Chapter 52
FIFTY-TWO
Sheriff Wayne Scott had never been in the military, but he had dreamed and planned on becoming a police officer his entire life. It was a calling. There were no other members of his family that had been in law enforcement—until Katie.
He was groggy and his mind was playing his early past life to the present over and over, through his accomplishments as well as his losses.
Losing his sister and brother-in-law was a brutal blow, but raising Katie was the best experience of his life.
Losing his wife to murder had broken his heart, and it wasn’t until he recently met Sydney that he’d realized he was in a place where he could love someone again.
Now she was dead. The grief began again.
Pain shot down his arm and he felt something around his neck.
His arms and legs wouldn’t move. At first, he thought it was a dream, a bad one, but he forced his eyes open.
It was dark around him except for the illumination coming from a small oil lamp.
His eyes were blurry, but he could see that the room was small, perhaps a cabin; there were no furnishings except for a beaten-down sofa and some blankets.
It smelled of bacon grease and had a musty overall stench.
He knew he had never been there before and tried to visualize where it was located.
The sheriff had been outside at Katie’s, about ready to get into his truck, when he was struck from behind.
He remembered voices, two men, and then things were hazy, coming in and out like a shortwave radio.
He thought he’d heard Cisco barking but wasn’t sure.
He felt his body being dragged into a vehicle.
His hands and ankles were secured and a cloth bag was put over his head. Then he had passed out again.
Sheriff Scott couldn’t move his head and realized that he was secured against something.
A little more strength infused his body and he tried to maneuver his arms. There was a strange numbness he couldn’t quite pinpoint.
He realized they too were attached to something.
The harder he tried to move, the more pain shot down his arm.
His head pounded and he assumed that there must’ve been something on the inside of the burlap bag over his head and he was feeling the aftereffects of some type of drug.
He wondered if this was somehow part of Katie and McGaven’s investigation, but couldn’t figure out why. He knew they were running down every lead and seemed to be coming to the end—it was only going to be a matter of time before they caught Griffin Jr. and the cases would slowly be wrapped up.
Scott coughed, making his head throb more.
He was extremely thirsty. Using just his eyes and looking from the extreme left to the far right without moving his head was difficult and tedious.
He could tell the front door wasn’t locked and there was a pair of military boots set to the side.
Otherwise, there were no clues or indication of where he was, who lived there, and most importantly, why he was there.
He knew the department and most likely Katie had figured out he was missing.
Katie, he thought. He worried she might be a kidnap victim as well.
The sheriff had faith in his colleagues and knew they would be doing everything they could to find him.
Keeping those thoughts, he fought the drowsiness with his remaining strength, but he couldn’t stay awake. He closed his eyes.