“He’s okay, just on a phone meeting with his old boss about how he should proceed since he technically doesn’t work on the force anymore.”
“Thank you,” I whisper and quickly hang up.
Tears fill my eyes at the relief of just hearing nothing happened. Something as simple as not answering the phone when the unknown is so huge right now makes me think the absolute worst. I need James to be safe.
I need him to come back to me.
Chapter 26
Oakley
The only thought running through my head, as my old commander drones on about how I’m not actually working with them, is that I need to catch Tennison so I can come home and tell Willow I love her.
I’ve been so close to telling her a couple of times, but I held off. It didn’t feel like the right time.
And now I’m stuck in a meeting from hell and can’t even talk to her.
The other thing pissing me off? This entire conversation with my old boss. If he has it his way, I’d sit my ass here and let “the team” get Tennison. There is no way in hell that I’m not on the front lines with this one. He can berate me, threaten me, or whatever else he wants to do later, but I’m not sitting in this godforsaken office while Woodcroft and the rest of them go after this asshole.
My phone beeps in my ear, and I pull it away to see it’s Willow calling me. I almost let out a growl at the fact that I can’t answer the damn phone. She doesn’t leave me a message, but a minute later I see Sheriff stand up through the window of his office and put his phone to his ear.
He’s barely on the phone for a couple of minutes before he hangs up, and pulls out a paper map and starts studying it. Whatever that phone call was gave him something to run with.
“Listen, I promise I will be on my best behavior and not get anyone into more trouble. I know what I’m doing, sir.” And then I hang up. Perks of not actually working for him anymore, I guess.
Walking out of the office quickly, I move to stand over the map the sheriff has laid out.
“What’d you find?”
“Not me, Willow.” I jolt up at his words. “She said there’s a remote cabin in this area that would be the perfect place to hide, so I’m trying to narrow down the area, and find some entrance points and possible exits.”
That’s my fucking girl.
Woodcroft leans over the table, studying the area.
“Is there a direct path to this?” he asks.
“Probably not anymore. Willow was saying that unless you already know where it is, you won’t really be able to find it, but she gave me the general location, so we at least have that. I haven’t heard from Lennox yet, but he would be a big help with this too.”
“Alright, well, the rest of the team should be here shortly, then we can game-plan,” Woodcroft says.
“So, we’re supposed to just, what? Sit here and twiddle our thumbs?” Even I can hear the snark in my voice.
“Oak, man. We need back up.” Woodcroft isn’t fazed by me at all, and I’m thankful for his levelheadedness right now.
“I still think it would be good to come up with a plan before the team gets here. If we’re able to solidify things prior, then we can hit the road whenever they show up,” Sheriff says.
“I agree. Okay, so if we have an idea of where he is, we could just go find him,”Woodcroft says.
“No. He’s too smart for that. We need something to give him incentive to come out and play. He likes mind games; we need to play into that. He thinks he always has the upper hand, so we need to feed that.”
“Okay, what are you thinking?” Sheriff asks.
“A trap.”
“Oak, no,” Woodcroft says.
“He wants me; let’s give him what he wants. Or at least, the appearance of what he wants.”
