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“Guess he’s not much help to Aidan now. Where did my quiet little town go?”
She stroked his cheek. “I’m so sorry. I still can’t help thinking if I hadn’t come to Red Snow, none of this would be happening.”
He covered her mouth with his palm. “I refuse to have this conversation again. Do you understand?”
She gripped his wrist and shoved his hand away. “All right, Dr. Bossy.”
She quickly changed into yoga pants and a T-shirt and slipped under the covers. While she detested being warm, she craved Cannon’s heat. Crawling into his bed each night and talking about their day was something she could get used to. “I had a conversation with Karl today about security upgrades. I think you should follow his advice. He knows his stuff. How did he wind up working here?”
“He used to work with Theodore, my mentor from college. Theodore died of a pacemaker malfunction the day after he sent me an email recommending Karl for the job.”
A pounding on the door had Rosalie instinctively reaching for her gun.
“Cannon. Open up.”
He jumped from the bed and pulled scrub pants over his boxer shorts as he hopped to the door. Once he opened it, a wheelchair bumped against the frame as Easton pushed Juliainto the room. Both of their faces lit with understanding as they took in the scene.
Easton wheeled Julia to the desk. “Sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds, but we couldn’t wait to share what we’ve discovered.”
Rosalie jumped up, not embarrassed at all about being found in Cannon’s bed. “What did you find?”
Julia beamed a smile. “Easton and I narrowed down the possible places Malgor might be keeping Aidan. Our top guess is the old Emory diner.”
Cannon dropped into his desk chair and tugged Rosalie onto his lap. “Wasn’t that place demolished a couple of months ago?”
Julia shook her head. “Not yet. Barnett was out that way on a call last week and mentioned that it was still standing, just like Mama Emory did for almost a hundred years.”
Rosalie relaxed into Cannon’s hard body. While the grave reason for the discussion had her professional senses in overdrive, sitting in Cannon’s lap while they talked about old diners and local families did strange things to her heart. “What makes you think Aidan is being held there?”
“The diner is close to the highway for a quick getaway, has been abandoned for a while, and according to city records, it belongs to the town now. The water and heat have been shut off, but someone who can hack into traffic cameras can get the utilities on without anyone being the wiser.”
Easton leaned on the arms of Julia’s wheelchair. “Good fishing nearby, and that smelly convenience store that sells bait would have everything a kidnapper needs to keep a little boy recovering from surgery alive.”
Rosalie’s pulse pounded with each detail listed. “Did you get in touch with the store owner?”
“It’s owned by Winnie Moore’s grandparents.” Cannon studied the map of the town on his laptop. “She’s in the military now.”
Julia nodded. “She’s on a ship somewhere, which is why it took us hours to get in touch with her. She directed us to her brother. He’s been managing the store since his grandfather got sick. He said that someone he didn’t recognize came in yesterday morning to buy children’s ibuprofen, bandages, and food. He also said the guy bought a couple of propane tanks.”
Rosalie’s hope grew, but she tamped it down. Leads often led nowhere. “There’s nothing out of the ordinary about these purchases. It could have been a tourist with a sick kid.”
“Could be, but look at this.” Cannon pointed to his screen. “This is the main road that brings folks into Red Snow.” He identified another road on the opposite side of town. “The convenience store is here. There aren’t many vacation rentals this far out, and the store isn’t the type that out-of-towners want to stop at. It’s got a slasher movie kind of vibe.”
“I don’t suppose the horror store has surveillance cameras?”
Easton laughed. “Last time I was there, Winnie’s grandfather rang up my worms on a cash register from the 1940's."
Julia pulled a note from her robe pocket. “The grandfather is Hank. According to his grandson, Hank thinks the government is out to steal all his profits, particularly his cigarette sales. He won’t allow any technology in the store because he thinks he’s being watched. Grady left for a drive-by about thirty minutes ago. We should be hearing from him shortly.”
Rosalie punched some keys on Cannon’s laptop and zoomed in on the diner’s location. “Did the manager get a description of the man who made the purchases?”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t help much.” Julia looked at her notes again. “Thirty-something male. Average build. Jeans and a plain black sweatshirt. Ball cap with no hair visible underneath and dark sunglasses. That’s it.”
“Do we have aerial surveillance?”
Julia’s wheelchair banged into the desk as she inched closer. “I asked a buddy at the station to do that, but the trees are too dense.”
Easton’s phone rang. “It’s Grady.” He hit the speaker button. “I’m here with Julia, Cannon, and Rosalie. What did you find?”
