“I don’t think so,” Fred replied. “Darcy would have said something if it was, right?”
“And she described the doctor?” Eli asked.
“She did. Darcy grew up here, so she’d asked thinking maybe she’d recognize the doctor, but she didn’t.” Fred set aside the magazine in his hand. “Tall, red hair, beard and glasses.”
“That’s him.” A blip of elation for being on the brink of learning something about the doctor had Maren’s heart pumping in overdrive. “Can we get the contact information for this young woman?”
“See, there’s the rub,” Fred said. “Darcy and I were supposed to meet her here today. This is the only free clinic that we know of in the Buffalo Creek area. Darcy went ahead and took the appointment that we’d set up for Jennifer.”
“Maybe Jennifer got cold feet,” Colt said. “Maybe she decided to go take the doctor up on the offer.”
Maren’s stomach twisted. She hoped this Jennifer hadn’t contacted Derek Rolls. “Fred, it’s imperative that we get a hold of Jennifer. Would you be willing to call her?”
Fred scrambled to bring his phone from his pocket, and he dialed the number. “Darcy’s been calling her all morning. She hasn’t picked up. We left messages. But I can certainly try again.”
Sending up a small plea to God, Maren held her breath as the phone rang on speaker.
Just as Maren’s hopes were plummeting, a soft woman’s voice answered, “Hello, Fred. I’m sorry I didn’t make it to the clinic. I’ve just been too sick to leave the house.”
Maren didn’t know the intricacies of pregnancy, having never been pregnant before, but she’d heard how debilitating morning sickness could be. “Jennifer, my name is Officer Maren Anderson. I’m with the Colorado K-9 Unit. It’s very important that we speak to you about the doctor who approached you.”
“Oh, him,” Jennifer said with surprise in her tone. “He gave me the creeps. I have his card here. Do you want me to give you the information off of it?”
Maren barely contained her excitement. “I would indeed. Please.”
“The card says his name is Dr. D. Rolls. It gives an address.” She gave the number for a location in Colorado Springs. “There’s a phone number here, too.”
Eli took down all the information in his notebook.
“Jennifer, you’ve been a big help,” Maren told the young woman. “It sounds like Fred and his wife want to help you. I hope that you will let them. Don’t call that number or go with any strangers at all.”
“Okay. I won’t.” There was no mistaking the wary concern in Jennifer’s tone.
“Maybe you and Fred can reschedule your visit here to the Buffalo Creek free clinic,” Maren told her, then hung up. Looking to Fred, Maren said, “Thank you for your cooperation. We appreciate it.”
With that, Maren turned with Haven at her heels and headed for the exit. An urgency to get to that address provided by Jennifer had shivers of dread racing along her limbs. What would they find when they arrived?
“This could be the break we need,” Eli said as soon as they hit the pavement outside of the Buffalo Creek free clinic.
Trying not to let her hopes rise, Maren paused on the sidewalk. “We need to call Emmett with an update. I’m hoping we find my sister and Mia there.” Maren sent up a quick prayer for Mia and her own missing sister. Her pregnant twin. Her heart contracted within her chest. She rubbed at the spot concealed by the flak vest she wore. Another thought emerged. “Or other missing young women we aren’t aware of yet.”
The urgency to find the two missing women, along with any additional ones, and their unborn babies, had Maren’s blood racing. She sent another prayer to God asking for protection for the innocent lives that were being used for criminal purposes.
Eli made the call to their boss and within a half hour, the Colorado K-9 Unit task force was mobilizing to descend on the address in Colorado Springs. She and Colt would meet them there.
Her nerves stretched taut with each passing mile as she sat in the passenger seat while Colt drove them toward the address. Behind them, Eli followed in his vehicle.
“We need to get this guy. We need to find Mia,” Maren stated as she played with the cross around her neck. She needed to find her sister. “You think there’s any possibility that Opal could’ve found out about this supposed free clinic and gone there after Barren Valley? Like Jennifer, had Opal been approached by Dr. Rolls and had she thought him creepy? But maybe she decided to go to the clinic he’d told her about since she had to flee the Barren Valley Clinic when the gunfire started.”
“Anything is possible,” Colt replied.
She stared out the window, the landscape becoming a blur as she lifted a prayer of safety for her sister and for Mia. Thankfully, the miles passed by quickly. They were set to join up with the rest of their team at a neutral spot near their target, after they’d checked out their quarry.
Colt drove slowly past the supposed free clinic on the outskirts of Colorado Springs, whose address Jennifer had given them from Dr. Rolls’s card. The clinic wasn’t in a medical office building but rather in what looked like a small private house on a residential street. The place was worn, with chipped paint, warped stairs and a few windows boarded up. Warning bells clanged in Maren’s head.
“No way is this the clinic.” She couldn’t imagine her sister ever agreeing to enter a place so obviously neglected.
“Desperate people aren’t worried about aesthetics,” Colt said as he sped up and drove to the supermarket a half mile away, where they were meeting the other members of the task force.
