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Frustration tightened his grip on the phone. He’d heard rumblings around town about what had happened to Brooke and her now-husband Lincoln, but this was different. His gut told him Isaac had finally gotten his hands on Laura.
He hadn’t trusted his instincts in the past. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.
“I know who has her. I just need to figure out where.” Determination strengthened his resolve. They hadn’t vanished into thin air. The police had been searching for Isaac’s whereabouts since yesterday and came up short, but they had to be missing something.
“I want to help. Anything I can do, any resources I can bring, you’ve got it.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that. But right now, I don’t even know where to start.”
“I’m going to call Jude, and we’ll meet you. Three heads are better than one, and Jude might have more ideas of where Isaac might go. The other stuff can wait.”
“What other stuff?” he asked, frowning.
“Why I called. I found the payment information you wanted. But that’s not important right now. We can talk about it later.”
He sighed, not really caring but needing to know what Brooke had found. “It’s fine. Really. Tell me.”
“Okay. Well, I pulled up my banking information. I noticed a difference with who the checks were made out to. The larger amount, the one that matches the estimate you and Matthew gave me, was written to Mountaintop Construction. The other check, the one matching the amount needed to pay the extra cost not covered by the Community Outreach Foundation, was written to Mountaintop Construction Co. A subtle difference, but a difference nonetheless.”
He rubbed at his forehead. The pain throbbing against his skull had less to do with his concussion and more to do with the constant turmoil boiling inside him. He tried to understand the importance of the information Brooke gave him but came up empty. “Wouldn’t both of those checks still be deposited into the same account?”
“Not necessarily,” Brooke said, drawing out words. “If there are two different accounts, each with different names on them, they’d go to different places. You might assume adding Co. at the end of the company name wouldn’t be a big deal, but if paperwork is drawn up at a bank to indicate that specific difference, then each would be given a different account number. So the checks would end up deposited in two different places.”
“Shit.” One more thing to add to the pile. “I need to find out whose name is on that account. But honestly, I can’t bring myself to care about that right now. None of it matters. All that matters is finding Laura.”
A beat of silence lingered on the phoneline before Brooke responded. “I agree that Laura’s the priority, but the police are searching at the logical places for her and for Isaac. We need to think outside the box. Follow the clues from a different angle. This might be that angle.”
“How?” he asked, his voice cracking. No matter how he played it all in his mind, he couldn’t see a connection between Isaac kidnapping Laura and the possible embezzlement using the community fund as a front. None of it made any sense.
“You ever hear the expression coincidences are bullshit?”
He snorted. “Not exactly in those terms.”
“Well, as a cop, that’s how we said it. Until we can think of another plan, let’s follow this trail and see where we end up. It might surprise you.”
He wanted to say no. He wanted to run from door to door and demand answers, ask questions. But Owen had already orchestrated a search party who was doing those exact things. Sheriff’s deputies and city police were tracking leads and combing the area for any place Isaac could have taken her—had ABP’s out for his vehicle since yesterday. As much as he wished he could be in the mix, he wasn’t a cop, and he didn’t have the same resources they had to find Laura.
Brooke was right. She was smart and capable, not to mention had experience as an officer. If she thought pulling on this string could help unravel the mystery, he’d yank as hard as he could on the damn thing.
“Meet me at my office. I’ll text Matthew and tell him what happened. No matter what else he has going on, that should get his ass there.”
Having a plan, even if he didn’t understand how it could help, took away the hard edges of helplessness. He disconnected and pounded out a text to Matthew.
Laura’s missing. Come to the office now.
He stared at the three little dots that appeared on the screen below his message, waiting for a response to pop up.
But none came.
Pushing to his feet, he stalked over to Owen. “Any news?”
Owen shook his head. “Afraid not. We’ve called in all the help we can. We already had an officer staked out at Isaac’s house in case he showed up, which he never did, and his vehicle was found abandoned in a parking lot outside of town last night.”
“Does he have any other properties or vehicles registered to his name?”
“None. We’re doing everything within our power to find Laura. I promise.”
“Call me if you hear anything,” he said. Cade blew out a long breath. Tension bunched up his muscles. Nervous energy zipped through his body, and he fisted and unfisted his hands. He stormed to his truck. He needed answers and nothing would stop him from finding them.
