Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 97944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
“Don’t go there.”
“I have to. I need to face the facts. He’s had her for too long. And every which way we turn, he’s a step ahead of us. Time is not on her side here.” Fuck, I’m spiraling. “Statistics—”
Rochel grabs my shoulders in a tight grip. “Look at me, man.” It takes everything in me to bring my eyes to his. Expose my weakness. Guilt. Regret. “She needs you right now. We’re not giving up. We’re not stopping until we find her. Got it? But I need you to put your emotions aside and think like a soldier.”
I squeeze my eyes shut and inhale, exhaling deeply. Then I nod. “Good. We should get back to the station. See what leads they have. Tillman’s lawyered up. He’s cooperating but sounds like he’s covering his own ass in the process.”
“Yeah. Okay.” He steps back, then instructs the forensic team to call him if they find anything useful. The ride to the station is tense, but he’s right. My fear has no place here. We pull up, and my eyes catch the sleek sedan parked in front. I recognize James, Theo’s driver. When we get closer, I realize he’s talking with Craig. We park, and I climb out.
“Your phone broken?” Craig walks up, looking less than pleased.
“Not now.”
“Now’s a great time. I have a very pissed-off client—”
“And I have a missing woman I need to find. He can be pissed off after we bring her home.” I pass him and jog up the stairs to the station. I don’t get too far when I hear Fay yelling my name.
Her face is stained with tears. She wrestles out of Theo’s grip and charges at me. “You bastard!” Her hand swipes across my face. “How could you! You were supposed to protect her!”
She takes another swing just as Theo restrains her. “Shhh…” he soothes, and she struggles in his arms.
“No! I want answers. I want to know where my best friend is.” She breaks down, and he turns her soaked face into his chest. When his eyes find mine, they look murderous.
“I want to know everything you know.” I nod. “And if you ever decline a call from me again, I will fucking end you. You understand?”
“Got it.”
“I don’t think you do.”
“Trust me. No one wants to find her more than me.”
Fay twists in Theo’s arms and sticks her finger out, jabbing me in the chest. “Wrong, asshole. Me. I want to find her more than you. Because she means EVERYTHING to me!”
“I think it’s best we move this party to a more private room.” Rochel raises his hand for everyone to follow. Fay throws one last snarl my way and allows Theo to escort her down the hallway.
We walk back and come to a stop at an open door. Inside, Officer Miller is standing in front of a blackboard, scribbling information. Vince Tillman is at the table with another man in a suit, who I presume is his lawyer.
“What do we got?” Rochel starts, grabbing Miller’s attention.
“Sir.” He nods to Rochel, taking in the audience behind him. “Well, we’ve been scanning all the listing addresses in Tillman’s company’s database.”
“And?”
“There are a hundred and thirty-seven active listings. From that list, we’ve been obtaining any Ring camera or Google footage taken in the last forty hours. We’ve had a team going through footage all night.”
“Tell me you found something?” Fay asks, and Theo tucks her into his side.
“Not yet. Seven houses have no sort of security camera, so we can’t tell if there’s been any activity outside of the realtor entering or exiting the homes. Mr. Tillman has been in touch with his agents. None seemed to sound distressed, but we still sent a squad car to survey the homes. Three houses are currently empty—”
“Those should’ve been the first ones you checked,” Theo snaps.
“We did. Two have come back empty and didn’t look like anyone has been hiding out in them.”
“So, there’s still one?” Fay asks, hopeful. “It would make sense for him to choose a house that’s empty, right?”
“At this point, my guess is no. He’s seemed to one-up us every time. Picking a vacant house would be too easy.”
“And picking a house that someone already lives in wouldn’t be?” she asks.
That’s when it hits me. “Because the active listings would be the first thing we check.” I turn to Vince. “Does he have access to all your listings—active and closed?”
Vince’s lips thin. “I don’t know. He's done some IT work for me. At one point, he did.”
“Could he now?”
“I’m not sure. He’s smart. He’s been in trouble before for hacking into systems, stealing information—”
“Information like security access codes?”
“I’m not sure what you’re asking.”
“Neither am I, Tate. What’re you getting at?” Rochel asks.
“I think we’ve been looking at this all wrong. Miller’s right. He’s too smart to hide out in an active listing. That’s rookie shit. He’s hiding out in a house we won’t think to look at.”