Chapter Twenty-Eight
TEARS TRICKLED DOWN Cam’s cheeks. He didn’t bother to brush them away or turn from his teammates. They knew how much he loved Sedona. The thought of losing her gutted him. Was she gone, or was The Collector planning to use her for his own purposes?
Cam fought to think through the storm of emotions battering his defenses. If Simpson didn’t kill Sedona, what would he use her for? Must be for something he needed, but what?
Frustrated, he turned to Levi, who gazed at him with sympathy in his eyes. “No. I refuse to believe she’s gone. Simpson wanted her. We need to find out why and stop him.”
“Why would he need Sedona? I’m sorry, Cam, but that doesn’t make sense.”
“Not yet, but it will when I have all the puzzle pieces. We’re missing something. I know it down deep in my bones.”
Spencer squeezed Cam’s shoulder. “Then we start from the beginning and figure it out together.”
“We’re all in,” Dario said. “Let’s get someplace where we can spread out and let Rhys do his thing.”
“I don’t need space,” Rhys insisted. “I only need an Internet connection, which I have, and some quiet, which I don’t.” He glared at Dario.
His teammate chuckled. “Got it. I’ll zip my mouth shut, and let you work.”
The computer tech snorted. “That’ll be the day,” he muttered.
Cam glared at both men. “Get in the vehicle. Now. We have a criminal to stop before he completes his agenda and disappears with Sedona.”
Levi unlocked his vehicle and pointed at Cam. “You and the boy are with me.”
“That means you have me as well,” Spencer said. “I’m not leaving my patient.”
Cam passed his key fob to Dario. Isaac and Rhys climbed into the remaining SUV. Soon, the vehicles headed toward Maple Valley’s hospital where Caleb had been transferred. Good thing their hometown hospital was also a Level One trauma center.
Since he wasn’t driving, Cam sent a message to David, asking about Caleb. His short-tempered response made him chuckle.
“What is it?” Levi glanced at him before refocusing his gaze on the road.
“Caleb is in surgery. When he learned Sedona came to his aid instead of saving herself, he scolded David, Elliot, and Owen for staying with him when they should have been helping me find Sedona.”
“That sounds like him,” Levi said, voice rough. “Did they listen?”
“They did. Elliot says he has something to say to Simpson about Caleb’s injury.”
The other deputy whistled softly. “Simpson made a huge mistake. Elliot is not the only Montgomery with a grudge against him for that.”
“We find and free Sedona first, then you can have your chat with Simpson. My gut says Simpson’s a tough nut to crack. You may have your work cut out for you.”
Although Levi smiled, his eyes remained glacial. “Good.”
Cam wouldn’t want to be on the bad side of the Montgomery brothers. Wise men stayed on their good side.
Thirty minutes later, Levi turned into the hospital parking lot and stopped in front of the emergency-room doors. Cam climbed out of the backseat, scooped Julio into his arms, and rushed into the ER.
The security guard at the entrance leaped up and hurried to scan his card through the reader and open the door for Cam. “They’re holding Exam Room Two for Julio. I’ll let the medical team know you’re here.”
“Thanks.” He kept walking while the guard talked. Cam walked down the corridor to the second security door, where another guard waited for him.
“This way, sir.” The second guard swiped his card through the reader, then rushed ahead of Cam to open the door to exam room 2. “The mother is on her way here under heavy police escort.” His gaze scanned the child. “How is he?”
“No obvious injuries, but we think he’s been drugged. He’s been asleep nearly the whole trip back here.”
Fury burned in the guard’s eyes. “How did you find him, sir?”
Cam laid Julio on the exam table and slowly turned around with his weapon in hand. “Why all the questions?”
The guard’s face lost color as he raised his hands. “Just curious, sir. I didn’t mean nothing by it. Just hate that some outsider kidnapped and hurt one of our kids, you know?”
He sounded sincere, but Cam worried that his judgment meter was off target right now. He wasn’t taking a chance that one of Simpson’s flunkies might have infiltrated the hospital.
Levi walked into the room, saw the weapon in Cam’s hand, and drew his own in a split second. “Sit rep.”
“Mr. Jennings is very curious about Julio and how we found him. Too curious.”
“Hands behind your head, Jennings,” Levi said.
“What? What did I do? This isn’t right. Anyone would be curious. You can’t arrest a guy for curiosity.”
The other deputy shook his head. “You’re protesting too much, you know that, right? I don’t think your boss will appreciate losing another underling to our jail.”
Jennings grew even paler, then said, “I want a lawyer.”
“You’re supposed to wait until we arrest you before you say that.”
“Lawyer, now.”
Levi cinched the handcuffs around Jennings’ wrists and marched him from the room. “I’ll send you backup,” he said to Cam.
The medical team arrived a minute later along with Maria Ramirez, and Cam was told to wait in the hallway.
He leaned back against the wall opposite the exam room and prayed Levi’s promised backup arrived soon.
He was still getting updates from Zane every couple of minutes.
The longer he was stuck here on guard duty, the farther Sedona moved away from him.
Ten minutes later, Levi returned. “Go. I’ve got this. David, Elliot, and Owen are slowly catching up to Simpson, but they’re still an hour behind him and Sedona.”
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” As desperate as he was to reach Sedona, Cam would never leave an officer in danger.
“Fortress help will arrive in a few minutes. I’ll be fine. Just do me one favor.”
“Name it.”
“Get Simpson so he can never do this again to anyone else.”
“You can count on that.” He sprinted from the ER and hopped into the front passenger seat of the waiting SUV.
Dario took off like a shot. “How’s the kid?”
“Getting VIP treatment from the hospital staff, and so is his mom. Levi is on watch for the moment. He has friends from Fortress coming to help with guard duty.”
“Good. Now I don’t feel guilty for leaving him alone to guard two patients.” Dario motioned to Cam’s phone, which was resting on his palm. “Any updates?”
“Every two minutes, like clockwork.”
“That’s great.”
“That won’t last much longer.”
“Why not?”
“Simpson is headed into the mountains. The traffic cam coverage thins out up there.”
“You sure that’s where he’s going?”
“He hasn’t deviated from his course since he left with Sedona. Simpson believed he had us boxed, at least long enough for him and Sedona to get away.”
And that bugged him. Something had changed over the past forty-eight hours.
At first, it seemed Sedona was a victim who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Now, instead of getting rid of a potential witness, Simpson seemed to target Sedona specifically.
The question was why? Why did he need a kindergarten teacher?
“The mountains cover too many square miles to keep tabs on them.”
“Believe me, I know.” His voice was grim. It matched his mood. Man, he needed to find Sedona before Simpson hurt her or worse. Cam couldn’t make himself think it, much less say it.
When five minutes had passed without an update, Cam called Zane. “Did they stop?”
“The traffic cams stopped picking them up.” He sounded tense. The sound of a clicking keyboard filled the cabin. “I don’t know if he changed vehicles or if he turned off. Either way, I’ve lost them.”
“Keep looking for them. My tech guy will also hunt for them. We’ll continue heading for their last known location. Part of M Team is an hour behind them, and I have a friend, Finn Stevens who is right behind them.”
“Copy that. I’m sorry, Cam.”
“You’ve just about created miracles, my friend. Do what you can, and so will we. Between all of us, we’ll find her.” They had to find her. Sedona was his life.
“Murphy out.”
Cam punched in the number for Rhys.
“What?”
He grinned. “That’s a fine way to greet me.”
“I’m busy. What do you need?”
“A miracle.”
“What happened?”
“Zane can’t find them on the traffic cams. Do you have any miracles ready to pull out of your hat?”
“Where did he lose them?”
Cam took a screen shot of the last update coordinates and sent it to his teammate. “Any idea? No matter how farfetched, let’s hear it.”
“I may have something. Give me a few minutes to chase it down, and I’ll call you with information.”
“Do you need us to pull over?” He didn’t want to offer even a slight delay, but if that’s what Rhys needed to come up with anything that might help, he’d do it.
“No. Keep moving to the last coordinates reported. A few minutes, Cam. You have my word. I know what’s at stake.”
For a moment, he couldn’t talk. Finally, he said, voice rough, “Sims out.”
“Connections,” Dario said. “Start from the beginning and look for connections.”
“And locations,” Cam murmured. “What locations connect them all?”
“Start talking out loud. We’ll think through everything together. You said we missed something. Let’s find it and go get your woman. She’s counting on us to find her.”
Cam took a moment to pull his thoughts together, then described meeting Julio and the horrible bus ride to the zoo. He stopped, frowning.
“What?” Dario glanced at him. “Don’t keep it to yourself. No matter how crazy the idea is, let’s hear it.”
“During one of our conversations, Julio told me that his brother was trying to help their mother with the bills.”
“That’s good. He’s old enough to get a job.”
“Yeah, that’s the thing. He’s not working at any job that I can find.”
“An illegal one, then.”
“Maybe.”
Dario snorted. “Come on. How else is a teenager with attitude going to get a job? I can’t see him washing dishes at some hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Can you?”
“No,” he said, drawing the word out as he tried to piece together what he’d heard and what he observed about Eddie. “His mother is working at a diner.” Cam paused for a couple of beats, then said, “I need to check a few things.”