Chapter 19 Dean #2
The worried expressions on their faces told Dean everything he needed to know before either of them spoke.
"What did you find out?" Dean asked, his heart rate picking up as he sensed their concern.
"I got hold of Dr. Vernon," June said. "She told me that Lacey left the clinic around three this afternoon. She said she had to take care of something personal and then just left."
"Was it an emergency call?" Dean asked hopefully.
"No," Holt replied grimly. "Dr. Vernon said there were no emergency calls today. In fact, it had been a particularly quiet afternoon until Lacey suddenly announced she was leaving."
Dean felt his worry escalate from concern to genuine fear. "Maybe she went to visit Lucy or Noah?"
June shook her head. "I called both of them before we came outside. Neither of them has seen or heard from Lacey today."
"I've got someone running a trace on her rental car's GPS system," Holt continued. "It's a federal favor I called in, so we should have location information within the next few minutes."
"Did you try Margo?" Dean asked, grasping at straws. "Maybe Lacey went to see how she was doing. Although the front desk at the inn said Lacey's rental truck wasn't in the parking lot, there."
“I’ll call Margo,” June said, pulling out her phone and walking a little way away.
"I don't like this, Holt," Dean said once they were alone. "This isn't like Lacey at all."
"I don't like it either," Holt agreed. "When we all agreed to work together on identifying her stalker, the one condition I insisted on was that none of us would do anything alone. We were supposed to let each other know about any plans, any leads we wanted to follow up on."
"I know," Dean said, his voice rough with growing panic. "That's what makes this so frightening. Lacey agreed to that arrangement. She understood the dangers. Why would she go off somewhere without telling any of us?"
June hurried back to join them, her expression tense. "Margo is at her cottage behind the Sandpiper Inn. She hasn't seen or heard from Lacey at all today."
"Holt, we need that GPS location now," Dean said urgently.
"Agreed," Holt replied, pulling out his phone. "Let me check with my contact."
As Holt stepped away to make his call, June moved closer to Dean. "Lacey wears one of those fitness tracker watches, doesn't she? The kind with GPS capability?"
"Yes," Dean said, feeling a spark of hope. "But I don't know how to access the tracking information. Do you?"
"I'm not sure, but it's worth trying. Most of those devices have companion apps that can show location data." She glanced toward where Holt was speaking on his phone.
"Let's see what Holt finds out about the rental car first," Dean suggested, watching as Holt frowned at his phone screen while listening to whoever was on the other end of his call.
"Thank goodness she has a rental," June said. "Her old pickup truck didn't have a GPS system."
"I know," Dean nodded, his eyes fixed on Holt, who was now walking back toward them with a deeply troubled expression.
"I have the coordinates for her car," Holt announced. "But this can't be right."
"What do you mean?" Dean and June asked in unison.
"According to the GPS data, her rental truck is at Ember Lake in the campgrounds," Holt said, showing them his phone screen. "But based on these exact coordinates, the vehicle appears to be in the lake itself."
"That has to be a mistake," June said. "Maybe the GPS is malfunctioning, or maybe the car is just parked very close to the water."
"Either way," Dean said, his voice rough with fear and determination, "we need to get there right now."
Within minutes, they were in Carmen's car with Holt behind the wheel, racing through the darkening streets toward Ember Lake Campgrounds. June had called emergency services while Dean contacted the campground management to alert them to the situation.
The drive felt like it took hours, though Dean knew it was probably less than fifteen minutes. His mind kept running through worst-case scenarios, each one more terrifying than the last. If Lacey's car was in the lake, if she had been forced off the road or attacked while driving...
"There," June said as they crested a small hill and caught sight of the lake. "There are already vehicles down there."
Dean could see the flashing lights of emergency vehicles reflected on the water's surface. Forest rangers, the local fire department, and what looked like a tow truck were all positioned along the lake's edge.
As they parked and hurried toward the scene, Dean recognized Willa and Ace among the firefighters who were preparing to assist with the vehicle recovery. Carmen was there with her EMT team, ready to provide medical assistance if needed.
They stood anxiously on the bank, watching as the combined efforts of rangers and firefighters worked to bring the submerged vehicle up from the lake bottom.
The process seemed to take forever, with chains and winches and careful coordination to avoid damaging any potential evidence that might be inside the car.
When the rental truck finally emerged from the water, dripping and muddy but intact, Dean held his breath as emergency personnel approached to check the interior.
"There's no one inside," one of the rangers called out after checking both the cab and the truck bed.
Dean felt a mixture of relief and renewed terror. Lacey wasn't trapped underwater, but that meant she was somewhere else, possibly injured, possibly in the hands of whoever had been stalking her.
"We need search dogs," Holt said immediately, already pulling out his phone. "If she was forced out of the car, she could be anywhere in these woods."
"Already on it," came a familiar voice from behind them. Rad had arrived with a K-9 unit from a neighboring town, the German Shepherd straining at its leash as if it could sense the urgency of the situation.
"What about her fitness tracker?" June asked. "Can we use that to narrow down the search area?"
"That's a good idea," Holt said. "Let me contact my tech support and see if we can access..."
"We found her phone and watch," Rad announced, holding up two evidence bags. "They were both in the truck, on the driver's seat."
The words hit Dean like a physical blow. If Lacey's phone and fitness tracker were in the truck, then someone had deliberately removed them before forcing her out of the vehicle. Someone who understood that those devices could be used to track her location.
Dean looked around at the vast expanse of forest surrounding Ember Lake. Hundreds of acres of woods, swampland, and camping areas where someone could hide a person or worse.
"How long has she been missing?" Carmen asked, appearing beside them with medical equipment.
"Since around three this afternoon," Dean replied, his voice hollow. "It's almost ten o'clock now."
"Seven hours," Carmen said grimly. "If she's injured, especially if she has a head injury, time is critical."
Dean felt his world tilting on its axis. Seven hours. If someone had attacked Lacey and left her somewhere in these woods with a serious injury, they might already be too late.
But he couldn't think that way. He had to believe that Lacey was still alive, that they could find her before it was too late.
"Let's get those dogs working," Dean said with grim determination. "We're going to find her."
As the search teams prepared to fan out into the darkness, Dean stared into the forest and made a silent promise. Whatever it took, however long it took, he was going to bring Lacey home safely.
The alternative was simply unacceptable.