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His cell phone rang. He swore and let go of her just long enough to pick it up and glance at the screen. His first thought was that Colby was finally phoning home, but it was the chief’s number on the screen. Dammit, he’d missed his eight-o’clock check-in.
A little chill whispered up his spine. “I’m sorry, Kara. I have to take this.”
She nodded. He answered the call. Kara turned and headed for the door.
“Hold on,” he said to the phone. “Kara, wait—”
She looked back at him, shook her head. “I need to go, Jimmy. I need to think. This is all... it’s too much. But I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”
He nodded, hoping to God he hadn’t blown it. “We’ll pick you up. Ten o’clock, okay?”
“Good night,” she whispered. Then she took off as if a pack of demons were chasing her down.
Jim sighed and tried to focus on the phone call. “I’m back. Everything’s fine. Sorry I didn’t call, Chief, but—”
“Everything’s not fine, Corona. Vinnie’s dropped out of sight. Left a decoy in his penthouse apartment, so we can’t be sure how long he’s been gone. And Angela’s missing, too.”
“Hell. I don’t like this.”
“Neither do I, Corona. Have you heard from Benton yet?”
“Not a word. It’s not like him not to call.”
The chief drew a breath. “Vinnie Stefano has never been violent.”
“That we know of,” Jim put in.
“Listen, I still don’t think this is a reason to panic. Is Angela likely to figure out where you are?”
“She knows I grew up here, but frankly her brain is so fried I’d be shocked if she could remember.” God, he didn’t want to blow this thing with Kara Brand now, especially if this Vinnie scare was all just bull. “I could kick Colby’s ass for not calling in.”
“He will. Wait for him. Meanwhile, I’m going to contact the local cop shop, Corona. That town have a police department?”
“Shares one with Tucker Lake. I think the headquarters is actually over there—used to be, anyway. The county sheriff’s office is over in Ridgewater.”
“All right. I’ll let them know. And maybe have them keep an eye out for Colby’s SUV just in case.”
He didn’t like the way his stomach clenched up when the chief said that.
“Go about your routine, Jim. There’s probably nothing to any of this. Just keep your guard up, okay?”
“Okay, Chief. Talk to you in the morning.”
CHAPTERSIX
“You don’t have a thing to worry about, you know,” Vinnie told the cop.
He was standing behind the car with the trunk open, talking to the man inside. Angela thought it must have been cold in there overnight. Vinnie had found a motel twenty miles from Big Falls, and that was where they’d slept. The cop had spent the night in the trunk of Vinnie’s car. Cruel, sure. But Vinnie couldn’t very well have left him in the back seat, in plain sight.
Vinnie said he was going to let him go soon, though.
She was glad. It must have been cold in that trunk all night, and the poor guy was going to be lucky if his hands ever went back to normal, with the circulation cut off for so long. They were white now, his hands. Pale as fish bellies.
“Vin, why don’t you loosen up his hands a little?” she asked.
Vinnie jerked his head up. It was dark outside, the parking lot devoid of any other movement. This was not a city, it was a motel situated in between a cluster of small towns. No one was around, and only a handful of cars were even in the parking lot.
“I thought I told you to stay in the room,” he snapped.
