AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Bingo.” He acknowledged her guess. “It’s the only place with all the elements.” He ticked the points off on his fingers. “The perp already knows the layout. It’s not being guarded….”
“And the symbolism is perfect,” Kate added. “High drama.”
“You know it.”
And if he was wrong, it would be no harm, no foul. They didn’t have any other leads to chase for the moment. Once Paige got the new satellite data, they could pivot if need be.
Everyone looked pleased with his reasoning, except Jane. She perched on a barstool, her face a mask of bleak despair. “I just hope you get there in time.”
Yeah. Him, too.
33
I need you safe.
The words filled a space in Jane’s heart she hadn’t even known existed.
Though she lived a quiet life, it was a secure one. She took care of others, and they watched out for her. Her friends and neighbors would drop anything to help her, and Jason would lay down his life for her, but this was the first time a perfect stranger had made her safety a priority.
The thought was humbling. And thrilling.
Blood rushed to her cheeks, and her heart did a little two-step. Bridger could never settle for a life like hers, but that didn’t keep her from dreaming for a precious instant.
“I’m such an idiot.” Paige’s exclamation pulled Jane out of her pleasant daydream.
Mason glanced over from his perch in the corner of the living room. “What’re you thinking?”
Paige paused, her fingers hovering above her keyboard. “Myles would have called his wife.”
Mason and Jane exchanged a puzzled look.
“When he got that threatening text,” Paige explained. “He would have called her.”
Mason rubbed his chin, eyes never leaving the front yard. “Sure. Yeah. Makes sense.”
The sound of keystrokes filled the room.
Paige pointed at her screen. “He did. They talked for seventeen seconds, and then he let the bad guy in the back door.”
“Too bad you can’t get a transcript of that call,” Mason muttered.
“Calls aren’t automatically recorded,” Paige told Jane. “Just texts.” She frowned at the screen. “That’s weird.”
“What?” Jane asked.
Paige’s fingers flew over the keyboard. “Tell you in a sec.”
She stopped typing and blinked at the screen.
Mason checked the rounds in his handgun. “What?”
Paige turned toward them, clearly concerned. “She’s here. Vangie Myles is here. Or at least the burner phone is.”
Mason shoved the gun in the holster at the base of his spine. “Here in Redemption Creek?”
She nodded.
“Are you saying Billy Peckham kidnapped Vangie and brought her here?” Jane could believe Billy guilty of threatening people he imagined to be sinners, but why torment the pastor’s wife?
