Chapter 49
Scott listened to Tori’s side of the conversation, wishing she’d put it on speaker. But what he heard didn’t sound good.
“Thanks for letting me know,” Tori said and hung up.
Scott raised his eyebrows. “What’s wrong?”
“Sorry I didn’t put it on speaker . . . didn’t think of it, but that was Megan Russell. Her ex used the credit card here in Logan Point.” Tori walked to the refrigerator. “Where did you put the ice packs?”
“In the freezer side,” he replied. “What else did she say?”
Tori pulled an ice pack out and pressed it to her face before returning to the table and sitting down. “Megan kept a journal detailing Cal’s abuse on a flash drive. She also said he’d tried to kidnap his kids so there’s that history—he’s a definite possibility for whoever took Drew.”
Amy shook her head. “Why would Russell kidnap Drew when you’re his target?”
Scott looked at Tori. “Maybe Russell tracked your car to Zack’s house, thinking it was you. When it turned out to be Drew, he probably panicked and then decided to use him as bait.”
“You think Russell put the tracker on my car?” Tori said.
“He’s the only player I can identify so far.” Scott walked to the kitchen window and looked out. It was almost dark. It looked as though they wouldn’t be finding Drew today.
Tori laid the ice pack on the table and stood and paced the kitchen. Scott wanted to take her in his arms and smooth the worry lines from her pale face. He stiffened. Not something he could act on. Scott needed to keep his head in the game if he was going to keep her safe and get Drew back.
“But I have no idea where to even look for a data drive. Ben Logan searched the house, and if it or the money in that backpack had been out in the open, he would’ve found both. Drew must have hidden it somewhere other than the house.” She continued to pace back and forth.
“Tori, you need to rest,” he said.
She rubbed her palms on her pant legs. “I can’t. Not until we get Drew back.”
“You have to. You’ve had a lot happen today.” He took her hands. “You’re in pain, stressed, exhausted, and that’s when mistakes happen.”
“It’s not your nephew.” She pulled her hands away and hugged her waist. “You don’t understand. I should’ve been there for him.”
“Scott’s right.” Amy walked to where they were and wrapped her arms around Tori. “You need to take a break and at least eat,” she said. “There’s not one thing you can do tonight. Maybe if you give it a break, something will come to you, but right now you can’t even think straight.”
Thank you, Amy.
At first Tori didn’t respond, then she nodded slowly. “I know you’re right, but it seems so wrong not to do something.”
Tension eased from Scott. “I promise, you’ll feel better once you have food in you.”
“Yes,” Amy agreed. “I’ll put the pasta on and make a salad.”
During dinner, Ben called with the disappointing news that the call and texts had pinged off a tower, but the area was too broad to pinpoint an exact location other than it was in Bradford County.
Later Caleb went upstairs to make phone calls. Scott cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher while Tori watched as Amy searched Jenny’s computer.
“I can’t find anything here that relates to a data drive,” Amy said, “but I’ve found a couple of spreadsheets that make no sense. I need to study them more, but I don’t need any distractions.”
“In other words, you want us out of the kitchen?” Scott said with a smile.
“Something like that.” She gave Tori a pointed glance.
“Okay, I get the message.” Tori walked to the back door. “I think I’ll sit on the patio for a bit.”
“Good idea,” Scott said. At the door he gave Amy a thumbs-up. “We’ll be out here if you need us.”