Page 85 of Keeping Zita

He was well aware of how much time was passing. If Zita was hurt, every one of those seconds could mean life or death. It was almost physically painful to stand there and wait for something to happen.

For one of the searchers to find Zita’s body.

For the cops to call and say that Silas had finally broken and told them what he’d done.

For Carmen St. James to get a fucking conscience and spill the beans on the plot.

But none of those things had happened yet, and Obi-Wan was about to lose his mind.

Running a hand through his hair, he decided he was done. He needed out of there. Had no idea where he’d go, but he couldn’t stay in this fucking room one second longer.

Then two things happened at once.

The front door opened and Obi-Wan’s phone rang.

A woman entered the bar with a large black Labrador Retriever on a lead. The dog had a black and orange harness that said SEARCH DOG in bold black letters along the side. The woman was wearing a pair of navy cargo pants with the pockets bulging, and a navy polo shirt with a small white logo on the upper left chest. Her brown hair was short, and if he had to guess, he’d say she was about five-six. She wasn’t smiling, was instead looking around the room as if searching for someone.

She locked eyes with Obi-Wan, and began walking his way.

Seeing the search dog made him feel even sicker than he was before. He couldn’t help but think about cadaver dogs. He had no proof that’s what the black Lab was, but he didn’t want to even face the possibility.

Turning his back on the woman walking toward him, Obi-Wan answered his phone.

“Found the connection,” Tex said without preamble. “Shortly before Graves was picked up, he called one of the security guards he used to work with at the ship scrapyard. As far as I can tell, he hadn’t talked to the man in months. Why call him out of the blue, in that case, right before kidnapping someone? I called the detective in charge, he went out and grabbed the man and had a chat with him. He said Graves was on the property early yesterday morning, warned him not to tell anyone. Seems mighty suspicious to me. Then he said Graves was somewhere on the property for about an hour and a half. Claimed he didn’t see or hear anything out of the ordinary. Not sure I believe him, but he swears he’s telling the truth.

“A deputy from the sheriff’s office is coming to Anchor Point to escort you to the shipyard. She’s bringing her search dog. You’ll need something of Zita’s for the dog to scent on. She’s there, Obi-Wan—I’d bet my reputation on it.”

“Is it…it’s not a cadaver dog, is it?” he whispered, not even caring that his voice broke as he asked the question.

“No. It’s a scent-driven search dog.” Tex’s voice was sympathetic and reassuring.

Obi-Wan was relieved, but he still felt dizzy. Could this nightmare be coming to an end? It was the morning of day two, not quite forty-eight hours…but it seemed like an eternity. There was still no guarantee Zita was alive, that Silas hadn’t taken her to the shipyard and killed her before dumping her body in the ocean or stashing it in one of the rusted-out metal hulks on the property.

But maybe, just maybe…

He let the thought fade away as he turned to face the deputy.

Edge had stopped her from approaching, talking to the woman with a frown on his face. It looked as if they were having an intense conversation. But Obi-Wan was more than ready to stop fucking talking and get out of there. That clock behind the bar was still ticking away too damn loudly.

“I’m working on satellite data, and if I see anything I’ll let you know. I’ll be in touch,” Tex said, before severing their connection.

Obi-Wan put his phone back in his pocket and quickly walked over to Edge and the deputy.

The woman turned toward him and held out a hand. “Jennifer Williams. This is Fred.” She gestured to the black Lab sitting at her side. Even the dog looked serious.

“He any good?” Obi-Wan asked.

She nodded. “One hundred and forty-two searches. One hundred and thirty-four successful finds. And before you ask, the eight he didn’t find were false alarms, not missing people, so I’m not counting those as failures.”

Obi-Wan nodded. “Zita spent the night at my apartment the other night. I can get the pillowcase from the pillow she used.”

“Perfect, let’s go.”

Happy that the woman seemed to be as eager as he was to get started, Obi-Wan strode toward the door.

“I’m coming too,” Edge said.

All of Obi-Wan’s focus was on getting to that scrapyard. He didn’t care if the entire population of Norfolk came along to watch and help. All that mattered was finding his woman.