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Theo kicked his boots against the running board of his Jeep Wrangler before opening the driver’s side door. He had to use more force than usual. By the time he had settled in behind the steering wheel, his phone was vibrating in the pocket of his jacket. He quickly removed his gloves, but retrieving his phone proved to be difficult with cold fingers. He should have taken the time to change into thicker outerwear.
Graham’s name was on the lighted display.
“You have good timing,” Theo greeted as he switched the phone into his left hand. With one fluid motion, he brought the engine to life. Once his phone connected to the Bluetooth system, he slid his phone back into his pocket so that he could hold his hands up to the vents. “I’m in between houses. Nothing so far, and Beeson hasn’t come up with anything, either. I’m going to call it for the night.”
“Are you still in the southern part of the neighborhood?”
The tension in Graham’s voice was evident, and Theo released his foot from the brake pedal. He hadn’t shifted the Jeep into drive just yet, anyway.
“Yes.”
Graham recited an address twice before providing more clarity on the subject.
“Brook hasn’t returned to the estate.”
Theo let his gaze fall to the neon green numbers on the dashboard.
“It’s not even ten o’clock. She could be pushing to clear as many properties as possible knowing that the storm is going to delay the rest of the search.”
“The burner phone has been turned off all day long, so I had Bit locate the Land Rover through its GPS,” Graham said over what sounded like a door closing. “It’s been sitting in the same spot for the past three hours. Brook told me that she was going to canvass the vacant real estate properties on the north end. I don’t know why she would have strayed from the plan. Either way, she wouldn’t have left the Land Rover in one place for that long. Too many potential questions from neighbors.”
“I’ll drive over there now.”
Theo reached out and disconnected the call with one press of a button.
He shifted the gear into drive while checking his rearview mirror. No headlights were breaking through the churning snow, so he gradually pulled away from the curb.
Theo had thought about contacting Brook earlier, but he had decided to wait until they could speak face to face. The reasons behind why she had gone into hiding were valid, especially given the rough profile she would have mentally crafted on the Lorena Dobbs. He had taken the day to think over her actions, and she had been right about how her absence would fuel Dobbs’ obsession to the point that it had distracted the woman from doing any more irreparable damage to the team.
Dobbs was running on the assumption that Sarah Evanston had left the witness protection program. It stood to reason that Brook and the team would be the ones to keep tabs on Evanston’s whereabouts if that was still the case. The second that Dobbs had knowledge of Evanston reentering the program, all bets were off.
The team would likely never see or hear from Dobbs again.
Theo continued to drive slowly through the neighborhood. The plows hadn’t made their way into the suburbs from the major highways. It would almost certainly be hours before the side roads were cleared of snow.
He had managed to convince a federal judge earlier in the day to sign off on a warrant to canvass vacant real estate properties in the surrounding areas. The weather had pretty much forced everyone to stay inside, though it was more of a hindrance than anything. The officers who had been assisting in the search had been pulled away for accidents and other emergencies the storm had produced within the past few hours.
A few minutes later, Theo was turning left onto the street of his destination. He had to practically stop in the middle of the road to get a good look at one of the mailboxes. He was at least six homes away.
Considering he was driving at a snail’s pace, he was able to pull over immediately upon spotting the Land Rover. He made sure the lights on his dashboard were turned off before reaching for his phone.
The Land Rover was parked in front of one of the addresses on the list, but there was another real estate listing one street over. Brook could have made an attempt to search both homes, but it wouldn’t have taken three hours.
Theo sat in the idling Jeep for a solid three minutes before turning off the engine. Nothing appeared out of place, and there was no movement in the swirling shadows of the snow that he could tell from his position. Pulling his zipper down far enough to allow easier access to his weapon, he braced himself against the brutal conditions and opened the driver’s side door.
Theo didn’t waste time as he crossed the street and accessed the sidewalk near one of the residents’ garbage cans. They were both covered with several inches of snow. Most of the homeowners hadn’t bothered with the weekly chore, and he couldn’t really blame them. It was doubtful that the garbage collectors would be through for another couple of days.
As he approached the Land Rover, there was no sign that Brook was inside. The windshield was covered in snow, but not by as many inches as the garbage cans. Given the thickness of the layer, the vehicle had only been parked in this spot for a couple of hours.
Not wasting time, Theo reached for the door handle. He was surprised to find that the door wasn’t locked. Brook never would have left the Land Rover in such a vulnerable state. Pulling the door all the way open, the overhead light activated and lit up the interior of the vehicle.
A burner phone had been placed in the middle of the seat.
Theo quickly pulled his gloves out of his pocket. Once his right glove was secured on his hand, he picked up the burner phone and accessed its information. The number was the one that had been preprogrammed into the others, proving that it was Brook’s device. He then leaned over the seat and found the keys in the ignition. He collected them before searching the rest of the interior.
Nothing else was out of place.
Just as Theo closed the door, the sound of an engine could be heard in the distance. A set of headlights became cut through the falling snow as a car turned onto the street. A black Ford Bronco pulled to a stop right behind the Land Rover.
