Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Katrina took in the sights of Iron City as Lee drove.
The small town was picturesque, like something out of a Hallmark movie.
But for her, this little city was anything but that.
She recalled frantically running down the street, tired and bruised, as she made her way to the city hall to get Chief Ricco to help Hunter.
The memory of the horrible things that happened outweighed the kindness of the people who’d helped her, Hunter, and Bianca.
Lee parked in a stall on the street in front of City Hall. The building hadn’t changed one iota since she’d last seen it.
“Wait!” Hunter said as she’d reached for her door handle.
“What?”
“You should text Bianca before we go in.”
“I thought we were going to talk to Chief Ricco before we did that to see what he thought of our plan.”
Hunter studied her for a moment. “If we do it before we go in there, the plan will be in place and he won’t be able to talk us out of it.”
That was true and manipulative.
Hunter’s gaze hit the floor, indicating he was aware of that as well.
Lee and Heidi stared at her and Hunter from the front seat.
“I think you should. We need to stop this maniac before he hurts you or anyone else. Chief Ricco is going to tell you not to do it. That’s probably what he should tell you. Sebastián shouldn’t be on the street. He’s dangerous. It’s obvious he’s coming for you. He needs to be stopped,” Heidi said.
Katrina couldn’t help but notice the surprised expressions Hunter and Lee wore when Heidi spoke.
What was that about? Hunter had said his aunt was a quiet person.
Was it her firm opinion about the matter that shocked them or the fact that she weighed in?
It didn’t really matter; the woman was right.
It came down to her or him, and she wanted to live.
Yes, she wholeheartedly believed she would die by his hand if she didn’t do something.
Katrina pulled her phone from her pocket, called up Bianca’s text, and hit reply.
I understand your warning and have already taken measures.
A reply came back so quickly one would have sworn Bianca, or Sebastián, was staring at her phone, just waiting for a communication from her.
I’m glad to know you’re still safe. Wherever you are hiding, stay there. Don’t go home.
Katrina’s heart sank.
“Oh no,” Katrina whispered.
“What’s the matter?” Hunter asked.
“It’s not Bianca.”
“What?” he questioned.
“Look,” she said as she handed him her phone.
“The reply text wasn’t signed PB. The earlier ones were. That asshole did something to her!”
“All the more reason to get this done,” Heidi said firmly.
“Maybe she just forgot to sign off the way she used to,” Hunter stated.
“No. That wouldn’t be like her. PB was her signature. Something’s not right.”
Katrina grabbed her phone back from Hunter and hit reply.
Will do. I’m back where I love to be. Except for one time, anyhow. You know the time.
She waited a few minutes for the reply that never came.
Sebastián now knew where she was.
The four of them slid out of Lee’s truck and entered City Hall.
The woman who worked the front desk ten years ago greeted them and was easily recognizable.
She had hardly changed at all except for the couple of creases formed at the corners of her eyes when she smiled.
Using her hand, she flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder when she stood.
In that instant, the woman’s name popped into her mind.
Mandi. She confirmed her recollection with a glance at the nameplate on the counter.
“Good morning, Heidi, Lee, and Hunter. Long time no see,” she said.
Mandi fixed her gaze on her and squinted. It was the kind of expression one used when trying to recall the name of a familiar face.
“I’m Hannah Rice. We met about a decade ago.”
It felt strange to use her real name.
At the sound of her name, Mandi’s eyes widened.
“Yes, I remember now. How are you?”
“Pretty good. You?”
Clearly a lie for the moment she was in, but a couple of weeks ago, life as she knew it was okay.
“Good. What can I do for you all?”
“We’re hoping to see Chief Ricco. Is he in?” Hunter asked.
“He is. Hold on a sec.”
Mandi spun around and took a few steps toward the doorway behind the reception area.
“Jack, the Samuelsons are here, and they have Hannah Rice with them. They’d like to see you.”
“I’ll be right there,” the chief’s familiar voice echoed out of the room.
A woman, Hannah recognized as Chief Ricco’s wife, Clare, stepped out of the chief’s office.
A toddler was perched on her hip, and she held the hand of another young child who looked to be five years old or so.
Cute kids. The little girl had the same shade of bright red hair as her momma, and the boy had dark hair like the chief’s.
They looked like the perfect little family.
Hannah recalled how nice Clare was to her and how the woman was able to calm her in light of all that had happened that day.
Clare caught her gaze and smiled warmly. “It’s good to see you, Hannah.”
“You, too, Clare.”
“Well, I’ll get out of here so you can talk to Jack,” she said, stepping toward the exit.
The chief waved them into his office and motioned for them to sit at the rectangular table.
She glanced around the room. It was decorated exactly the way she suspected an office would be for a small town police chief in the Northwoods. A twelve-point buck mount hung on the wall with a stringer of perch on one side and a fan of turkey tail feathers on the other side.
Chief Ricco listened attentively as she and Hunter explained the chain of events that occurred leading to them sitting before him.
The neutral expression Chief Ricco wore made it hard to know what he thought until she got to the part of how she texted Bianca, assuming it was Sebastián, and set him up to come after her up here.
It was then that his eyes darkened and his facial muscles tightened.
Still, he sat quietly until she and Hunter finished speaking.
“Well, if you are correct, and Sebastián understands the message, you’ve put us in quite the position,” the chief said.
Though the man spoke in a normal tone, she felt scolded, and when Hunter’s gaze hit the tabletop, she knew he felt the same.
Recalling his wife and two small children who’d just left the building made her feel guilty that she’d just endangered the chief and how this could impact his beautiful family. Her head hung.
“Hannah,” the chief said, drawing her attention back to him.
“I understand the spot you’re in. Unfortunately, circumstances like yours sometimes leave little recourse to ensure the victim’s safety. I wish you’d come to me before setting this all in motion, but what’s done is done. Now we just need to figure out our best course of action is from here.”
Chief was clearly not happy about what they’d done, but he’d quickly switched gears to damage control.
“So, we’re working with the assumption that Sebastián is really who you are texting with, and you’ve hinted that you are up here.”
“Yes.”
“There’s a big assumption about where you are located here, though, right?”
“I guess.”
“From what you’ve told me, back then and now, there’s still no actual proof it was Sebastián who’d shot Alyssa and chased you and Hunter.”
“It was him!” she said, cutting off the chief’s words.
“You may be right, but what I meant was, was it really him or a hired hand?”
She dropped her gaze to the surface of the table again, but for just a moment before returning it to the chief.
“If I had to guess, a hired hand. Remember, he had an alibi during that timeframe. It wouldn’t surprise me if he and his family paid for an alibi or threatened them, but he was behind it for sure. I just know it.”
“I ask, because Sebastián may not know the exact location you referred to. If he is truly on his way here, I want to keep him away from the general public. I’d like to steer him toward a specific place, and maybe we can pick him up en route.
Find out if Bianca is safe. It won’t take but a few minutes for me to get his and Bianca’s registered car information so we can be on the lookout, but still, there are a lot of roads in and out of here. ”
“If you stop him before he does anything, he’ll just be set loose to...”
“I can’t willingly let him try to kill you,” the chief said firmly.
The thought of having to start all over with the hiding process made her sick. It was so hard to leave everyone behind and if this were the case, she’d have to leave Hunter, the man she loved, behind again.
Chief Ricco looked at Lee. “Do you have any clients on your property today?”
“No, and we don’t have anyone scheduled until this coming weekend.”
“Good.”
“We need to make sure Sebastián, or whoever, gets to the right spot on your property. We can then monitor the roadway access points and the trail accesses.”
The chief paused and frowned.
“What?” Lee asked.
“We don’t have enough trained staff to cover all of those points.”
“Heidi and I can cover two of them,” Lee offered.
“I can’t let you do that.”
“We’ll stay out of sight and watch from afar, and we can radio you if we see anyone.”
The chief eyed his watch and looked a little defeated as he weighed that option.
Probably realizing he had little choice.
At this point, Sebastián would have received her text almost thirty minutes ago, and if he left right away, depending on where he actually was, it could be just a matter of a few hours before he showed up.
If he was in Green Bay, it could be as little as two hours.
“I’ll see if I can get help from the county sheriff’s department. I’m sure Sheriff Anderson will lend a hand.”
“We can...” Lee squeaked out before the chief held his hand in the air.
“No. We’ve got this. But, I will need your help to mark a map of all the access points.”
Chief Ricco rose, walked over to the doorway, and leaned out of it.