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“Don’t think that way, Augustus. Officer Burrows said he was reaching out to the local police. With their cooperation, it’s only a matter of time before we find her.”

“What if we find them too late? What if he’s done something horrible to her?” My voice is high and panicked. I barely recognize it as my own.

Before Eric can respond, my phone rings. I nearly drop it in my haste to answer.

“Hello?”

“Hello, this is Officer Walters with Ravens Hollow P.D. Is this Augustus Sutton?”

“It is.”

“Great. Officer Burrows asked me to ring you. He’s currently speaking with the police chief of Meadow View. It’s the closest town to where the suspect in question was last seen on camera.”

I try to breathe through my frustration. Last update, Officer Burrows was contacting the local department. I was hoping for a location, not an update to the update.

“Mountain View has sent officers to patrol and—” there’s a pause, “Hold on a moment, Officer Burrows needs to speak with you.”

There’s some static, then Officer Burrows voice is on the line. “Augustus, I just got off the phone with the Mountain View Chief of Police. He’s got officers out patrolling for the vehicle.”

“I really appreciate that.”

“Here’s the thing. While we were speaking, he had his office run Chad’s information through their database. Nothing came up, same as when I ran it. However, we’ve gone back through the missing persons file. There are several interviews that Chad did right after he reported Cordelya as missing. She vanished the day of their wedding. He mentions that fact repeatedly, hyperfocusing on the fact that they missed their wedding. In the interviews of her friends, they also indicated he was consumed with finding her so they could get married.”

A deep growl slips past my lips.

Officer Burrows pauses a moment before saying, “I know this is hard to hear, knowing Cordelya is your mate.”

“It is,” I seethe.

“All this mention of him obsessing over the wedding, likely because he views that as the ultimate control, got me thinking. While I was talking to the chief, we both ran a public records search. Two weeks ago, Chad Clark filed for a marriage license.”

I punch the door, the hit punctuating my outburst. “Fuck!”

Over my dead goddamn body would that motherfucker marry my mate.

“What?” Eric asks sharply.

“Chad filed for a marriage license.”

“Shit,” he hisses, hitting the gas.

“Hold on a second, Augustus,” Officer Burrow says as another voice hums in the background.

“The car was spotted on the far side of town. Intel says there are a lot of hotels in the area. Knowing that and that he’s filed for a marriage license, I think we need to divide our resources. I’m instructing half my officers to head to the courthouse and the others to start knocking on hotel doors. Mountain View will do the same. I’ll check in again shortly.”

Eric punches Jackson’s contact on his touch screen, the dial tone echoing in the truck cab.

“Talk to me,” Jackson says.

“Short version, the car was spotted in a town called Mountain View in an area with loads of hotels. Chad filed for a marriage license two weeks ago. We need to split up. Ravens Hollow and Mountain View police will hit the courthouse and hotels.”

“I’ll ring Logan, and he can touch base with Evren. We’ll head for the hotels.”

Jackson ends the call, plunging the cab into silence once more.

“What are you thinking?” Eric asks

I run my hands through my hair for the millionth time.