Cookie received the call around four o’clock. He thought Fiona would have called by now and he was actually about to call her. He’d been anxious to find about out about her luncheon with her father. He’d figured she might have driven over to Caroline’s after lunch to talk about it with her. But he was concerned that he hadn’t even gotten a text.
He just finished asking Victor if he’d heard from Monica. “Nope. Sorry buddy. I did send her a text about an hour ago, but I’ve got nothing. I just figured they had a lot to talk about and she would text me a soon as it was convenient.”
“Yeah. I haven’t heard anything either.” It was at that moment he got a phone call from a number he didn’t recognize. He answered it immediately. “Knox speaking.”
“Hi, Mr. Knox. This is Congressman Reynolds. Um, Fiona’s dad.”
“Yes, sir. What can I do for you? Is Fiona okay?” he asked, immediately concerned by the unexpected phone call.
“Um, well, I’m not sure. The girls left the club about an hour before me. I saw a friend and had a quick drink with him before I left. She seemed fine when she left and she promised to call me tomorrow. But, I’m standing in the parking lot of the Golf Club now and I noticed that her car was still here. And, Julie’s convertible is parked right next to it. I didn’t see them inside, so I was just checking to see if they were all right.”
“Maybe they’re still inside.” Even though he said the words aloud, something inside of him made him think something was wrong. If there had been car trouble, one of them would have called. At the very least word would have gotten to him.
“I don’t think so,” the Congressman confirmed his fears, “because I saw them leave the building though they might’ve come back in and I didn’t notice. I also found a purse on the ground and it looks like the one Julie was carrying.”
Immediately Hunter’s radar went on high alert. “Shit. Can you stay with the vehicles? I’ll be right there.”
Victor had been standing next to him the whole time and from what he heard knew there was a problem. “What’s going on?” he asked full of concern for his wife.
Instead of answering his question, Cookie rushed to Commander Hurt’s office which was just down the hall. Victor was right on his heels. “The girls’ cars are in the parking lot, Commander, but they left over an hour ago. Congressman Reynolds found Julie’s purse on the ground, but there are no signs of the girls anywhere,” Cookie stated as he walked into Patrick’s office.
Patrick blanched. He had been on the phone with another commander and immediately put an end to the call. “I’ve got an emergency, Commander Johnson. I’ll call you back when I can.” He hung before hearing the other man’s response.
Patrick was already out of his seat crossing the room quickly. “Let’s go to my jeep. We need to find our women. Tell me what else you know. Report.”
“That’s all I know. But my gut tells me something is not right.”
“Get Tex on the phone and have him track the girls.”
“On it,” Cookie stated, already hitting the speed dial. Victor was on his tail.
All three men flew through the double doors of the complex and followed Commander Hurt to his jeep which was parked right out front. They climbed in just as Tex’s voice came on the line.
“What’s up, Cookie?”
“I need a location on Julie and Fiona. Stat.”
From the sound of his friend’s voice, Tex knew something wasn’t right. He ran downstairs, cell phone pressed to his ear, and opened the door to his basement office where he had all of his equipment set up. Everything was on, so he hastily hopped into his seat, tapped a few keys, and three dots appeared on one of the monitors.
“Separate locations, sir. Strange.”
“Tell me.”
“I’ve got one at the Riverton Golf Club and one at the marina. The third is somewhere in the . . . ocean. I can send you the coordinates. Were the girls supposed to be together? Did the girls get separated?” Tex’s mind was flying as were his questions. The more he knew, the better he could help. He was clearly confused by the location of the third tracking device.
Cookie repeated what Tex had just told him so that Patrick and Victor could hear.
“What are these tracking devices?” Victor asked, clearly lost by what was going on, but definitely worried about his wife.
Patrick explained. “Because of what we do, Ciccone, sometimes our wives’ lives are in danger. We have a friend who keeps an eye on them through little tracking devices they carry with them.”
Victor spoke next. “If you guys are thinking what I’m thinking and someone nabbed them, then I don’t think we should be heading to the golf club. Your wives have definitely left us a trail.”
“Hang on, Tex is saying something,” Cookie interrupted, trying to listen to two conversations at the same time.
He repeated what Tex just said for Victor and Patrick again. “The tracker at the golf club hadn’t moved in an hour. It was Fiona’s left earring. The tracker at the marina stopped moving 30 minutes ago. That was Fiona’s right earring. The tracker in Julie’s bracelet was still on the move. It looks like it’s somewhere over water near Jordan’s pass.”
“Call Matthew. We need a chopper to meet us at the marina,” Patrick yelled as he violently turned the steering wheel to turn his Jeep around to head in the direction of the marina. Victor and Tex were right. Their women had left them a trail.
Cookie spoke into the receiver to his friend, Tex. “Got to go, buddy. Keep an eye on Julie’s tracker while I get Matthew to get me a bird up in the air.”
“I’ll send location updates to yours’ and Patrick’s phones. Turn on the app and you’ll see where they are at all times. I’ll keep it updated in real time. I’m here if you need me,” Tex stated before disconnecting. Cookie hit Matthew Steel’s number on speed dial. He’d also call Congressman Reynold’s when he was done. He’d let him know they had a probable location on the girls, and that he could head back to his hotel. They’d call him later with an update.
It was a twenty minute drive to the marina, he thought, as Matthew’s phone rang once. They had to find them. The fact that the third tracker was on the move gave him hope. They were moving, he told himself, they had to be okay. They just had to.
“Steel here,” Matthew’s tone was sharp as it always was when he answered this line. It meant business needed to be done.
As they went into action, and Victor listened in on the conversation Cookie had with his team leader, he worried about Monica. He hoped she was still with Fiona and Julie. The girls had trackers and that was great, but his heart beat furiously wondering if his wife and theirs were safe. All he knew was, like Cookie and Patrick, he would do whatever it took to get them all back safely.