Chapter 23
Sawyer
“Hey, Tucker, tell me you’ve got something for me.” I press the satellite phone up to my ear as I log onto my laptop, using a satellite internet connection.
“I just sent you everything I could pull.” Tucker’s computer genius rivals mine, so asking him to check all surveillance footage available in the area surrounding my shop the morning of the explosion made sense. Especially since the FBI found nothing.
There has to be something. Somewhere. This guy isn’t a ghost.
He’s a living, breathing person.
Which means he can be caught.
He can bleed.
If I can find him.
“There wasn’t much, but I did manage to catch something mildly suspicious on the doorbell camera of someone who lives about a block from you.”
“Where is it?”
“It’s the first file,” he says.
I open the encrypted email, then work my magic to get into it. As soon as I gain access, I double-click on the first movie file available.
A grainy doorbell camera view fills my screen. There’s nothing there at first, but a second after the video starts, a man comes into view. He’s wearing black jeans and a black sweatshirt similar to the surveillance photo Jack pulled from the place where the burner phone was bought.
“That’s him. Any hits on facial recognition?” Hope surges through me. Got you.
“Unfortunately, no. Not even a partial match from the DMV database.”
“How is that possible?”
“Guy never had an ID,” Tucker says. “There should be plenty to get at least a partial match, but nothing. I’m sending it over to Captain Leopold so his guys can canvas the area.”
“Thanks.” Sighing, I lean back and stare at the image on my computer screen. “Were you able to find out anything about the night Violet Hayes was murdered?”
“I dug through her social media records, but with how long ago it was, there was a limitation to what I could get my hands on. Phone records were a dead end, and doorbell cameras weren’t available back then.”
“So nothing.”
“I’m sorry, man.”
“Thanks for trying. I’m going to see what I can get into.”
“I’ll keep looking on my end, too, and let you know if I find something.”
“Thanks.”
“Yeah. Any word on Jack?” Tucker asks.
“No one has heard from him since last night. He’s not at home or in Stormwatch Landing as far as we know.
I’m going to do some digging into him today, but the FBI is trying to track him down.
” The knowledge that something could have happened to him makes my stomach churn.
I might not have cared for the fact that he was with Anastasia, but Jack is a good guy. He doesn’t deserve this.
“I checked security cameras outside his building again, but aside from seeing him leave last night, I’ve got nothing. Wherever he was grabbed, it wasn’t at home.”
“Yeah, that’s what I found, too. Thanks, Tucker.”
“Anytime, Sawyer. Talk soon.”
The call ends, so I set the phone aside and get to work. After getting through more than one firewall, I manage to hack into the system the feds use to triangulate phone calls. If I can figure out who was near my shop the morning it blew, I might stand a chance at finding who this guy really is.
That is, if he has a cell phone that he carries in his own name.
Given the fact that Tucker found nothing on the facial recognition database, though, I don’t have high hopes.
Lord, please help me. What am I supposed to do here? I can’t keep her on this boat forever.
My gaze drifts over toward the closed door to the bedroom. She’d finally excused herself about an hour ago and headed down to get some sleep. But I’d be surprised if she actually found any.
She’d been hollow after that call. Even more so once we realized Jack was missing.
I plug in the location for my search and start the program, scanning for all registered cell phones in and around my shop from the time I left to the time the place blew.
Then, I open a new browser so I can start digging into Anastasia’s shop records.
Thankfully, all her sales are processed through an online platform, making it easy enough to comb through the information.
For this guy to be as obsessed as he is, he has to have spent time in the shop. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Especially with him knowing about Axel. While I’ve already gone through this half a dozen times over the past week, I’ve got no other leads.
So, I run both hands over my face, then export the data again. Seventh time may be the charm.
With the spreadsheet in front of me, I search for the names of local people I know aren’t responsible. Myself, the rest of the team, Katelyn, Pastor Reeves and his wife…I eliminate as many as I can, hoping to get myself a workable data set that won’t take forty-seven years to navigate.
With that script running, I jump back into the phone tracer database to see that it has finished scanning and compiled a list. I export that, then start on another script to compare both data sets for any matching points.
Time ticks by, seconds that turn to minutes. Minutes to hours.
And so far—nothing.
How is this guy hiding? Even the call placed to the satellite phone was unregistered and only routed so it looked like it came from Momma Knox’s place. He has meticulously thought through every single process, and with every single unanswered question, I find my anger growing.
I’m a Navy SEAL.
A trained soldier.
A communications expert.
It was literally my job to learn everything I could about a target, yet I can’t seem to eliminate this one threat to the woman I love.
The door opens, and I glance up as Anastasia steps out. Her eyes are red and swollen, her expression broken.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Wanted some water. I’m sorry, I thought you’d be asleep.”
“Nah, I’m running down some leads.”
She nods as she retrieves a cup and fills it with water. “Any luck?”
“Not yet.”
“Jack?”
“Nothing so far. But that doesn’t mean anything.”
Anastasia slides into the booth across from me. “I appreciate you saying that, but we both know he wouldn’t have dropped off the face of the earth.”
“No,” I agree. “He wouldn’t have.”
She places her elbows on the table, then rests her forehead in both hands.
“Did you get any sleep?” I ask softly.
She shakes her head and looks up at me. “Every time I close my eyes, I see him instead of Violet. Then I see you.” Her eyes fill.
“Baby.” I slide out of my side of the booth and kneel beside her.
“Sawyer, I need this to stop, but I feel so helpless. I feel weak.”
Me, too. “We will find him.”
“What about Jack?”
“Him, too.” I reach up and run the back of my finger over her cheek, wiping away a stray tear. My computer beeps, signaling the script is done running, so I get up and check.
No matches.
Which means I’ll be combing the rest of the shop purchases by hand. Again.
And that can wait until tomorrow.
After logging out of everything and shutting down my computer, I get to my feet and reach down for Anastasia’s hand. “Come on.”
“Sawyer—”
“Sleep, Anastasia. The problems will still be there tomorrow. For now, let’s rest.”
“I can’t sleep.”
“Sure you can. Because I’m going to watch over you while you do.” I pull her to her feet and thread my fingers through hers. The fit feels so right, which sends guilt running through me.
Jack loves this woman, too. And while I’m getting more time with her, who knows what’s happening to him. What may have already happened. I’m man enough to feel bad even as I’m glad she’s with me.
Anastasia walks with me, and I turn off the lights, then step down into the bedroom. She crosses over and climbs onto the bed, moving all the way to the wall side to leave room for me. After kicking off my shoes, I climb in beside her and hold out my arm so she can rest her head on my chest.
It’s a completely innocent gesture meant to help her rest.
But I can’t help but wish for more nights like this. Without the lingering danger over our heads.
Just her head on my chest and my arm around her.
“Sleep, baby,” I whisper, then press a kiss to the top of her head.
She wraps an arm over my waist and moves in close. “I’m sorry, Sawyer. I’m sorry this is all happening.”
“None of this is your fault.”
“Thank you for being here.”
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else. Beside you is where I belong.” I kiss the top of her head again, then close my eyes and will my brain to shut down long enough that I can get some sleep, too.
Because I have a sinking feeling in my gut that’s telling me tomorrow is going to be a long, long day.
“You’re sure that you’re okay?” Anastasia asks Linda. She’s sitting in the main cabin beside me while I drive, the phone pressed to her ear. “I worry about you. I love you, too.” She looks over at me. “He loves you, too.”
“Love you, Momma Knox!” I call out, trying to keep my tone light despite the weight on my heart. I’d spent all night mentally going over everything we do know, searching for any detail we might have missed.
With Jack still missing, every single second counts.
Anastasia hangs up the phone. “She’s staying on the ranch with Weston. Zane and Tessa are out there, too.”
“That’s good.”
She nods. “No one has heard from Jack. Zane said that the FBI has turned it into a full-blown missing person’s case.”
“They’ll find him.”
“I just hope it’s not too late when they do.”
The phone rings, and Anastasia checks the readout. She pales, her eyes widening as she turns it toward me.
Unknown caller.
Grabbing it, I attach the phone to my laptop and start the software to try to trace the call. “Answer it,” I tell her as I hand it back. “But put it on speaker.”
Her hands shake as she does. “Hello?”
“You are testing my patience, Anastasia.”
“Where is Jack?” she demands.
“You know, it’s funny you should ask. We were just talking about you.”
Someone groans in the background, and Anastasia looks up at me.
“Say hi,” he says. When no one says a word, the sound of a fist slamming into a body comes through the phone. It’s a sound I know well, mostly because I’ve been on the receiving end of said fist.
“Jack?” Anastasia whispers, her tone hopeful.