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“Five minutes,” the officer replied. “A call came in on dispatch—”
“I already know that.” I pressed my hand against the window and looked down at Leo. His cries were getting louder, and I leaned closer, realizing he wasn’t strapped in. “She was in a rush,” I gritted out, glancing up at Ky, who was checking the other side of the car. “Anything that side?”
“Looks clean,” Ky responded and then held his cell up. “It’s Brody.”
“Tell him what we know. Leo is here, Belle isn’t.”
“On it.”
I walked around the car, inspecting all of it, and couldn’t see a scratch or mark. When I made it back by Leo, I murmured, “It’s okay, little man. I’m gonna get you out.” I crouched down, looking under the wheels, and a small flash of something underneath the car caught my attention. I reached for it, and as I pulled it out, I realized it was the car fob. Had Belle put that here?
“She’s been taken,” I ground out, shooting back onto my feet.
“What?” Ky moved around to me, his cell still at his ear. “Here.” He handed me the cell. “Brody wants to talk to you.”
I took it. “Belle’s been taken.” I was straight to the point because now wasn’t the time for niceties.
“How do you know?” Brody asked, his voice deep and threatening.
“Brody? What’s going on?”
“Is that Lola?” I asked, staring down at Leo. I pressed the button on the fob and opened up the car door.
“Yeah.”
“Bring her with you.”
“Why?” Brody asked, cursing under his breath. “Tell me what the hell is going on, Ford.”
“My car was called into dispatch. Leo is inside it, but Belle is gone.” I pointed at Leo and then looked at Ky, silently telling him to pick him up. “I found the fob underneath the car, and Leo wasn’t strapped in.” I moved around to the trunk and pressed the button to open it. “The groceries are in the trunk.”
Leo’s screaming got louder, and I craved to go to him and hold him, but I needed to give Brody the rundown first. We needed to plan.
“I’m five minutes away,” Brody said, and the line went silent.
I handed Ky back his cell and plucked Leo out of his hold, rocking him and cradling him to my chest. I had no idea how long Belle had been gone, and I had no idea when Leo was last fed, but his cries quieted, and his eyes closed, leaving behind his wet face from his tears.
“Guard the car,” I told the uniformed officers. “When my superior gets here, tell him we’ve gone into the store.”
The uniformed officer nodded, and I walked away from him, my teeth grinding together. I needed hard facts about what had happened because, right now, I was working off a theory. Ky ran ahead to get the store manager, and I walked beside Lottie, hoping that Leo wouldn’t start crying again, at least not until Lola got here. I was torn, wanting to stay with Leo but needing to know where Belle was and what was happening.
“You can’t bring that dog in here, sir.” I flashed my badge and didn’t entertain replying to the security guard, who looked like he couldn’t chase a sandwich out of a paper bag, never mind someone stealing from the store. I whipped my head left and right, searching for Ky, and I finally found him toward the end of an aisle, waving his hand.
Cradling Leo tighter, I walked down the aisle and heard my name being called when I was halfway to him. “Ford!” I spun around, my shoulders dropping at the sight of Lola and Brody running toward me. “Give him to me,” Lola said, holding her arms out.
I passed Leo to her, feeling a lump building in my throat. Where the hell was Belle? Did we not go through enough just to get to this point?
“I’ll take him back to your house,” Lola said, her voice soft, but I could see the tears shining in her eyes. I couldn’t take looking at her face because I wouldn’t be able to do my job if I let my emotions take hold of me. I needed to go into agent mode and only look at it like that because if I didn’t, I was afraid I’d lose it.
“Take my car,” Brody said, placing a kiss on Leo’s head and then Lola’s. “I’ve got people on the way to escort you, so wait until I message you, okay?”
“Okay,” she whispered.
“His seat is in my
car,” I told her, moving back a step. I didn’t have time to stand here talking, not when we didn’t have any information. I ran my finger down the side of Leo’s face, stared at him for a beat, and then spun around and ran down the aisle toward Ky.
Footsteps pounded behind, and when I turned, I spotted Brody catching up with me. “The manager said he has the tape,” Ky said, standing in a doorway to keep the door open. “He’s bringing up this morning’s feed now.”
