“Good idea. Listen, can you get our statements in the morning? I really should make sure Megan is okay. This whole thing has been so traumatic for her.”
Megan rolled her eyes at that but Lucy didn’t smile. If anything, she seemed more tense, increasing their speed. They were almost to the drawbridge leading off the island.
“That will be fine. If I’m not here in the morning, any of my officers will be glad to help. Take care.”
“Good luck—call me sooner if anything happens, will you?”
“Of course.” The chief hung up.
They approached the bridge. It was up. There were two cars waiting, their taillights bright against the night. Lucy slowed, keeping a generous distance between her and the other cars, at least four or five car lengths.
“There’s no boat,” she said as they finally came to a stop.
“What?”
“They raise the bridge for the tall boats, but there’s no boat.”
“Maybe it’s already passed through.”
A man left the little shack that controlled the bridge and approached the first car in line. A few minutes later it made a U-turn and headed their way. Lucy flashed her lights and the driver pulled up. She rolled down her window. “What’s going on?”
“Bridge is broken. Cable snapped or something. They’re getting someone out to fix it but not sure how long it’s going to be.”
“Thanks.” Lucy waited for the car to pass before making her own U-turn. “I think I made a huge mistake. Do you have Walden’s home number in your cell?”
Isaac Walden was Lucy’s second in command back in Pittsburgh. “No. I can call Dad. He’ll have it.”
Lucy blew her breath out. “Your dad is not going to be happy. Yeah, call him.”
Megan dialed. “Dad? Hi there! Mom wants to talk to you.”
“Megan, how are you? Did something more happen? I wanted to discuss—”
“Nick,” Lucy interrupted, “we might have more trouble here than I originally thought. I need you to call Walden, have him call me on Megan’s cell.”
No answer.
“Nick?”
Megan glanced at the phone. “The call was dropped.” She tried dialing again. Dead silence. “I had three bars, but now they’re gone.” She dialed another number. “Nothing.”
Lucy glanced up through the windshield. “One cell tower for the entire island. Easy to control. Like the bridge.” She turned the car onto a private drive on the ocean side of the island. The mansion in front of them had no lights on and no gate. The driveway was circular. Lucy pulled around so they were facing out and parked. “Okay, we’re going to have to do this the hard way.”
“What’s that mean?” Megan asked, for the first time feeling frightened. Suddenly this all felt very, very real. Life and death real. Was this how her mom felt all the time when she was at work?
“It means… are you up for a game of hide and seek?”
Chapter 18
As Lucy scouted the house, she forced herself to shift her emotions aside, although what she really wanted to do was scream in frustration. This was her fault; she’d allowed Megan to steer her away from the immediate action she’d wanted to take and now it was too late.
“Hide and seek?” Megan said, following Lucy back to the Subaru’s trunk. “What does that mean?”
“It means we’re going to find a safe place for you to hide.” Lucy opened the lockbox in the trunk and pulled out her Remington. “While I seek.”
“Mom—”
“No. This is the time when you listen, do as I say, and stop asking questions.” Lucy loaded the shotgun, intending to leave it with Megan. Then she thought twice and set it aside. Sometimes it was more dangerous being armed than not, even if Megan was an experienced marksman. “I made a mistake. More than one. And now there’s no time left.”
“All we have to do is wait them out. Dad will make sure someone comes looking for us. Plus, there are plenty of other people on this island—not like they can keep the bridge up forever.”
Lucy gave a little shake of her head. “You’re thinking like a civilian. Try thinking like a cop turned criminal, who instead of a million dollar payoff and their nice, cushy job, is suddenly forced to go into cleanup mode as they make their getaway.”
Megan stiffened, making a shuddering noise of dismay as she sucked in her breath. “Mateo. Now they have to kill him. Destroy the evidence.”
“I miscalculated. Should have found a way to play along, insinuate myself into the investigation. I don’t know. But your safety comes first.” Lucy grabbed spare ammo for her Glock.
“We need to find him.” Megan frowned. “But how? Chief Hayden could be going after Mateo right now. Should we find a way to follow her?”