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She gave him a rusty laugh. “Cole, everything for me is an emergency. If it wasn’t, no one would need me.”
“I guess you’re right.” He explained how he was setting up the search sectors and what Gaylen would do with the volunteers. “If you can come by, we’ll give you the maps and the other information. Whatever we’ve got.”
“Good. Very good. Okay, give me an hour, and I’ll meet you with my team. We’re racing the clock here so let’s start with the sector containing her house.”
“Right. I think this bastard wants us to find her so he probably dumped her close to home.”
“Good thing I’ve got that new chopper. We’ll need air support to cover the entire county. My pilot can also fly a grid pattern over each search area, but using it ups the cost. I’ll find the money to pay for it somewhere.”
“Guardian has offered to pick up the cost on this. Just give us the full ride.”
“I’ll call my pilot and get him going.”
By the time Cole hung up, Grace was at his door with a mug of her poison. “I don’t care how bad you think this is,” she told him. “You’re gonna need it. The word’s out. We’re flooded with people who want to look for Shannon, and they’re all pissed off.”
“Where’s Gaylen?” Cole asked.
“Trying to get everyone organized,” Grace told him. “He’s got the two rookies on their way in. He told them come as you are as long as they got here ASAP. And the phone’s ringing off the hook.”
“All right. Let’s get organized.”
He fortified himself with the thick brew in the mug, found Mickey with the maps, grabbed one, and then hurried to the front of the building. As he’d expected, the news had spread faster than measles. This was not working out quite the way he envisioned. The lobby was jammed with people, clustered around Andi, who was trying to organize them. He spotted Gaylen on the front steps, trying to get everyone’s attention in the front parking lot.
Cole opened the door and eased out beside his deputy. “Go on inside and take the phones from Grace until the rookies get here. I’ll talk to the mob. I’ll deputize the Guardian agents as soon as they arrive.”
He was immediately assaulted with questions.
“Where’s Shannon?” someone shouted, the minute Gaylen moved inside.
“Why can’t you catch whoever’s doing this?” came from another direction.
“Are you letting our county go to hell?” a third person yelled.
Cole held up his hands. “Hold it, hold it. If everyone will give me a minute, I’ll give you a heads up on where we are.” He waited until the noise level dropped to steady mumble. “Here’s the deal. We don’t know if anything has even happened to Shannon Fowler. She could be off with one of her friends some place not even aware of the uproar she’s causing.”
“Shannon’s a good girl,” someone protested. “She’d never do anything like this. Cause her folks to worry and all that.”
“I didn’t say for sure that’s what happened,” Cole pointed out. “I’m just saying we have to look at every possibility. Now. I’ve called in Tina Solize’s SAR team. She’ll be here shortly, and we’ll start searching closest to the Fowlers’ home. That’s the last place she was seen. I know you want to help, and we can certainly use you. We just need to do this in an organized fashion, so we don’t miss anything.”
“What do you want us to do?” a man at the front of the crowd asked.
Cole knew these were basically good people, and he really needed their help. “Find your neighbors here in the crowd. Then go back to where you live and start searching your area. Work in groups of two and three.”
“Are we looking for a body or a live person?” someone wanted to know.
“I’m hoping a live person, but I’m preparing for any eventuality.”
“Hey, Sheriff.”
Cole turned at the shout. A man he vaguely recognized as a friend of Tate’s was waving a hand at him. “Yes?”
“How come it’s taking so long to find out who’s running loose in our neighborhood?”
Cole swallowed the retort that bubbled up in his throat. “It’s been less than forty-eight hours. Please keep that in mind. This is our only priority, and you can rest assured I’m prepared to call in the Rangers at a moment’s notice.”
“What can we do to help?” someone shouted.
“Hold on just a few minutes. Someone will come out and organize you into groups and tell you which sectors to hit. Thanks for coming.” He ducked back inside and spotted the rookies who had obviously come in through the back entrance.
