CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Jace recalled being pinned down in a village in Afghanistan, having been separated from the rest of his unit during an ambush on his convoy. They had exploded an IED on the gun truck directly behind his lead vehicle. Incessant gunfire along with the whoosh followed by a lingering hiss and subsequent booming sounds of RPGs hitting hard targets still resonated in his ears. The knowledge that it was only a matter of time before his vehicle was targeted had torn at his gut. Would he and his crew be able to avoid being captured? The fact that they needed to return had been all that had penetrated his mind.
Bottom line? It had been the most stifling sensation he’d ever experienced, almost as if a boulder had been set down on his chest to prevent him from breathing.
The only difference between then and now was that he wasn’t fearing his own life…he was scared shitless that Shae was going to lose hers.
Four hours had passed since anyone had heard from Shae, either in person or by phone. Something bad had happened, and he hadn’t been there to stop it. The alert had gone out and everyone was looking for her.
“We’re tracing Shae and Brynn’s cell phones now,” Mitch said, walking into his office while removing the rain jacket he’d had on during the showdown with Raymond Dixon. “Brynn used it to touch base with Rose this morning about their visit, but she hasn’t seen it since. It could just be a coincidence.”
“Brynn made multiple stops. She checked in with Kristen at the bar, the diner to pick up a pie order for Rose, and then to the lake at Tiny and Rose’s cottage,” Lance offered, letting everyone know that somewhere along her path she’d lost her phone. Either that, or someone had stolen it. “Their cabin is on the north side of the lake, near the restaurant.”
“And you tried the phone locator app?” Noah asked, his attention fully on the conversation at hand regardless that he’d been on his phone for the past five minutes. He was coordinating a search party for Shae through various people, including Reese. She was with Brynn and Gus, relaying pertinent information from the other residents involved. “What about Shae’s phone?”
“Sheriff, both phones are turned off.” Patty stood in the doorway, giving an update that was no help to Jace. He curled his fingers into the palms of his hands to keep from screaming at each and every one of them. He knew the odds. With each passing minute, the less likely it was to find a missing person. “But we were able to see that both devices were last pinged off the cell tower closest to the lake.”
That was enough information for Jace. He’d been leaning against a filing cabinet, doing his best not to lose his mind, but he instantly made a shot for the door at this latest development. Patty moved to the side without hesitation, though all of his brothers’ warnings were being vocalized. He didn’t stop and proceeded through the door of the station out into the cold rain.
“Jace, what have you got?”
A quick glance to his left showed Detective Kendrick making a beeline for the sheriff’s office. He was rushing forward in an attempt to avoid getting soaked. It was all but useless now that he’d stopped to talk to Jace.
“The last ping went to the cell phone tower up near the lake.” Jace ignored the sound of the door opening behind him. “I’m heading there now.”
“I’m having Patty pull the details on Shae’s phone to see if she received any calls or texts,” Mitch informed Kendrick, though Jace didn’t break stride as he stepped down from the curb and to the driver’s side of his Range Rover. “Jace, take Lance with you. Deputies Warner and Foster are scouring the county, looking for her Jeep Grand Cherokee. Noah is going to take a drive back out your way to see if maybe she ran off the road somewhere. Kendrick and I will follow you up to the lake.”
“I have an officer heading out to Jace’s residence, as well as two others taking a walk through the woods where Emma disappeared.” Kendrick’s words stopped Jace from actually getting into his vehicle. Reality had already hit home that Shae was likely in some sort of trouble, but to end up like her sister? He couldn’t conceive such a notion. “This perp purposefully placed the boots Emma wore the night she was taken into Shae’s room for a reason. It’s not a stretch to believe he was trying to make a point.”
Jace hesitated, allowing the rain to soak into his shirt. He’d gone back to his house to secure his firearm and was ready to face whatever came at him or to take down whoever had Shae. He couldn’t allow himself to believe that she would end up like her sister. It wasn’t going to happen. But Kendrick’s suggestion that the son of a bitch might take Shae to the same place he’d abducted her sister wasn’t unreasonable.
The locations were on opposite ends of town. Time was of the essence.
Which damned location should he choose?
Lance was already in the passenger seat, wiping the rain from his face. He’d go anywhere Jace wanted, regardless of the danger, as would the rest of his family. Noah was pulling out of his parking spot, quickly heading down the street with his given task.
What if Shae was somewhere in the woods? What if Jace was wasting precious time by driving out to the lake?
“We know one thing for absolute certainty,” Mitch said over the crack of thunder rumbling across the sky. He was holding his useless rain jacket now that his clothes were soaked with rainwater. “She was at the lake after meeting Jimmy for lunch. We go where the evidence takes us.”
Jace nodded, unable to get his words out around the constriction of his throat. He was betting Shae’s life on a cell tower.
He yanked open the door and settled in behind the wheel, reversing his Range Rover out of the parking spot before Mitch and Kendrick even made it to the car. The wipers were already working overtime on high, and the roads were basically clear of any other vehicles as he drove them out of town at high speed.
“She’ll be okay.”
Jace wanted to believe Lance with everything in his power, but they were both aware of the tally of victims by this bastard. He’d gotten away with kidnapping multiple teenage girls for over twelve years, maybe more. Then there was Whitney, murdered and then hidden away like all of the other victims. What would make Shae the exception?
She was exceptional to him. In every way. From her cautious spirit to the purity she displayed when her guard was down. Her laugh was infectious, and she wore her heart on her sleeve. Shae would do anything for anyone, regardless of the cost to herself. She’d proven it time and again with the way she interacted with Calvin, Harlan, the Schaeffers, and anyone else who had some connection to the case. She’d even extended a hand to Billy Stanton, regardless that he was worth less than a piece of shit stuck on the bottom of a shoe.
“They say fear is crippling,” Jace managed to say after clearing his throat a few times. He made a sharp right, taking the road that would lead them to the lake. He gripped the steering wheel tightly as he struggled to release his pent-up anger. “We dealt with it on a daily basis over a decade while we were fighting alongside our brothers and sisters. I’m not saying there wasn’t a time or two that I didn’t truly believe it wasn’t my time, but I was at peace with myself.”
Lance rested a hand against the dashboard as Jace took a turn in the road faster than intended, though the tires held fast to the wet road. He pressed the gas pedal a little more in hopes of gaining every precious second that he could, given the circumstances.
“This type of fear?” Jace could barely contain his sanity at the thought of what Shae could possibly be experiencing right at this moment. “It gives clarity. It provides a lucidity that makes all the world’s problems disappear in the blink of an eye.”
“I’ve been there, Jace.” Lance’s shaky breath told Jace that he wasn’t just saying platitudes. He’d heard what had happened when Clayton Schaeffer tried to torch down Lance’s house…with him in it. But it was witnessing Brynn standing in the middle of the grass soaked with gasoline that had turned his world around. “I know what you’re experiencing firsthand, and you can alter any decision about your future you feel is necessary once we get her back.”
Future? It was hard to think past the present when they were on borrowed time.
“I love her, Lance,” Jace admitted, not ashamed in the least when his voice caught in his throat. “I love her.”