Chapter 48
Forty-Eight
O n his way back to the station, Ethan stopped at a nearby sandwich shop to pick up lunch. The aroma of fresh baked bread, tomato sauce, basil and beef mingled with the rich scent of coffee and permeated his truck.
He was coming back with more information than he started with. However, his stomach was tied in knots, and he wondered how this was all going to pan out. The stakes were high. Could they make the connection to the criminal activity and Thornton’s murder? What if they couldn’t? He couldn’t dismiss the idea that Ruggerio was Thornton’s partner and his killer.
As he stepped through the front door of the station, he let out a sigh of relief. It was relatively quiet. Jimbo was at Nora’s desk, flipping through a stack of mail, and Ethan looked at his watch. Eleven o’clock. Hopefully, this case would be closed soon. He handed Rosie the information to check.
“Let me know what you find.”
She nodded and went back to her desk.
Ethan settled at his desk and looked at the several messages Nora had left for him.
There was still no word from Jane, so he left another message. Savannah should be there by now, so they were probably busy catching up. He was tempted to call Sean, but first, he’d wait to hear what Rosie found, then he would update his brother.
His stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten since early morning. Devouring the meatball sub, he wiped his mouth on a napkin.
Just as he finished eating, Rosie knocked twice on his door before entering with a grim look on her face. She sat across from him, shaking her head. “The phone number turned out to be a burner phone, and the phone number was blocked. We don’t have the resources or technical expertise to retrieve call records or even perform cell tower triangulation.”
Damn. Ethan clenched his jaw. It just figured this wouldn’t be easy.
“Give me some good news,” he asked hopefully.
She smirked. “Well, the good news is that Viper is probably Victor Ruggerio. Rumors suggest that he is involved in racketeering and money laundering, although nothing has been proven. He’s cautious. I have to give him that. It looks like he uses other people to do his dirty work.”
Okay then. Ethan mentally filed away that information. He was sure Sean could run with what they had and dig deeper.
“Any idea of his whereabouts?”
“He owns a condo in Manhattan, which he’s had for several years.” Rosie shrugged. “Sorry, it’s not much.”
“More than we had before.” Ethan wondered if Victor was really going to bring Maggie to New York, or was he stringing her along for some reason? He’d touch base again with Maggie later.
Rosie stood. “I’ll keep checking,” she said, leaving the office.
Maybe now was a good time to call Sean, Ethan thought as he picked up the phone. Before he could dial the number, a call came through his cell phone.
Finally, Jane called.
“Hi, sweetheart. Having fun with Savannah?”
“Ethan, it’s not Jane. It’s Savannah.”
Alarm bells went off in his head. “Hi. What’s up? Where’s Jane?” His knuckles turned white as he clenched the phone.
“That’s what I was going to ask you. Where is Jane? Is she running errands? Is she with you?” Savannah’s voice trembled, edging toward hysterical. “I’ve been here an hour. Her car’s here, but she’s not.”
Jane wasn’t there? Ethan closed his eyes. His stomach plummeted. This wasn’t good—not good at all. “Have you checked the barn?”
“No. Will you stay on the phone while I run over?”
“Of course.”
Ethan heard Savannah’s footsteps crunching over the gravel and her labored breathing as she ran to the barn.
“I’m here.” Silence. Then her voice dropped into a whisper. “Oh God, it looks like there’s been a struggle.”
Ethan’s pulse pounded in his ears, matching the rapid beat of his racing heart. His mind tried but failed to stop the worst-case scenarios. Images of Jane hurt, frightened, or worse, each more horrifying than the last, flashed through his mind. He tightened his grip on the phone.
“Savannah, we’ll be right there. Go back to the house and stay there until I arrive.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “How long before you get here?”
“It’ll be just a few minutes. Please go back to the house.”
“Okay.”
The phone went dead. Ethan shot to his feet, grabbed his keys, and bolted out of his office.
“Ethan, what’s wro—?” Jimbo looked up and asked.
He barked at Jimbo. “Get a patrol car to Jane’s place now.”
Jimbo’s eyes widened. He nodded, already reaching for the radio. Ethan was out the door and in his truck with the engine roaring, lights flashing and the siren screaming as he sped toward Jane’s farm. The landscape blurred by as his mind went to a dark place. “Please be safe,” he muttered under his breath.
Bile rose from his gut, threatening to choke him. If something bad happened to Jane, whoever hurt her would pay. He called Tanner and told him to get his butt up to the farm, that Savannah was in the house.
The trip felt like an eternity. Ethan finally skidded to a stop at the barn, jumped out, and raced toward the barn. It was eerily silent. Dark clouds settled overhead, casting a threatening shadow over the farm. He looked toward the farmhouse and saw Savannah pacing on the porch. Tanner was with her.
The barn door was open. A sheep was in a stall bleating at him. The cats were playing with something under the feed bin. There were signs of a struggle and a feed pail flung aside.
The sirens were getting closer. His phone rang, and he answered it, hoping it was Jane but knowing it wasn’t.
“Ethan.” Sean’s voice was tight. “Tanner called, said Jane is missing. Have you pulled up the feeds?”
Cameras! Ethan forgot about those in his haste to get here. Hopefully, they would show what happened.
Jimbo and Rosie pulled up just as Adam and a couple of other deputies arrived. The shrill sound of the sirens faded as they parked.
“You haven’t found Jane?” asked Adam.
“She’s not here,” Ethan replied. “I’m going down to the house to check the feed. You look around for any clues.”
Ethan sprinted to the house. Savannah had tears in her eyes, and Tanner was rubbing her shoulder.
“What do you think happened?” Tanner asked.
“Don’t know,” Ethan replied. “You didn’t see anything strange today, did you?”
Tanner shook his head. “No, I’ve been busy catching up on some chores.”
Ethan ran into Jane’s study, with Savannah and Tanner close behind him. He switched on the computer and was grateful he knew the password.
The screen flickered to life; he clicked on the security camera app. Footage from multiple angles of the barn showed up. He scanned the feed. Nothing for the past couple of hours. He rewound them.
“There,” Savannah shouted, pointing to one screen. A black sedan drove up to the barn.
Where the hell was Jane? There she was.
She was unaware of the danger as she got feed for the animals. The cats were around her feet. The ewe butted her, causing her to drop the food, most of it going under the feed bin.
She reached under it, most likely picking up stray food to prevent the mice from eating it. Ethan saw her tilt her head, then lie flat on the barn floor and reach underneath. She was trying to pull something out.
Jane. Run!
A man got out of the car and walked toward the barn. Jane cocked her head and sat up.
“Victor?”
Ethan listened to their conversation. The son of a bitch was going to die. Victor had put two and two together. Then he pulled out a gun and pointed it at her. Oh God, did he shoot Jane?
He watched as Jane tried to escape. Did she get away?
No.
Ethan watched in fury as Victor tackled her to the ground and dragged Jane by the hair and threw her into the trunk before pulling out a syringe and slamming the lid shut. Then he drove down the street. Down a street that Ethan knew had no cameras. But maybe…
He called Sean, who picked right up. “Can you have one of your guys tap into cameras around the Community Church and see which way a black sedan went?” One of the things the town did a while ago was hire Sean’s company to install cameras around the old mill and church because kids were always getting into mischief there.
Ethan walked back to the barn. Tanner and Savannah followed him. When he arrived, his deputies were searching for clues.
“Anything?” he asked Jimbo, who shook his head.
“There was a scuffle and blood on a rock, which I assume is Jane’s, but that’s all,” Jimbo replied.
Damn. Ethan remembered seeing Victor pushing Jane, and she fell against the rock. He was going to kill the bastard when he found him.
The deputies continued their search for anything that could lead them to Jane. There wasn’t much he could do here except go back to the station. Hopefully, Sean would call soon. Additionally, there was the matter of keeping Savannah safe.
“Do you want to stay here or…?” he asked her.
“I asked her to come down to the house,” Tanner said. “Leah will be over soon, and they’ll keep each other company.”
“Thanks.” One problem solved. Now they just had to find Jane. Ethan prayed she’d still be alive and unhurt when they did. Time was ticking, and every second she was missing meant trouble.