Chapter 35
thirty-five
CAL
“Four fucking hours and nothing!” I yell, pulling at my hair and pacing the length of the shared space in the suite my dad had booked.
“Harrison just landed, and he’s been working during the entire flight,” Jo says, staying calm every time I have an outburst.
“His tech guy has been tracing the emails. They’re from the same account,” Willa points out. We didn’t find any other emails that were threatening. We didn’t find anything in Ezra’s file either.
We have nothing. Nothing to tell us where Harlow is. Nothing telling us who took her. I’m ready to rip apart this entire state to find her. The only thing stopping me is the little girl asleep in the next room that has been asking for her mama.
Kai and Belle are back at the buses in case she somehow makes it back there, but they’re also contacting anyone they’ve ever known back in our hometown, trying to see if they can confirm Senator Wolfe is still in Maine.
Harrison burst through the door a few minutes later. He doesn’t say hello, he just gets right to work.
“The email bounced around so many IP addresses that my guy is still working on pinpointing its origin,” he says, taking a seat on the ugly floral couch and opening his laptop. “But I’ve been following Harlow’s drug theory.” His swallow is audible as he says his daughter’s name. “I gathered enough information and submitted it to the DEA yesterday.”
I stop pacing and look at Mav. The initial shock of his dad being some drug king pin has worn off in the weeks since Harlow had the theory. He seems more resigned than upset.
“How bad is it?” he asks.
“I won’t lie to you. It’s bad. I don’t have access to a lot of information, but from what I did find, your family either owns a lot of the ports in Maine or somehow has control of them. He’s funneling drugs in through them and using his power to wipe records.”
“Then how did you find anything?” Jo asks.
“He’s panicking. We’re getting close to something. I’m not even sure what anymore, but it made him sloppy. I got security camera footage of him at one of the docks. He was exchanging money for something at two in the morning.”
Harrison’s phone rings. “What did you find?” he asks the person on the other end.
“The email was just used again. It looks like it sent from a cell near you in Nebraska.”
“Where?” everyone asks at the same time.
“Oh. Uh. Hello. Didn’t realize I was on speaker,” the man on the phone says.
“Where is she?” I demand.
“I don’t know if it’s the exact location. I don’t have the content of the email. But it pinged at what looks like an abandoned farmhouse on an unnamed road off Market Street. I’ll send you the coordinates.”
Harrison’s call ends, and he checks the coordinates. He stands like he’s heading for the farmhouse, which is where I will also be going, but he stops.
“What is in the email?” he asks, his voice shaky for the first time since he got here.
Jo pulls it up on her iPad and pales. Willa grabs it from her and gasps. I take it from her hands.
You were warned. She paid with her life. Back off or who knows who will be next?
There’s a picture of Harlow curled in a ball at the bottom of a narrow set of stairs. Blood is pooling underneath her, and her eyes are closed.
“No. This is photoshopped.” I toss it on the couch and head for the door, waiting for Harrison. But when I turn to tell him to hurry the fuck up, he’s sitting on the couch with his head between his legs. “Let’s go, Harrison!”
He doesn’t move, and I go to him, pulling on his arm, but he doesn’t budge. “Give me the coordinates then, and I’ll go alone!”
Harrison stands. “No. I’ll go collect her. You stay with your daughter. You don’t need to see this.” His eyes are red, and he’s not trying to hide his tears.
“I’m not giving up on her. Let’s go! She needs us. She isn’t dead!” I scream, heading for the door. If he won’t tell me where she is, I’ll look for any and every dirt road off Market Street until I find her.
“Callahan,” Harrison starts.
“No! You can be a coward all you want, but I’m going to find her and bring her home. Alive! You may have given up on her, but I won’t.”
“You think I gave up on her? She’s my daughter!”
“She’s my fucking wife, and I will get her back!” I shout, startling everyone. The shock seems to momentarily have dried their tears.
“Your wife?” Mav asks, having recovered the quickest.
“We got married after that party in Vegas. We were going to throw a party when we got home and surprise everyone,” I explain quickly. “Now give me the damn coordinates and let me go get my wife.”
“I think he’s right, Harrison,” Jo says, not having been able to take her eyes off the picture of Harlow. “This blood doesn’t look right.”
Harrison doesn’t even look. He just nods and grabs my arm, pulling me out the door with him. “We’re talking about this after we get Harlow back,” he says sternly.
“Yes, sir.”