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“Damn it to hell.” Tate set his glass down and stood up. “Who is it?”
“Shannon Fowler. I’m praying she’s just off doing some stupid thing and didn’t call home.”
“You let me know what’s going on,” Tate said, clapping him on the shoulder. “And if I can help in any way, just holler.”
“I will. Thanks. Make my excuses to Adele, okay?”
He covered the distance to his office in record time, making a call to Guardian and filling in Reno along the way, though he hoped the extra help would turn out to be unnecessary. Five of his deputies were waiting for him, all of them wearing sick expressions.
“What? Did someone find her?”
Andi spoke first. “No. No body. But Sheriff, I tracked down the bus driver and he swears he dropped Shannon off at the head of her road. She has to hike more than a mile to her house and there isn’t another living soul on that whole stretch. Only thing out that way is pastures and the Fowlers’ house.”
“Anyone could have come along and taken her,” Mickey pointed out. “And if, like Leanne, it was someone she knew offering her a ride, she’d hop right in.”
Cole’s stomach roiled, and a headache began at the back of his head. He looked at his deputies. “I’m assuming someone’s driven that road end to end and stopped to see Bootsie?”
Gaylen Kleist, his senior deputy, nodded. “I did, boss. I was out that way, and as soon as I got the call, I went right over.”
Cole dropped into the chair at the head of the table. “And?”
“And nothing.” Kleist shrugged. “I drove the whole length of the road, both ways, real slow. Twice. Nada. Not a sign of her.”
“If the bus driver dropped her off at the head of the road, she disappeared somewhere between there and her house.”
Andi cleared her throat. “Sheriff?”
“Yeah, Andi.”
“If this is the same man, he could have taken her anywhere. How the hell do we know where to look?”
Cole was feeling sicker by the minute. Salado County covered a big area, and there were a lot of uninhabited acres. Much of it was ranchland, and he didn’t think the perp would risk going onto land under the watchful eyes of cowboys. But there were huge pastures of coastal hay and other grasses, not to mention wooded areas.
“All right.” He looked around the room. “The first thing we need to do is call in Search and Rescue. We’ve already lost enough time as it is. Tina Solize is the best there is. And besides the dogs, they recently got funding for a helicopter, so they can search by air.” He shoved his chair back from the table. “Mickey, get a map of the county and divide it into five sectors. We’ll start with the area where the Fowlers live. I have a feeling he’ll dump her close to home, just like he left Leanne near her friends.”
“He wants us to find her, doesn’t he?” Andi commented.
“Yes. I think he does. He’s sending a message. The bastard’s so arrogant he thinks he can pull this off right under our noses and get away with it. He’s done it once already. Maybe more if he’s connected to the other disappearances.”
“You know, once word gets out, we’ll be flooded with people,” Gaylen pointed out. “Everyone will want to help, and they’ll be trampling all over the place.”
”You’re right.” Cole rubbed his jaw. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. Gaylen, where are those two rookies I’ve got appointed to night shift?”
“Probably home sleeping.”
“Wake ’em up. Get ’em down here. Have them report to me, and I’ll get them set up taking calls and giving people instructions on what to do. Find out from Grace who’s worked with SAR looking for lost kids before. We’ll need someone with some smarts in each area.”
“Got it. I’ll go call right now,” Gaylen headed toward his desk with a long stride.
Cole turned to look at the others. “Mickey, make copies of that map after you draw out the sectors. Give one to Gaylen and the others to me.”
“I’m on it.”
“The rest of you get your assignments from Gaylen.” Cole slid his chair back, his frustration mounting with each ticking of the clock. He headed to his office to contact Tina Solize.
“I’m just back from a trip to South Texas, Cole.” Tina sounded a little ragged when she answered the phone.
“I hate to pull you out again with practically no rest,” Cole told her. “I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t an emergency.”
