Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
John returned to the car expecting to see Katie waiting there for him.
She wasn’t. He’d taken longer than he had expected, but felt the extra few minutes were worth it to place the cameras strategically.
He leaned against the car for a few minutes, but as the area became darker he grew uneasy.
Something was wrong. He could feel it in his gut.
It was eerily quiet and John wasn’t going to wait any longer. He called Katie but it went straight to voicemail. He jogged to the area where she had entered the trees.
“Katie?”
Nothing but the quiet forest responding.
He ran faster and spotted one of the video cams. “Katie?”
He sprinted and checked nearby areas. He finally reached a tree where the camera was on the ground. He looked around, doing a three-hundred-sixty-degree turn. There was no indication of where Katie was.
Looking down at the ground, John saw what appeared to be scuff marks, as if someone had been dragged. The shoe impressions weren’t entirely visible, but it was clear that there were two sets.
“Katie,” he whispered. John knew that he couldn’t search alone and time was precious.
Ever since he had met Katie, she had stirred something in him, and in a way, they had always been connected.
She had to be all right. His mind cluttered with all types of scenarios as the darkness began to envelop him.
Running back to the car, he called McGaven.
Nearly twenty minutes passed before McGaven and three patrol cruisers drove into the construction area. It was mostly dark now and they were clearly dealing with exigent circumstances.
“Are you sure that she went this way?” said McGaven. His face was drawn and stressed. He chose his words carefully.
“Yes. I retraced everything. The second camera was on the ground and it was clear there was some type of altercation or struggle.”
“Okay, listen up!” said McGaven to the assembled officers. “Katie has been missing for about half an hour. We need to fan out.” He pointed which way everyone needed to go.
John paced, extremely upset. How could he have been so stupid? They should have gone together.
“Hey,” said McGaven to John. “We’re going to find her. After all, it’s Katie we’re talking about. She’s a fighter and survivor.”
“It must have to do with these cases.”
“We don’t know anything yet. What we do know is that her cell is turned off and she has a GPS that she took from the property with the cameras, but the GPS isn’t activated either.”
“That means whoever took her was prepared.”
McGaven didn’t disagree. “I’ve let the sheriff know, so more help will be coming.”
“Maybe we need to get Cisco?” said John.
“It will take too much time.”
John grimaced and nodded.
“Let’s find Katie.” McGaven gave John a flashlight and the men headed out.
The voices of the patrol officers were heard throughout the woods calling Katie’s name as the movement of flashlight beams began to fill the forest.