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She allowed herself three seconds of longing, then she set her jaw and focused. The next number she dialed was Papa’s.
ChapterEleven
Reed spent an exhausting night searching Summit Valley and the surrounding canyons and roads, corresponding with law enforcement throughout Colorado to find Garret Thomson and a red Mustang or black Jeep truck, the vehicles he had registered in his name.
Of course, the Delta family was combing the area as well and Papa Delta was putting all his connections to work. Reed wouldn’t be surprised if an elite military squad had been dispatched.
They came up with nothing. It was frustrating. Reed wanted that man behind bars, then he could comfort and love Esther.
If she’d let him.
By morning, nothing had changed except the eerie news that Josh had done a bang-up job with his research. He’d worked with Papa Delta’s contacts and the dental school in Chicago and together they’d pieced together a chilling story.
Robert Bend, a quiet and brilliant kid from Cleveland, Ohio, had been a model dental school student at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Dentistry. He’d fallen in love with another student, Mary Fontaine. She’d broken up with him at the end of their final year, right before their summative exams. Her friends said he was acting crazily obsessed with her and she’d needed a break so she could focus on the final exams and have some space from him.
Mary had turned up missing the night before the exams. Robert had completed his exams with stellar performances on written and in-person testing. Three days later, Mary’s body had been found. She’d been choked to death and put in Lake Michigan with a brick tied to her foot, but some fisherman had pulled her up. They never found Robert for questioning. He disappeared off the map.
At about the same time, Garret Thomson, Robert’s roommate coincidentally, got a great job offer with an older dentist, Dr. James Olson, and moved to Colorado Springs for work. Josh was one hundred percent convinced Robert had killed Garret too, but had been smarter about hiding the body, had gotten plastic surgery to change his appearance to be similar to Garret’s, and had assumed his old roommate’s identity before Garret’s first day of work in Colorado Springs.
When Robert’s family was questioned, they said he sent texts regularly and called occasionally, but he hadn’t been home even for Christmas since he finished dental school.
It was sickening, and Reed could hardly stand to think of Esther ever being close to such a depraved lunatic. Garret must’ve gotten obsessed with Esther as well. Thankfully, she hadn’t been his next victim. The police were looking into some unsolved cases of women close to Garret or Robert’s age in the various locations he’d lived to see if they’d ever had an association with him. So far, they had seven possibilities from Ohio, Chicago, and Colorado Springs.
By noon, Reed was exhausted. He still hadn’t made it up to the Deltas’ valley to see Esther and still hadn’t found a lead on Garret.
At four, they got a call from Lonepeak Valley’s sheriff’s department. They’d been scouring their valley, especially as Reed and Esther had been there last night and they wondered if Garret had somehow followed them. They’d found the red Ford Mustang registered to Garret Thomson when they realized an elderly couple’s Buick had disappeared from their detached garage. The couple rarely drove but were proud that they kept the gas tank full and the keys in the car in case any of their family or caretakers needed a vehicle. They’d searched further and found the Mustang hidden in the barn under some tarps and old blankets.
So now they were looking for a silver Buick Lucerne, and everyone philosophized that Garret had probably switched cars before he attacked Esther. They’d been looking for the wrong vehicle the entire time. Garret had probably secured a different vehicle by now or was already hidden somewhere. As smart as Garret was, and as many crimes as he’d committed, he probably had several IDs in his possession.
Reed loathed the thought of this being an unsolved crime. It was very, very personal to him.
He sat at his desk and suddenly he could hear Esther’s voice late last night, raspy because she’d almost been choked to death.
I… need you.
His heart had about launched from his chest and he’d been instantly awake. He’d responded that he needed her, too.
Not like that.
That line had hurt almost as much as her saying it was all fake. Esther was good at ripping his heart out, but he refused to walk away from her. He’d do everything in his power to keep her safe and somehow help her be happy. Even if it wasn’t happiness with him.
His heart gave a painful twist at Esther being with anyone else.
His phone rang, and he snatched up the excuse to stop thinking so much. “Papa,” he greeted Esther’s grandfather.
“You heard they found the Mustang?”
“Yes, sir. I’m thinking I’ll go start searching for that Buick.” He didn’t know what else to do at this point.
“There are plenty of police officers, FBI, and military searching for Garret Thomson and that Buick, though he’s likely changed cars by now. I want you with Esther.”
His hopes took a happy leap. “Yes, sir,” he responded immediately. Reed might be sheriff, and this was his valley, but he would take orders from the highly respected, highly decorated, highly impressive former Admiral Davidson Delta. Especially if those orders involved close proximity with Esther.
Reed pocketed his phone, headed out of his office, and told Allie he was going to the Deltas’. She nodded, a secretive smile on her face, and he all but ran for his truck.
The drive to the valley took far too long. He saw some vehicles congregated at Papa Delta’s and he headed in that direction. Jamming the truck in park, he jogged up to the porch and rapped on the door.
Esther’s mom, Myrna, opened it wide. She gave him a quick hug. “Thank you for coming, Reed.”
