“Yes.”
“What about… everyone else?”
Wade leaned back in his chair.“Bennett Brooks is still at large, along with Paul McPherson.I deployed a search team at your brother’s request.We’ve got people on the ground, on the water, and in the air.”
Vanessa’s heart lurched in dismay.Paul hadn’t returned with the boat.Something had gone wrong, very wrong.She imagined Paul and Bennett wrestling for control of the gun.Had Bennett gained the upper hand?
“As soon as we’re finished here, I’m going to drive to the scene to assist the search.I wanted to take your statement first.”
She took a deep breath and summarized the events of the morning, ending with her struggle to break free from the duct tape.She grabbed a tissue to dab her eyes.“I called Jackson for help, and here I am.”
“I’ll have an EMT come in,” Wade said.“You’re shaken up.”
“I’m an ER nurse,” she said, sniffling.“If I need medical attention, I’ll tell you.”
“Nurses always say that.”
She smiled at the comment.It was true.
Wade asked for descriptions of Bennett and Paul, which she gave.He entered the information on his computer.Then a notification sounded, and he scanned the screen.He closed the page and stood abruptly.
“Thank you,” he said.“You’ve been very helpful.”
“Have they been found?”
“Go back to your father’s office, and stay there,” Wade said.
“Wait,” she said, rising to her feet.When he tried to leave the room, she blocked the doorway.Nightmarish scenes flashed in her mind.She swallowed hard and took a deep breath.“Tell me what’s going on.”
Wade allowed her to detain him, probably because she was a Nava, but his mouth made a hard line of refusal.
“I’ll call my father,” she said.“I’ll bring him down here.”
His brows rose.“You’d risk his health?”
“I don’t like him that much.”
He laughed in surprise, and then covered the sound with a cough.Her father was notoriously difficult to work for.Maybe Wade Hendricks didn’t like him that much, either.“Bringing him here won’t help.He would do exactly what I’m doing.”
“Please,” she said, touching his arm.She used her best sad eyes.
Wade gave her a sympathetic look and patted her hand like a grandmother.Then he moved past her.“I’ll have Jackson call you with an update.”
Vanessa collapsed in the chair and stayed there, too drained to cry.
Chapter Thirty
When Aiden liftedhis binoculars again, Paul followed his gaze toward the cabin.
Vanessa was walking down the steps.
Paul strained for a better view.He could barely make out the shape of her, and he felt a pang of guilt for restraining her with duct tape.She must have struggled hard to escape.While they watched, she climbed behind the wheel and drove away.
Aiden lowered his binoculars.“Now we have to relocate.”
“I can’t move,” Paul said.
“Too bad,” he said, and gripped the front of Paul’s T-shirt.“Get up.”
