Chapter Four
AJ
“You stare at that phone any harder, your eyeballs are gonna pop right out of your head. Just call her for fuck’s sake.
It’s worth interrupting her run to tell her the news.
” Jasper drains the last of his coffee with a grimace.
“Unless you don’t think she’ll be happy your promotion came through, Captain Stone.
Or maybe you’re too chickenshit to tell her Harris wants us out there again tonight. ”
My brother’s lucky we have witnesses or I’d be tempted to punch him.
“She knows we’re workin’ tonight. And I ain’t scared, asshole.
We made up this mornin’.” I don’t tell Jasper I’ve already snuck off to the break room to call Grace three times this afternoon, but she hasn’t picked up.
“She’s probably asleep on the couch with Belle stretched across her legs.
We’ve got a couple of hours before we head out.
I’m gonna run home by way of Whataburger.
Grace always craves fries after a long run.
Cover for me if Harris gets his britches in a bunch. ”
“Be back by eight and I won’t have to,” Jasper says as he ambles off to the break room for yet another cup of what passes for coffee around here.
I stifle my yawn as I slide behind the wheel of my SUV. The two hours I caught in one of the bunks this afternoon wasn’t near enough. A large Dr. Pepper might keep me awake until McGrath and I park outside that goddamn strip mall for the second night in a row.
Any other day, my promotion would have gotten me out of this shit assignment. But Jasper just had to get pissy in his report this morning. The man has no sense of self-preservation. Or he don’t give a crap about his career. Or both.
I shouldn’t have to suffer because of his attitude, but Harris likes to punish us both equally. I’d tell him we’re twins, not the same goddamn person, but that’d just put me on his shit list permanently.
I’m next in line at the drive-up window when my phone rings. I don’t bother checking the screen. Probably McGrath asking what I want him to pick up for tonight.
“AJ Stone.”
“Mr. Stone? This is Misty with Bark Away Day Care. We close in fifteen minutes and no one’s come to pick up Belle yet.
Mrs. Stone said she’d be back for her by five-thirty, and it’s nearly seven.
We’ve left several messages, but she hasn’t returned our calls.
I just need to confirm that one of you is on the way. ”
The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. There’s no fucking way Grace would forget to pick up Belle from doggie daycare. Something is very wrong.
“I have to call you back.” I hang up and open the runner tracking app Grace uses to share her location. The little blue dot on the map punches me in the gut so hard, I can’t breathe.
She hasn’t moved since 2:37 p.m.
Flipping on the lights and siren, I lay on the horn until the car in front of me gets the hell out of the way. “VoiceAssist, call Jasper.”
“Grace tell you to stick those fries where the sun don’t shine?” he drawls.
“She never picked up Belle, Jas. Her phone’s still out by the lake. It’s been there for almost five fucking hours. Issue a BOLO and meet me at the end of Pendernales Road, ASAP.”
“Fuckin’ A. I’m already out the door,” he says.
“Wait!” I call before he can hang up. “Get McGrath to pick up Belle from Bark Away Day Care and bring her to the station. Our security code is 8751. They close in fifteen.”
“On it.”
The twenty-five minutes it takes me to reach Grace’s last known location might as well be an eternity. Why didn’t I check the GPS earlier?
Because Grace is always careful.
And she always has Belle with her.
But not today.
If I hadn’t been so distracted—and exhausted—by that goddamn stakeout, I might have remembered that the dog stepped on a wasp and couldn’t run. I would have checked her location every hour on the hour. Hell, I would have kept the app open the entire fucking day.
“Please be okay, darlin’. Please…”
Even as I say the words, I know she’s not. She can’t be. Her phone’s still on. If she were injured, she would have called someone.
Please, Grace. Please be…alive.
The willow trees swaying in the breeze cast long, ghostly shadows across the asphalt as the sun sets behind them.
This street dead ends at the Butler Trail, the group of three parking spaces full up.
I jump out of the SUV, the engine running and lights still flashing.
My boots crunch over the dry grass at the side of the road.
Her phone should be right here.
A few more steps, and I can make out a siren in the distance. Jasper. Thank fuck. I can’t do this alone.
A narrow ditch on the other side of the crumbling parking lot is overgrown with weeds and wildflowers, but something neon orange flashes amid the multi-colored petals.
Grace’s water bottle. Nothing else in this world is that ungodly bright. My heart stutters, then pounds so hard, I feel it in my temples.
I drop to my hands and knees. The bottle is warm, no longer sweating from ice melting in the heat of the day. A single scuff mars one side, but it’s otherwise pristine. Same with the ditch. No trampled flowers, no rocks kicked onto the pavement, no blood.
Tires squeal as Jasper slams on his brakes. “AJ! Where you at?”
“Here!” I push up enough he can see the top of my head, then crouch down again. Her phone has to be close by. I check my own screen. According to the flashing blue dot, I’m right on top of the fucking thing. “Voice Assist, Call Grace.”
The ringer is faint—but close.
Running my hands over the ground, I wince as the sand spurs slice at my fingers. But when I find the device, the pain fades, and my entire world comes crashing down around me. The screen has a single crack—and a dozen missed calls and texts.
Bark Away Day Care, the college, her friend Cristina, and me.
She’s gone. My Grace is gone.
The firm grip on my shoulder shocks me out of my fog. “Give me the phone, AJ.”
I stare up at my brother—at the evidence bag in his hand. “No. It’s…what if she calls?”
“If she calls, she’s gonna call you, dipshit. Not her own number. Give me the goddamn phone. Water bottle too.”
My brother doesn’t pull out the “I could have been the older one” tone very often, but maybe that’s why it’s so fucking effective.
I pass him the phone and water bottle, then cringe at the sound of rustling plastic.
Jasper seals the bags, then walks the length of the ditch without leaving the asphalt.
“Don’t look like anyone disturbed the scene.
No signs of a struggle. No blood. We need forensics out here.
The whole fucking team. Canvas the area, find any security cameras with a view of this spot… a helicopter if we can get one.”
He’s all business, like this is an official investigation.
I land on my ass in the weeds. Fuck. It is.
My wife. My best friend. She’s gone. Someone took her.