35. Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Five
DYLAN
My phone vibrated on my desk, and when Savannah’s name flashed on the screen, dread curled through me.
Before I could greet her, she said, “Is Hattie with you?”
“Why would she be with me?” That dread turned into a hard knot in my gut. “I thought the plan was for Brittney to pick you two up and head to my place.”
“Yeah, but Hattie’s not here. She walked outside a few minutes before I did, but neither of us has seen her since and she’s not picking up her phone.”
My heart lurched painfully, and I shot to my feet. “What?”
“I think Hattie might have gone out the side entrance, but she never made it to where Brittney was parked in the lot out front.” Savannah’s breath hitched. “Brittney says a car pulled out of the side lot and onto the street a minute or two before I came out.”
Ice ran through my veins as I spun and headed for the door. This wasn’t happening. It had to be a mistake. Aiden had Brian in custody and was getting ready to question him. She was supposed to be safe now.
“I’m on my way.”
I hung up without waiting for her to respond. I almost blew past the front desk, but as I passed, I figured I’d better stop. There was no time to waste, but if I was going to find her, then I needed backup.
“Send all available patrols to The Dock,” I told Chris, our desk sergeant.
“What’s going on?”
“Hattie’s missing.”
“Fuck.” His eyes widened. “You sure?”
“Heading over there now to figure out what’s going on.” I tapped the desk twice. “Send me some patrols.”
“Will do.” With that, I ran for my car. The whole drive over, I prayed this was all a misunderstanding.
When I arrived, though, and had Savannah and Brittney walk me through the several minutes before they realized Hattie was missing, it was obvious this was not a misunderstanding.
I sent Ethan and a few other patrols to scour the grounds surrounding The Dock, then retraced Hattie’s steps with Savannah.
“She picked up the nachos Ashley left us from the catering kitchen, and then she must have left out this door.” She pointed to the side door that was used for deliveries and staff. “Because we found the bag of food sitting on the ground behind the door.”
“Did you touch anything?”
She shook her head. “I’ve watched enough true crime to know better.”
“How did this even happen?” Rhett boomed as he stepped into the small catering space.
“It’s my fault,” Savannah said, her voice shaky.
Lips pressed together, I studied her. The crop top and torn jeans, the purple streaks in her hair, and the look of devastation she was wearing. I doubted it was her fault. At the moment, I was shouldering the blame. I should never have agreed to this. Not until we were sure we’d caught the right guy. I really thought we had, but was it possible that Brian had a partner? It wouldn’t be the first time in criminal history where that was the case.
“I convinced Hattie that she would be safe with us tonight and that she didn’t need Dylan.”
Rhett narrowed his eyes at me. “Weren’t there two of you protecting her? I don’t understand…”
I didn’t have time for this. With Rhett still rambling on, I strode for the side door and stepped out into the darkness, pulling out my flashlight.
The light reflected off an object on the ground a few feet away. Behind me, Rhett stepped outside too. Ignoring him, I walked over to the spot where I’d seen the glint.
When my flashlight beam hit it again, I knelt and took a closer look. My heart picked up to a full-on gallop in my chest. Fear and anger swirled inside me as I confirmed that there were silver beads scattered around on the ground.
“Are you listening?” Rhett asked.
I stood and shined my light around the area, searching for anything that might help us. In the grass, about five feet away, a dim light caught my eye.
Rhett followed me as I went to check it out. “Why are you ignoring me?”
I spun on him. “Because I’m trying to do my fucking job.”
He flinched in response to my tone, but I didn’t give a shit. I needed to find Hattie.
“I can’t do this with you right now.” I turned my back on him and knelt near a phone mostly hidden in the grass. With a stick I found nearby, I flipped it over. Her lock screen lit up, and a photo of her holding baby Emma stared back at me through a cracked screen.
“Imagine if it were your sister.”
I whirled on him again. Between the heart-wrenching worry and the knowledge that I had limited time to save my girl, I had no patience. “Imagine if it were Bella, because that’s how I feel right now.” I spat the words through gritted teeth.
“What?” His eyes went wide.
I stepped closer and glared at him. “Yeah, I’m in love with your sister. I need to find her. So let me do my job. Once she’s safe, we can talk.” I brushed past him, heading back to the side entrance.
I couldn’t even be happy about not getting punched.
At my direction, one of the patrol officers roped off the area so it wouldn’t be disturbed. Frankly, I had no time to wait for our tech to dust for fingerprints, but I should get her over here anyway.
After updating Violet, I stepped back into the dining room of the restaurant. Savannah stood by the bar.
“Anyone leave around the time Hattie did?” I asked.
Maybe one of them saw something that could help me figure out what the hell was going on. And I still needed to call Aiden. Had we brought in the wrong guy? Or were there two of them?
“Josh did,” Michael said from his regular spot at the bar. “He left a few minutes before her.”
I studied him, then the guy beside him, noting that the third in their trio wasn’t here. “Josh? Your friend with blond hair?”
Michael nodded. “Said he had to go check on his flowers.”
Heart thumping, I stepped closer. “Flowers?”
“Yeah. He’s obsessed with them.”
Paul turned toward me. “He has a fucking greenhouse in his backyard. It’s crazy.”
Obsessed and crazy were the words that stood out to me. Could Josh have taken Hattie? Was he working with Brian?
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “What kind of flowers?”
Michael shrugged. “All kinds and colors.”
I fisted my hands at my sides. They obviously weren’t going to be any more helpful. “Thanks.”
I headed out to my car, pulling up Aiden’s number as I went. We needed to see whether Josh was on our list of buyers. I had looked into all three regulars after I’d chatted with them that first day, but Josh didn’t have a car registered to his name in North Carolina and neither of the other guys owned a Toyota Corolla, so I’d moved on.
Once I was in the driver’s seat with my laptop, I dialed Aiden.
“Do you have a sixth sense or something?”
“What the hell is going on?” I snapped as I pulled up the buyer list.
Luckily it was in spreadsheet form so I could sort by name.
“We just finished questioning him, but he has a pretty tight alibi for the night Hattie was followed.”
“Yeah,” I croaked, raking a hand through my hair violently. “Because it’s not him.”
I sorted the list by last name, and when Josh Calvin stared back at me, I gritted my teeth. The address listed here was in Tennessee, which was where he said he’d moved from.
“What do you mean?” Aiden asked.
“Hattie was taken. It’s one of the bar regulars.”
There was a clatter on the other end of the line. “Wait, how do you know?”
I updated him on the evening as I took a deeper dive into Josh’s information.
“In Tennessee, there was a dark gray Toyota Corolla registered to his name, but he let it lapse.” Jesus, why the fuck didn’t I look deeper into the regulars? “He lives a few blocks from here.”
At least he’d changed his address with the local DMV.
“Dylan,” Aiden warned. “Don’t do anything until we get back.”
Anger blazed like fire through me. Was he fucking kidding me right now? He wanted me to sit here and twiddle my thumbs for the next hour?
“I can’t wait that long.”
“Dylan—”
“I’m going to get my girl back.”
And I wouldn’t stop until I did. She was it for me, and there was no way I could lose her. I was so fucking in love with her, and I would do anything to get her back.
A loud sigh came through the phone. “At least take backup.”
“Roger that.”