“I’d be happy to.” He took her proffered card and slid it into his front shirt pocket.
“Just let him know we have a couple of questions for him. He’s not in any trouble, okay? Can you please make that clear?”
“Of course. You should expect to hear from him soon.”
“Wonderful. Thank you.” After he shook their hands, he turned on his super-shiny shoes and strode back down the hall where Chloe assumed his office was.
“What was that all about?” Blake hissed. “We need that contact information.”
She gripped his arm and Hank’s leash and led both of them out the door, stopping only to give the young man, Neal—who’d apparently finished his mundane task—a cheeky wave. Once outside, Chloe dropped Blake’s arm, trying not to miss the feel of his bicep beneath her palm. “Chloe? Hello?”
“Oh.” She blinked and flushed. What was he talking about? Oh yeah.
“Weren’t you listening? We have Ethan’s name. We don’t need to fight Bruce to get the rest of the info on the guy. We’ll just have Linc run him through the system.”
“David, our tech guy, could do it just as easily, but I’m pretty sure he’s still going through the footage from traffic cams trying to pick up the route of the semi that had the girls in them.”
“I’ll call Linc. Why don’t you give David a call and see where he is on that?”
“Good idea.”
Blake got on his phone while she dialed David’s number. He answered on the fourth ring, just as she thought she was going to have to leave a message. “David here.”
“Hey, it’s Chloe. Have you managed to track down the route of the truck yet?”
“No,” he sighed. “I’ve just decided that’s pretty much a wash. I even consulted with Linc’s tech girl FBI buddy, Annie, who’s in agreement. She’s incredibly smart, by the way.”
“Smarter than you?”
He laughed. “Not likely, but that remains to be seen. Anyway, we caught up with the eighteen-wheeler on I-26 heading east where it crossed Broad River Road. A couple of the cameras before that were out, so we’re not sure where it came from to enter the highway.”
“Okay, thanks. At least that tells us they’re coming from outside the city.”
“Yeah, in other words, it’s not much.”
She sighed. “Right. Let me know if you get anything else.”
“Will do.”
She hung up and passed the information on to Blake, who shook his head. “Linc’s having Annie run Ethan. Come on, we’ve got the task force meeting. We’ll fill them in on this Ethan Wright character and see if we can get some answers.”
Rachel stomped her feet, impatient with the cold and the slow passing of time. Wasn’t anyone going to come open the store?
She had no idea how far she’d walked last night. But she’d counted six cars that had passed her before she’d come across the small gas station–slash–general store. It had felt like forever, but had probably only been about five or six miles. She’d run that far before during training. And she wouldn’t think twice about swimming a couple of miles. But walking in the dark, the cold, and the sometimes drizzle had been an excruciating experience.
The relief that had poured through her at the sight of the place had fizzled quickly when she’d realized it was closed. But the sign said it was supposed to open at eleven o’clock this morning.
She had no idea what time it was, but surely it had to be getting close to eleven, didn’t it? Last night, the walking and the horse blanket had kept her pretty warm, but once she stopped, she’d quickly cooled. Shivering, desperate for her bedroom and snuggly down comforter, she’d had no choice except to take shelter in an unlocked storage building behind a small farmhouse. She’d huddled under the horse blanket and slept deeply, waking shortly with the sun already high in the sky. She considered continuing her march, but the road seemed to go on forever with no other stopping place in sight. Her captors had chosen well for their little house of horrors. Out in the middle of practically nowhere, she had no idea where she was. Thirty minutes from Columbia. That was all she knew.
And just past the store, the area opened up with pastures and farmland. If she were to keep walking, she’d be exposed for who knew how long? From what she’d figured while listening from her spot in the cage, Carson and his cohorts traveled this road almost every day.
No, she was right to stop and wait for the store to open. The only way not to be caught was not to be found.
One good thing, in her tour around the building, looking for a way in, she’d found a patch of wild blackberries and a garden growing in the back. Blackberries in November. She couldn’t believe it, but supposed it had something to do with the unseasonably warm fall that had only turned cooler in the last week. Frankly, she didn’t care what had caused them to grow, she was just glad to have them.
She’d eaten her fill and decided blackberries had never tasted so sweet or so good. She’d even scarfed down two carrots, not caring she couldn’t get all the dirt off. She’d heard of fall carrots, but had never had a fresh one, straight from the ground. They’d been surprisingly good. One thing was for sure, she’d never take food for granted again. Or complain about the things she shouldn’t eat because of her diabetes.
To top off her meal, she’d found a water hose that worked. Of course, the owner of the garden would have one. Not that he’d needed it over the last couple of weeks with all of the rain. She was surprised the garden hadn’t been washed away, but grateful for small things. Now that her thirst was slaked and her belly full, she was starting to feel better and was ready to find a phone.
At the tail end of that thought, she heard a car turn into the parking lot. Rachel jumped to her feet and raced to the side of the building so she could have a good look at whoever had just arrived. A silver Ford Escape parked to the side and a woman in her early fifties climbed out of the vehicle. As if on cue, two more cars pulled up.
Good. That was good. They couldn’t all be working for Carson and whoever else was involved with the operation.
Rachel waited, heart pounding. She desperately wanted to hear Blake’s voice. Wanted him to come and rescue her. But would he? She didn’t deserve his concern or even his love since she’d done nothing but be a total brat to him. But right now, she’d give anything to feel his arms wrapped around her with promises to make everything right.
A low grunt escaped her. Okay, she’d even take a chilly “I’ll be there in a few minutes,” if that was all he was willing to give. Then again, she might not be giving him enough credit. After all, he’d sounded frantic on the phone. And he’d said he’d drop everything to come to the hospital. For some reason, the doubts left her.
He’d come here. He’d find her. And he wouldn’t hold her bratty attitude against her.
Whatever phone she used, he’d have to be able to track it.
Voices disappeared into the store. Rachel drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Excitement and desperation slugged it out in her midsection, battling the caution and fear that kept her from moving. She finally let the old horse blanket fall to the ground and shivered when a gust of wind whipped against her. Clasping her arms against her belly, she walked to the heavy glass door and pulled it open.
Stale smoke and fresh coffee greeted her. The coffee would be nice as it would warm her insides, but for now, she was grateful for the heated store.
So very grateful.
For a moment, she simply stood there trying to get a good look at all of the people inside. Besides the cashier, there were the other two. A woman in her sixties, maybe, and another who could be in her early thirties. She looked awful. Like she had a broken nose or something. Two green eyes with dark circles around them met hers before she turned away and opened the refrigerator holding drinks.
“Help you, hon?”
Rachel jerked. The woman behind the counter was eyeing her with a curious look on her face. Rachel flushed. “Um . . . could I use your phone?”
One over-arched eyebrow rose. “You don’t have a cell phone?”