“Hold on,” Parker said. “She’s right here.”
He handed the phone to Rayna. “It’s Sam.”
Clearly nonplussed, she accepted it. “Hey.” Listening, she went out to the back patio to talk in privacy.
Once she’d gone, Parker wandered into the kitchen to look for Wanda. He found her and Lauren, sitting at the table, working on a child’s puzzle.
“Is Mommy okay?” the little girl asked, her little brow wrinkling.
“She’ll be fine,” Parker answered, aware that as far as Lauren was concerned, Rayna had to be. “What kind of puzzle is that?”
Lauren brightened immediately. “It’s a puppy. I love puppies. I hope Mommy will get me one of my own someday.”
“But we won’t ask her right now,” Wanda interjected. “Honey, why don’t you keep working on this while I talk to Mr. Parker here.”
“Okay.” Lauren bent back to the task of figuring out which puzzle piece went where.”
“Where’s Rayna?” Wanda asked, keeping her voice low.
“Sam called,” he replied. “She’s outside on the patio, talking to him now.”
“Good.” Wanda glanced at her granddaughter, still intent on her puzzle. “Maybe he can talk some sense into her. She thinks the entire town is going to turn against her now.”
Because that was what had happened last time. Of course, since Rayna hadn’t told him anything about that, he wasn’t supposed to know. So he kept silent about understanding why Rayna would think such a thing. Instead, he tried pointing out the positive. “I haven’t been here long, but from what I’ve seen, the citizens of Getaway seem to like and respect Rayna. I can’t imagine something so trivial changing that.”
Wanda’s expression cleared. “Thank you. Those are my thoughts, too.”
“Hey, you three.” Rayna appeared in the doorway, still holding her phone. “What’s up?”
“Mama, Mama,” Lauren squealed. “Come look at my puzzle. It’s a puppy, just like the one I want.”
Though clearly exhausted, Rayna made the effort to praise her five-year-old’s puzzle.
“Can we get a puppy, Mama?”
“Not right now,” Rayna replied. “Maybe someday.” She patted Lauren’s arm and urged her to keep working. “I’ll take a picture of it when you’ve finished.”
“What did Sam have to say?” Parker asked, once Rayna had rejoined them. She blinked, registering his question.
“I’m sure he was helpful,” Wanda interjected. “He’s such a good man.”
“He is. Sam’s on his way here.” Rayna sounded numb. “He must really think it’s going to be bad if he feels the need to support me in person.”
She had a point. Parker and Wanda exchanged glances.
“I don’t really understand why this is even news,” Parker ventured. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You weren’t fired or even reprimanded. You chose to leave and take another job elsewhere.”
“True.” Rayna cast a worried look at Lauren, who’d gone back to being engrossed in the puzzle. She lowered her voice. “I just don’t want anyone bothering her because of who her father happened to be. She doesn’t know anything about him and I’d like to keep it that way, at least until she gets older.”
“Agreed,” Wanda murmured. “But honey, let’s not worry about things that haven’t happened yet. Just because your former coworkers were jerks doesn’t mean everyone here will be.”
As if right on cue, Rayna’s phone rang. “It’s Mary,” she said, her expression warring between concern and hope. “I’ll call her back later.”
But as soon as the phone stopped ringing, it started up again.
“Mary again.” Rayna frowned, clearly concerned. “It must be important.”
She answered and after her initial hello, apparently couldn’t get a word in. Finally, she told Mary that she was on her way in.
Expression dazed, she swallowed and met Parker’s gaze. “You’re going to want to come with me. Old Man Malone found Nicole’s cell phone. Larry charged it and says it’s clearly hers. Thank goodness she didn’t password-protect it or we wouldn’t have been able to get in.”
“Was there something on it?” Parker asked, hoping against hope. “Something that might tell us where to find her?”
Rayna grabbed his arm, steering him toward the door. “Mom, will you keep an eye on Lauren until I get back?”
“Of course,” Wanda answered.
She hurried into her bedroom closet to retrieve her service weapon, nodding at Parker to indicate they needed to hurry.
They were out the door and in her cruiser before Rayna spoke again. “Larry says there’s a video on it. It looks like Nicole might have taken it right before she was abducted.”
Abducted. The word hit him like a punch in the stomach. Despite suspecting and worrying all along, having actual confirmation felt a thousand times worse.
He swallowed hard. “Does the video show who took her?”
“I don’t think so.” She glanced sideways at him. “Larry would have mentioned it.”
Numb, he dragged his hand through his hair. “I see.”
Starting the engine, she hesitated before putting the car in Drive. “Parker, are you okay?”
“Yes.” From somewhere, he summoned a smile. “I’m fine.”
They made it to the station in record time, though Rayna didn’t turn on her lights or use her siren. After she parked, they jumped out of the patrol car, practically running inside.
Glad she’d allowed him to accompany her, Parker braced himself for what he’d see on the video.
Mary waved but didn’t speak as they rushed past. They found Larry at his desk, still studying the phone.
“There you are,” he said, finally looking up. His gaze drifted past Rayna to Parker. He frowned. “Are you sure he should be here?” he asked.
“It’s fine.” Rayna gave a reassuring nod to both men. “Fill me in and then I’d like to view the video myself.”
“Sure thing, boss. I cleaned the phone up good and after I got it charged, it works fine. The screen isn’t even cracked.” Larry’s expression softened. “By the way, I saw the news story. That was wrong, just wrong, what they did to you. Both in Conroe and on the television news tonight.” He took a deep breath. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m behind you one hundred percent.”
“Me, too,” Mary hollered, from across the room. “Love ya, Sheriff Coombs.”
For a brief moment, Parker could have sworn he saw the sheen of tears in Rayna’s beautiful green eyes. She blinked rapidly and they were gone. “Thanks, guys.”
“Here you go.” Larry held up the phone.
“Thanks.” Taking it, she turned toward her office. “Come on, Parker. We’ll review it there. Larry, I’ll get with you if I have any questions.”
Once inside her office, she closed the door and dropped into her chair. Parker grabbed one of her guest chairs and pulled it around the desk so he could sit beside her.
She placed the phone in front of them. “Let’s take a look.”
First, she went to photos and began scrolling through them, stopping when she reached the one showing Nicole at the Getaway city-limits sign. There was only a video after that. Rayna clicked on it, hesitating a moment before pressing Play.
They leaned forward, intent on the screen. Judging from the jerky movement of the video, Nicole had been running. Though short of breath and clearly panicked, she tried to talk while she ran.
“Nowhere to hide,” she gasped. The phone panned to show fields similar to the one where the bodies had been found. “I’m not gonna make it...”
Then she must have tossed the phone, or dropped it. She screamed, and a man’s voice snarled obscenities at her. Unfortunately, due to the angle the phone had landed, nothing but dark dirt and bits of plants showed.
“Why’d it stop?” Parker wondered out loud. “Since it didn’t end when the phone hit the ground, I would have thought it would have kept going until the battery ran out.”
“Me, too.” Rayna shrugged. “Though that’s not much to go on, at least it proves Nicole was grabbed somewhere around here.” She reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “Now we’ve just got to hope she’s still alive.”
“Right.” Oddly enough, Parker felt less certain now than he had before. “I wonder if I should tell her brother what’s going on. I mean, he knows she’s missing, but that’s it.”
“Would you like me to call him?” Rayna asked, her voice gentle. “As sheriff, I sometimes have to make those kinds of calls.”
“No.” He didn’t even hesitate. “I’ll do it. I owe him that much. Thanks for offering.”
She nodded.
“What now?” he asked.
“We’re going to contact the cell phone provider and have them do some GPS tracking for us.” She checked the phone, frowning. “No recent calls, either, at least outgoing. She’s had a bunch of incoming, and there are numerous voice messages. I’m going to have Larry check them out.”
“Her family and friends have been very worried.”
“Understandably. We’ll also look into her life at Texas Tech. See whether or not she had any boyfriends, or former lovers. Just in case someone might have been mad enough at her to follow her and grab her.”
“What? You don’t think this is related to the other two girls?”
“What I think doesn’t matter. We can’t go on hunches or guesses. We have to check out all angles.” She stood, weariness in her shoulders. “Let me drive you back to my house so you can pick up your motorcycle. Looks like I’m going to be working late tonight. She sighed. “At least the reporters should be gone since we had the news conference, so we won’t draw any attention.”
* * *
After dropping Parker off, on the drive back to the station, Rayna reviewed all the things she should have said to Parker. Expressions of sympathy, concern, support probably. Instead, she’d had to force herself to keep her attention on the road and driving. All she wanted to do was get lost in the case.
It wasn’t every day that they had a video from an abducted—or probably abducted—victim. Part of her wanted to leak it to the press, though she knew she wouldn’t. As soon as Sam got her, she wanted him to take a look at it.
In the meantime, they’d keep this under wraps. She needed to talk to Mr. Malone and not only thank him for his find, but ask him not to say anything about it. Knowing Getaway, that might already be a lost hope. It depended on where he’d gone after bringing the phone to the sheriff’s department. If he’d gone home, they were most likely good. If not...
Since she didn’t have his phone number, she hopped in her car and drove out to Mr. Malone’s place. He answered the door on the second knock.
“Saw you on television earlier,” he said, stepping aside so she could enter. “If I were you, I’d sue for slander.”
“Thanks.” Stunned, she realized with all the furor over finding Nicole’s phone, she’d managed to forget about the news story digging up her past. “Listen, until we do a bit more investigating, would you mind keeping quiet about finding the phone?”
He scratched his chin. “Why? It seems to me like exactly the sort of thing folks should know. Might give them hope.”
“We don’t want the killer to know we have it.”
Her words made him blanch. “You think she’s dead?”
“Honestly, we don’t know. But it’s extremely likely. She’s been missing over two weeks.”
“Gosh, I hope not. That feller—Parker something or other—seems like he’s good people. He’s really been hoping for a good outcome.”
She nodded. “We all are, Mr. Malone. And while I understand it’s difficult to keep quiet about something as big as finding the missing girl’s phone, I’m just asking for a few days. The FBI is involved now and they might be able to extract something that could tell us who took her.” A long shot, but still possible.
“Okay.” Mr. Malone finally agreed. “You’ll let me know when it’s safe to tell my friends, right?”
“Of course. And if you want to keep looking, that would be helpful, too. Who knows what other evidence you might find.”
He brightened at that. “I will,” he said, his voice much more enthusiastic. “You’ll be the first to know if anything else turns up.”
“Thank you.”
As she turned to go, he reached out and touched her on the shoulder. “About the other thing, keep your chin up. I’m sure everyone in this town will stand behind you.”
She almost asked him if he truly believed that, but decided it best to simply thank him again and leave.
Driving home, she pondered his words. Could Old Man Malone be right? Would the people she’d served for so long as a deputy and now the sheriff truly continue to support her? They’d elected her to this position after all. She was almost afraid to hope.
Back at the house, she learned Lauren had finished the puzzle and Wanda had gotten her ready for bed. “You’re just in time to read to me!” Lauren exclaimed. “I already picked out the book I want.”
Rayna’s heart swelled. What had happened with Jimmy Wayne had been awful, true. But she’d gotten a beautiful little girl out of the whole mess, which made it all worth it.
After the story, she tucked Lauren in, kissed her cheek and turned out the light. Wanda sat in the living room, knitting, the television uncharacteristically silent. She looked up when Rayna approached.
“Are you all right?” Wanda asked, studying her daughter’s face intently.
“Yes. What about you? Why aren’t you watching your TV shows?”
“Because I wanted to talk to you first without any distractions.” Wanda even put her knitting aside.
Not sure if she should be worried, Rayna sat on the couch next to her mother. “Okay. What’s going on? Is it about the news story?”
“Yes, sort of. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing since you left. I finally turned it off. Same with the house line—it’s off the hook. Everyone in town wanted to talk to me about what they heard on the news.”
Dread coiled low in Rayna’s stomach. “What exactly did they have to say?” She braced herself, twisting her hands together in her lap.
“Every single person called me to voice their support for you.” Wanda beamed. “In fact, I’m thinking you’ll probably have a lot of messages left for you at the station when you go in tomorrow.”
Rayna stared, hardly able to believe her ears. “Are you sure?” she asked. “I mean...”
“Rayna, every single person in this town knows how hard you work for them. You’re not only an amazing sheriff, but a good person. They love you, honey. They really do.”
At a loss for words, Rayna felt her eyes fill. “I...I don’t know what to say.”
“Stop worrying, for one thing.” Wanda moved over and wrapped her daughter in a tight hug. “Those people at your former job were awful. The people of our little west Texas town are nothing like them.”
Not quite certain she believed it, Rayna still nodded. “I hope that’s true.”
Wanda hugged her once more before settling down on the couch to watch television.
Just as Rayna was about to turn in for the night, the doorbell rang. Instantly alert—because who came visiting at ten o’clock at night?—she looked out the peephole first.
She’d have recognized that white-haired, stocky man in the black cowboy hat anywhere. Grinning from ear to ear, she yanked open the door. “Sam!”
They hugged, she a bit too tightly. When she finally let go, she ushered him into the house, pointing at Wanda, who’d fallen asleep on the couch watching TV. “Let’s go into
the kitchen so we don’t disturb her rest,” she said.
She could have sworn Sam looked disappointed. “I was hoping to visit with Ms. Wanda,” he said, following Rayna to the kitchen. “Maybe next time. I’m sorry it’s so late, but that’s a bear of a drive here from Corpus. I thought I might actually have to stop partway and get some sleep.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.” She went to the refrigerator, turning to smile at him. “Would you like something to drink? Tea, water, beer, Dr. Pepper?”
“Do you have any bourbon?” he asked, rubbing his hand across his chin. “It’s been a mighty long trip.”
“I sure do.” She went to one of the cabinets, pulling out a half-empty bottle. “On the rocks?”
“Yes please. You still remember.” He accepted the glass from her, clearly pleased.
“I do.” She poured herself a glass of wine. “I really appreciate you coming all this way. That means a lot to me.”
After taking a sip, he shrugged. “You probably won’t need my support, but I’m here just in case you do. Getaway is full of good people. They’ll recognize the truth when they see it.”
“So far, they’ve been wonderful. Wanda’s gotten tons of supportive calls. And I checked with my night shift crew and over a hundred people have already called and left messages of encouragement.” Again, she found herself blinking back tears. “It’s amazing, Sam. Just amazing.”
“They’re good people.” He took another sip. “I’m going to have a lot of visiting to do while I’m here, but I appreciate if you could fill me in on what’s going on with the Nicole Wilson case.”
By the time she gave him all the details, they’d both finished their drinks.
“I’d better get going,” Sam said. “I called ahead and got a room at the Landshark. I’m really tired. I’d better turn in.”
“You’re welcome to bunk on my couch,” she offered. “It makes out into a bed.”
He dipped his chin. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m too old for that kind of nonsense. The Landshark will do fine.”
Texas Sheriff's Deadly Mission Page 13