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“I’ve got it,” Doug’s uncle stopped Kyle with a hand to his arm. “I play golf with Henry. I’ll make the call.”
Kyle looked at Mason for confirmation, and there was no hesitation. “That works,” Mason approved, then his eyes turned to the waiting units. “Squads B and G, head to Skowhegan and assist the locals at these locations.” He reiterated the two addresses. “The rest of you, fan out and do another sweep of the woods.”
Quint immediately and naturally took charge of that effort, and nobody naysaid him.
Mason gave a thankful nod, then turned his attention to the dog-handler. “Here’s where we’ll start, Harvé…”
Doug, unable to stand still any longer, walked over to Talia before he was directed to head back out into the surrounding forest. He hoped she’d found out something about Peter.
The LT saw him coming. “Let me put you on speaker, Julie,” Talia said. “Doug’s here, and you should tell him what you just told me.”
“Hi Doug. This is Julie. Pixie’s told me a lot about you, and…” Her voice broke. “Please find her, Doug. Please.”
“What do you know, Julie,” Doug said gruffly, on the edge of breaking down, himself. But he didn’t have time to succumb to emotions right now. He needed to focus.
Julie sucked in a sob. “I know that Peter has been a thorn in Pixie’s side for months now. She’s been trying to deal with him on her own, but she came over yesterday and we brainstormed for a report she could submit to her principal if things escalated. I have it in my hand. Peter’s last name is Palades.”
“Spell it.” Doug shouldn’t have grunted the order, but he needed this lead as quickly as possible. Every second could make a huge difference.
Julie didn’t hesitate. “P, a, l, a, d, e, s.”
“Good work, Julie,” Doug managed to praise. “Hold on a minute.” He raised his voice. “Chief,” he yelled. “I have Peter’s last name.” He knew Opal and Nolan were also listening. “Papa, Alpha, Lima, Alpha, Delta, Echo, Sierra,” he ticked off.
The tech gurus headed into the bus almost before he’d finished talking.
Doug turned his attention back to the phone. “Anything else, Julie?”
“Yeah. I’m not sure if this is important or not, but my husband Ian was out walking the dog this morning before he got sick, and that guy, Harlan, the brother of the one who shot Pixie? He was cruising really slowly down the street in his car. Ian flagged him down, because he wanted to tell the guy basically to cut the shit and stop stalking Pixie. That’s how my husband is,” she added. Julie didn’t apologize as much as inform. “But Ian couldn’t get much out of him. Harlan was ranting about having lost Pixie, and how he needed to find her again. Ian told him not to eventhinkabout it, that Pixie’s sister was getting married today, and he better not go there and cause a scene.” There was a second of silence. “You don’t suppose he found out where the wedding was and went to take…” She clearly couldn’t finish; she was becoming so emotional.
“It’s possible, Julie. But try not to think the worst.” Because Doug already was. He was mapping out all kinds of horrific scenarios in his mind. “We’ll look into it.” He couldn’t be gone soon enough. “Thanks for your help.” He nodded to Talia, then ran back to Mason. The LT would do what she could to calm Julie down, and Fleet would calm Talia. Doug hoped there’d be a time in his life where he and Pixie would have the option of being there for each other.
Right now, Doug had a plan. And he wanted the okay from Mason to head out to the main road to see if he could spot a white Chevy Impala.
“We’ve got a lead,” he told his chief. “It may be nothing, but Harlan was on Pixie’s street this morning, and heard about the wedding. Pixie’s friend thinks he might have headed this way. I need to grab my truck and go looking for the white Chevy the guy drives. He could have Pixie in his vehicle.”
“Good call, because SPD just notified me. There’s no one at Harlan’s house. Roper’s going to leave a few officers there until our squad arrives, then our people will keep an eye on the placefor the duration. Also, it only took Opal and Nolan a hot second to find out Peter Palades has only been in existence for about nine months.”
“An alias,” Doug spat.
“Seems like it,” Mason agreed. “But regarding Harlan, take Cisco with you to look for him, and if you find the man, follow, but do not engage. Wait for back-up. Do I make myself clear?”
Doug knew Mason had reason not to trust that he wouldn’t go rogue, but he straightened his shoulders. He’d follow orders to the T this time. This was Pixie’s life at stake, and any emotional response from him right now might blow the whole thing to hell.
“Very clear, Chief.” Doug gave him a chin nod, then turned to find Cisco right on his six. “You’re with me,” he said.
“I heard. You want me to drive?” Cisco had gotten an earful of, well, everything earlier in the day while they were dressing at Doug’s aunt and uncle’s house for the wedding. Doug had pretty much spilled his guts over what had been happening with Pixie,andwith therapy, so Cisco knew Doug was walking a fine, uneasy edge right now, trying to keep his emotions under control after finally being able to acknowledge that Pixie was someone he wanted in his life.
“No. I can do it.” Doug drew in a deep breath. He needed to grip something with his hands to keep them busy or he’d pop veins, he was clenching so tightly.
Within minutes they were cruising down the main road that ran in a wide, arcing half circle around the Sothard’s property before heading off into the mountains. Minutes ticked by, seeing nothing but trees. It was Doug’s worst fear that Harlan had snatched Pixie and gone off into the vast acreage. If that was the case, they might never find her.
“Drones,” Doug suddenly exclaimed.
“Drones?” Cisco repeated.
“Yeah. They can cover more ground than we can. Call the chief and ask if he can get some drones in the air to check all the backroads off the main route.”
“Got it,” Cisco responded.
