The vehicle rolled by at speed, but he got a quick glimpse of the driver, and he also noticed that the vehicle’s emergency lights were not flashing.
Zack slowed, his heart pounding even more than it had been, and then he turned around in the road and began following the emergency vehicle, because somehow he had a feeling that he knew what was going on.
Soon the emergency vehicle pulled off the road onto a drive and parked, flipped on its hazard lights, and a man got out. Zack pulled straight in behind it and climbed out in time to see the driver as he stood outside his vehicle. He wore a heavy black coat, black pants, and black work boots, and he held his mobile phone as he moved up the driveway, looking at the device as he hiked up into the trees.
The man hadn’t noticed Zack yet, and for a brief second, Zack thought about backing out and driving off, but he forced himself to stay. He was certain he was looking at Pete Delaney, Andie’s dad, and he knew he needed to talk to him to see why he was here.
His voice cracked a little bit when he called out, just as the man in the firefighter’s uniform and the heavy coat leaned forward and picked up something out of the snow.
“Sir?”
Delaney spun to him. Zack had seen pictures of the deputy chief of Boulder Fire and Rescue online, but he never expected to be standing face-to-face with him.
The man seemed agitated. He looked down at something in his hand, then back up at the man standing there. “Help you?”
Zack didn’t know where to start. Telling the truth seemed like a terrible idea right now, but he didn’t have any brilliant ruse in mind.
He held his hands out in a nonthreatening manner. He was about to speak, but then the man’s eyes widened suddenly.
“Shit! You okay, fella?”
Zack tracked the man’s eyes, looked down, and saw the blood on his left leg. It had made its way through the bandages, through his jeans, and it covered them from the knee down.
“It’s…it’s okay. It’s nothing.”
Pete walked over to him, momentarily sidetracked from his primary mission by the injured man in front of him.
“You’re bleeding pretty good, there. What’d you do?”
Zack saw what was in the man’s hand now. It was an Apple AirTag, and suddenly it all made perfect sense.
The men were just feet apart. Pete noticed Zack looking at the AirTag, and his helpful demeanor seemed to change, as if he sensed danger somehow.
He said, “You live here?”
Zack shook his head.
“What…do you want?”
“It’s about Andie. Did she have that AirTag on her?”
The man looked down at it, then back up at the bearded man in front of him. Suddenly he pulled a radio off his belt.
Zack said, “Wait! Listen. You don’t want to call anybody till I talk to you.” He paused, “It’s for her own good.”
“What the fuck did you do to her?”
“Nothing. Swear to God. I’m here to help. Butsomebodyhas her, and you and me are going to have to work together to get her back.”
“Fuck that.” Delaney brought the radio to his mouth.
And then, more reflexively than anything else, Zack Hightower reached under his coat, pulled his pistol, and leveled it at the man.
The radio lowered. Delaney stared at the gun. “What’s going on?”
Zack said, “Brother, I know it’s gonna be a hard sell for me convincing you of this…but I’m on your side here. I just need to talk to you a second.”
Snow fell all around them. Delaney said nothing. Finally, Zack said, “Sit in my truck with me. I’m going to explain everything and then you’ll understand what’s going on.”
