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Thirty minutes later, she shook her head. “Damn it.”
The mapped data told them the kidnappers stole the car from the mall parking lot in San Antonio and then drove past parks where there might be children playing. They went by the Blessing elementary school, but classes had let out already. Then when they reached the Blessing City Park, they found Marta.
She sighed. “The pickup point seems to be out on Fisherman’s Road where someone must have been waiting for them. The time between grabbing Marta and dropping her off is less than thirty minutes. This was a well-timed plan. I’m afraid she’s already in Mexico or some other country. They could drive to Mexico from here in what, five to six hours?”
Ely nodded.
“What if we’re too late?”
“No, don’t think that,” Ely said. “We need to give her parents hope.”
“But are we just giving them false hope? I don’t want to hurt them any more than they’re already hurting.”
Jordan ran into the room. “Let’s go. We just got a call that another child is missing.”
“What the hell?” Camila said hurrying out the door with Jordan. Ely was right behind her.
CHAPTER9
Most of the time, Jordan loved his job. He loved being a sheriff in a small town where the wrongdoings were normally misdemeanors. But child abduction was a heinous crime and he wanted to kill the bastard doing this. And he feared he just might if they ever found the culprits.
With lights and sirens blaring, they pulled up in front of the parents’ home on the edge of town.
The mother came running toward them tears streaming down her face. “My daughter did not come home from school. I knew Marta. I know she’s missing and I’m so worried.”
“Ma’am, did you go to the school?”
“Yes, she wasn’t there,” she said. “My husband is going to her friends’ houses to make certain she’s not there. This is madness.”
“Tell us exactly what happened and why you think she’s missing,” Camila said.
Words poured from the woman while he listened, and Ely went back to the truck and called into dispatch. First, they would send someone to the school, and then after that, they would search the town for the little girl.
A truck pulled up in the driveway and a little blonde-haired girl stepped out of the vehicle. “Momma, I told you that today we were going to practice our lines for the school play.”
Her mother pulled the little girl to her and sobbed.
Relief rushed through Jordan and he walked over and shook the father’s hand. “I’m so glad you found her.”
The man chuckled. “She wasn’t very happy to see me. But we were both terrified something had happened to her. We’re friends with Marta’s family and we’re just sick about her missing.”
Jordan knew the rumors would soon be spreading over town. He was going to have to talk to the reporter. The sun was starting to sink, and frankly, he needed a break from this case. He needed time to just let it resonate with him. He needed to think about something else and hopefully his mind would work on the problem and come up with a solution after he rested.
“We’re doing everything we can to find Marta. But it’s not simple. And we’re all uneasy. I don’t blame you one bit for being worried about your daughter. Call us anytime.”
At least this time, it had been a false alarm. Those instances he didn’t mind one bit. It was the real abductions that wrenched him from the inside out.
The man nodded. His wife came over to his side. “Thank you for coming so quickly. I’m so thankful my husband found her. I’m sorry we bothered you.”
Camila hugged the woman.
“No,” Camila said. “You call anytime. The sooner we learn a child is missing, the faster we can get their picture out to all our resources. I’m just thankful this turned out differently.”
“Me too,” her mother said holding her daughter next to her. “I can’t imagine what Marta’s mother is going through.”
Jordan couldn’t either. He’d seen how wrecked her face appeared yesterday and it pained him to know that a little girl was abducted.
“Have a good evening,” Ely said and they walked to the truck. They were silent until they got inside.
