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“Name it.”
“I’m very worried about Dana. We’re sure this madman will be after her next, and I can’t get away for hours yet. She’s at my place. I don’t suppose you’d like to invite yourself over there and baby-sit for a while, would you?”
The smile that came to him was genuine, and he gave it without pause. A gift. The boy had given him a damned gift.
“I’m glad you trust me enough to ask this of me.”
Cole snorted. “I’d like to think I can takesomeoneoff the list. Certainly you.”
“She doesn’t know me,” he pointed out. “Will she let me in?”
“I’ll call her and tell her you’re coming. Pick up a pizza on the way. That’ll be your excuse if she gives you a hard time.”
“Well, if you think I can help, I’ll be happy to do it.”
“You’ll give me peace of mind, old man. And I’ll be more than grateful.”
“All right.” He could barely contain his glee. “You go on and give her a call, and I’ll stop for the pizza. Tell her about half an hour.”
As he drove off, Cole was picking up the phone. No doubt calling Dana to tell her what to expect. Only what she got would be something totally different.
Back in his truck, he almost rubbed his hands he was so delighted. He couldn’t have planned it better himself. Stopping to see Cole had been a brilliant move on his part. Otherwise, he’d still be racking his brain how to pull this off. And if he did it right, he could call and tell Cole that she was already gone when he got there. He’d tell him that her car was still in the drive, so he was going out to look for her.
And off they’d go. Just him and his little blossom.
Oh, yes. He could see it now, and his body grew excited.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Just as Cole pulled his cell out of his pocket someone rapped on the window. Gaby’s boss, probably visiting Stacy. Cole patiently answered questions, but the man seemed to go on forever. Checking his watch, he realized twenty minutes had ticked off while they were talking.
When he finally powered up his cell, it beeped to let him know he had messages, but he wanted to call Dana before he checked them. He frowned when he got her voice mail. Maybe she couldn’t get to the phone fast enough. He left her an explicit message, told her that Tate was on his way over and she should be sure to let him in. He described his uncle and his truck.
“Call me,” he said. “I want to make sure you got this.”
He was about to check his messages when his radio squawked.
“I’m patching Clayton through,” the deputy said.
“Cole?” Scott’s voice.”
“Anything yet?”
“Nada. We’re heading to another sector right now. You on your way back in?”
“Yes. I’ll check with you again when I get there.”
As he drove something niggled at him, an uneasy feeling that made his neck itch. Then he realized she hadn’t called him back yet. And he hadn’t checked his messages. He was only a block from his office, so he’d do it when he got there. But the moment he walked in the door Deke Ramirez, the young deputy filling in on dispatch today, came running toward him.
“Someone find something, Deke?” He could only hope.
“No, but Miss Moretti called while you were at the hospital.” The young man handed him a pink message slip. “She said to give this to you right away.”
Cole looked at the slip. This call came in long before his call to her. “I just tried reaching her, but there was no answer. Did she say she was going out?” He ground his teeth. Surely, she wouldn’t ignore his warnings. She knew the risks. More than anyone. “I flat told her to stay put.”
“I wrote down the message, so I wouldn’t get it wrong. She said she remembered the song. It’s ‘There was a little girl.’ She said you’d know what she meant by that.”
Cole’s blood chilled at the words. He’d heard that song so many times when he was a kid. He actually used to laugh about it and said they should have a song for boys, too. Closing his eyes against the wave of fear that threatened to overtake him, he scrambled for his cell and punched in Dana’s number. It rang and rang. Fear rolled over him as he punched in another even more familiar number.
