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Joe, Hank, Logan and Luke were already sitting around the conference table with Sam. She looked up when he and Pete walked in. Phil was at one end with his computer.
“Good. We’re all here,” Sam said. “Killian, tell us what you know.”
Killian told them Anne and Silas had never arrived home, and her car was still parked in the school lot.
“Phil, can you pull up feeds from around the school?” asked Joe.
“I should be able to,” Phil replied. Today, he had on a beanie that said “Delete Me.” The TV was set up on the wall so they could all see. He pulled up security feeds from the street that the school was on. They watched cars go in and out until Phil focused on Anne’s car.
“There!” shouted Luke. “Look behind Anne’s car. That man is forcing them to get into the white truck.”
Don’t get in. Don’t get in. Killian kept repeating the thought, although it was silly. He knew she got in the truck. They watched as the man pulled a gun on Anne. They watched as Anne helped Silas get in the truck, got in herself, and shut the door. The man went to the driver’s side and drove out, going left.
The man was dead. He just didn’t know it yet. “Follow him,” Killian said, getting an eye roll and a “d’oh?” from Phil.
Phil followed them past the marina and downtown until he lost them. Killian slammed his fist on the table. “Fuck.”
“I’ll try to find the truck in the surrounding streets,” said Phil.
Something nagged at Killian’s memory. He tapped his fingers on the table. What? He inhaled and exhaled a couple of times, cleared his mind.
“I put a tracker in Silas’s backpack,” he said excitedly. “You can trace that.”
“Good deal,” Phil replied. He input the information. “Gotcha!” He told them where the backpack was.
“What about Anne’s phone?” asked Sam.
Phil checked and shook his head. “Same location.”
Killian’s insides were churning. None of this was good.
“Okay, why don’t Luke and Hank go in one vehicle, Joe and I in another, and Killian, Pete and Logan follow? We’ll meet there,” said Sam. She looked over at Phil. “If you could continue to try to locate the truck, that would be great.”
“Will do,” Phil said.
The group picked up bulletproof vests and ear comms, walked out, and got into the trucks. The drive to the address took about thirty minutes. It was thirty minutes too long for Killian. Every second Anne and Silas were in danger was a second too long. Killian didn’t know who this man was, what he wanted, or why. It didn’t matter. He was a dead man.
They drove through downtown and on to the seedier side of town. People were milling around the sidewalk. They passed a couple of strip clubs, and Killian didn’t dare look at Pete. They were probably bad memories for him. Finally, they pulled up to a worn-down building. There was no white truck anywhere. What the hell?
Killian, Pete, and Logan exited the truck and met the other group. “Now what?” asked Logan.
Sam called Phil, who had no updates.
Killian shook his head. Was this how it ended? He’d never see Anne or Silas again? Heaviness like he’d never felt before took over Killian’s limbs. He leaned against the building, praying he wouldn’t pass out.
“Okay, thanks.” Sam walked over to the group. “Phil was able to get the names of some people in the building. We have a description of the man. Perhaps someone saw something.”
Security was lacking big time, so they just walked in the front door.
The building had four floors, so they spread out, each taking a floor. Killian and Hank started up the stairs to the fourth floor. Sam and Joe covered the third. Pete had the second, and Logan had it easy covering the first floor.
There were six apartments on each floor. Someone was cooking fish, the odor meandering around the stairway. In fact, the whole place had an old, musty smell. Killian heard scurrying and scritching in the corners and didn’t want to imagine what that was. Hank was taking the three apartments to the left. He took the three on the right.
Killian knocked on two doors, but no one answered. The third door opened, and an older woman barely five feet tall answered. She had seen nothing. After she slammed the door in Killian’s face, he checked on Hank, who shook his head.
They started walking down the stairs when he heard Joe call out to them. Killian hurried down the stairs, followed by Hank. He saw Joe talking to an older man in the corner unit.
“Killian, Hank. Mr.—?” Joe looked at the man.
