do was get Burt out of the house before they went in to search.
The last thing he wanted was to do anything that might put Dominique at more risk if she was inside the house. They sat and waited until two more patrol cars pulled up. Together, they all got out of their cars.
Daniel instructed two of the officers to wait near the front door and he told Clay to head around the back of the house and guard the door there.
With everything in place, Daniel and Luke approached the front door. Daniel knocked and Luke held his breath. Please let her be inside, he inwardly prayed.
Daniel knocked again. “Burt, it’s Chief LeCroix.”
After several moments, the lock on the front door sounded and then Burt opened the door. “Chief… Officer Madison, what’s going on?” He appeared confused as he gazed at them.
“We have a few more questions to ask you,” Daniel said. “Can we come in?”
“Uh…it’s really not a good time right now.” He offered them an easy smile. “I’ve been doing a little cleaning and, in the process, I’ve made quite a mess in my living room. But I’ll beglad to answer any questions you might have.” He stepped out on the porch and closed the door behind him. “Now, what can I help you with?”
