Chapter 26
26
CHANDLER
T he intense pain radiating from my chest was the worst I’d ever experienced, and I’ve been shot multiple times as a Marine. Leaving Ellie at the station felt like I’d ripped my heart straight out of my chest and had my soul split in two. The feeling only worsened the farther we drove away from her, trailing Ryan’s beat-up champagne Camry.
Thankfully it was another pleasant day, but the looming clouds signaled the weather might change again soon. The only way this could get worse was if it rained or the damn insistent wind picked up again.
Halfway down a dirt country road, his car barely visible in the dust cloud left in his wake, Ryan pulled over to the shoulder.
The dead grass and crumbling dirt ground under my boots as I strode toward Ryan, who was already making his way across the field we’d stopped alongside. After almost turning my ankle twice, I acknowledged that Alec was right earlier, Ellie would’ve slowed us down in this terrain. Hell, I was slowing us down. The locals seemed to know how to avoid the shin-deep divots without studying the ground, but I was finding every damn one of them.
Even though Alec was right, it didn’t make the pain I felt at leaving her behind lessen. Digging my phone out, I glanced at the screen for the tenth time since we started the trek to see if she’d messaged or called.
“She’s fine,” Alec said beside me, sounding winded.
“I don’t like it,” I grumbled and shoved my phone into the back pocket of my jeans. “If something happens to her….”
“We’re doing everything we can to ensure it won’t. Jake is a good officer. He knows not to let anyone close. He’ll take care of her.”
“But it’s not me.” There was the rub. Some other fucker was protecting my girl while I was out here getting my ass kicked by dirt. I stumbled again, a string of curses slipping out as I caught myself before falling. “If it’s not Swann or Jacob, where does that leave us?”
“With a long list of locals or members inside the Church. We can narrow it all down once we get the DMV results and property maps.”
“I hope it’s not someone inside The Church. If it is, we’ll never find enough evidence for an arrest, much less a conviction. Jacob wouldn’t want that kind of press for his utopia ,” I spat the word.
The weight of the case, Ellie being in danger, and the uneven terrain stoked my rising frustration. I was damn good at my job, and I’d solved many cases before this one, so why was this proving so difficult? Was it because the unsub was cleverly hiding in plain sight or because I was letting my personal feelings get in the way of seeing the truth in the evidence?
“We’re almost there,” Ryan, who’d slowed to wait for us, called out. Me, he had to wait for me. “This is the first one that came to mind. The rancher who owns the land is older and hasn’t plowed his fields in years, as you can see.” I grumbled my agreement. “The house is just a fifteen-minute walk through there.” He pointed to a grove of trees. “It’s a bit of a hike but doable for my brother.”
“Where are we on finding the truck?” I asked Alec.
“I have people on the lookout for it. If Brett stuck around town, we’ll find him.” Squinting at the phone in his hand, he held it up high and moved it a little right, then left. “I don’t get a damn signal out here.”
I checked my phone, hoping mine somehow had better coverage. Nothing. Not a single bar attempting to light up. A sense of foreboding grew in the pit of my stomach, making the unease of leaving Ellie behind intensify.
We hiked the remaining half mile in silence, the stomp of our boots against the hard, dry soil the only noise. Finally reaching the edge of the leaning structure, I motioned for Ryan and the two local men to stay back. My nine-millimeter slid easily from its holster. Beside me, Alec mimicked my motions, withdrawing his own gun. The rough grip pressed into my palm, easing some of the tension that threatened to make my muscles stiff.
The rotted wood structure groaned with the wind; a rusted tin roof panel flapped about, popping against the few remaining pieces. Anticipation raced through my veins, heightening my senses. Every sound, movement, and smell seemed enhanced, offering me an edge in case an armed off-kilter asshole waited inside.
The flaking, rusted lever was cold in my hot palm as I wrapped my fingers around the metal to slide the lock free. Gun ready, I adjusted my grip and nodded to Alec, who dipped his chin, signaling he was good to go.
With a deep breath to calm my racing pulse, I shoved away all the anxiety of leaving Ellie behind and slid the bolt free.
The decrepit hinges complained as I tore the door open, the rust and buildup grinding from years of disuse. I cringed at the sound as I followed Alec in, my hand resting on his upper back. Together we slowly made our way through the barn, clearing each dark corner as we searched.
A mouse scurried along the floor, scratching across the toe of my boot.
“This place is as abandoned as it looks from the outside,” Alec muttered, keeping his voice low and even. “No one has been in here in a long time.”
“Agreed. This isn’t it.” I lowered my gun, pointing the barrel to the dirt floor. “This is a dead end.”
Holstering our guns, we gave the relic of a barn one last glance to ensure we didn’t miss anything. The door once again protested when we emerged into the bright sunlight. An unexpected gust of wind snagged the door out of Alec’s hand, slamming it against the rotted frame. The entire structure shuddered, threatening to crumble.
I squinted and shielded my eyes from the late morning sun. In the distance, another barn or structure of some type stood out from the flat landscape.
“That’s where Ryan said to go next,” one of the locals stated, pointing to where I was already looking.
My gaze snapped to the men, and I lowered my hand. Two local men, not three, stood off to the side. I glanced back toward the vehicles, squinting. Only the rough outline of my truck and one other stood out. Ryan’s car was gone.
“Where’d he go?” I asked, suspicion rising at the random quick exit of our only suspect’s brother.
“He got a call from Janice, said someone needed him at the clinic. Something about stitches or something.” The man raised and lowered his shoulders, the bulky Carhartt coat barely moving with the motion. “He said he’d meet up with us as soon as he was done.”
“All right, let’s start?—”
I cut Alec off with a raised hand. Something wasn’t right.
When it clicked, I slid the phone out of my back pocket and checked the screen. Still zero signal. “Alec, do you have a signal yet?” I asked, the worry in my voice clear.
He checked his phone and shook his head. “Nothing, why?”
“If you don’t have a signal, and I don’t have a signal, how did Ryan get a call?”
All three men blinked in unison, a stunned expression on each of their faces.
My stomach dropped with dread, like a lead weight in the middle of a stormy sea.
“He set us up,” I stated, barely keeping my anger in check. How was I so damn blind? Of course he’d help his brother. “He’s going to help that fucker take Ellie and run.”
“No, no way. He wouldn’t do that,” one of the other men said, but his tone lacked conviction.
“Ryan isn’t like his brother. He’s a good man,” the other added.
I glanced to Alec, who was silent, scrubbing at his jaw, deep in concentration.
“What do we know about Ryan Swann?” I asked. “Why would he help his brother evade arrest and kidnap Ellie?”
Alec spoke up first. “Single, midforties, dropped out of undergrad to help out after his father died?—”
“Well, not exactly.” Alec and I turned in unison to the man who spoke. He tugged off his red ball cap and fidgeted with the bill, avoiding our demanding gazes. “That’s what we were told, but I knew his daddy well, and Ryan was actually kicked out of school before his daddy’s death.”
“What?” Alec’s tone was menacing. I pressed a forearm to his chest in case he tried to lunge at the clearly intimidated man.
“Yeah, some misunderstanding with a girl. The school kicked him out, but there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him of the rape charge. He was hanging out in Waco, getting his EMT certification, when his daddy died, and he came home using that as an excuse.”
I didn’t wait to hear any more. Not caring about twisting my ankle or even breaking a leg, I tore across the field. Dirt kicked up in the wake of my pounding steps, a second set just seconds behind me, hot on my tail.
“Call that fucking officer and warn him that Ryan is our unsub,” I shouted over my shoulder. “Not Brett. Fuck, why didn’t I see that? Ellie needs to be somewhere safe and protected at all costs.”
“On it,” Alec’s deep voice rumbled behind me. He cursed, and I knew exactly what he was going to say before the words left his mouth. “I still don’t have a signal.”
Which meant neither did I.
I glanced at my watch. Fifteen, twenty minutes tops. That was how much of a head start that fucker had on us. I had to get to her, get to Ellie before he did.
All the missing pieces that were disjointed when Brett was our main suspect fell into place.
Middle-aged white guy, dead-end job, felt powerless to change anything. But the message about coming home didn’t fit, or how someone like Ryan was able to pick up so many women who wouldn’t pull up in the system. And why Ellie? She had been with his brother, not him. Was there some sort of hidden attraction there that he never acted on?
But that didn’t matter now. What mattered was getting to the truck, hauling ass back toward town, and alerting everyone in Orin that Ryan was our main suspect.
My heart sank as we drew closer to the truck.
We wouldn’t get to her in time, or make the call that could save her.
The fucker slashed all the tires.
Panic shoved aside every other emotion as I stood, fists tight at my side, staring at the deflated tires.
“Now what?” Alec shouted, stopping beside me.
I scanned the surrounding area, but we were too far from town, in a remote field with nothing around us. Except….
“Didn’t he say Brett’s place was fifteen minutes that way?” I pointed toward the grove of trees Ryan had indicated earlier.
“Yeah, but can we trust him?”
I closed my eyes and tilted my face toward the sky, praying for a miracle.
“No, but we can’t take the chance that he accidentally told us the quickest way back. I’ll run back the way we came,” I stated with zero room for negotiation, “and you cut through the grove of trees.” Turning, I grabbed the front of his T-shirt and held it in a tight fist. “We save her no matter the cost, you hear me? She’s… she’s everything.” I pulled him closer and narrowed my eyes. “And if you find that fucker Ryan before I do… he’s mine.”
With a hard shove that didn’t move Alec an inch in the direction he needed to start running, I turned on my heels and sprinted down the flat dirt road.
We would get to her in time.
And once she was in my arms again, I was never letting her go.
She was my forever.
Now to find her and make the asshole who threatened our happiness pay.