Page 71 of The Last Straw

“You did good...damn good,” he said. “Close your eyes. We’ll be home before you know it.”

“Call Millie,” Wyrick whispered.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m putting the call on speakerphone and calling her right now.”

Then he started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot before making the connection.

Millie had been pacing the floor of her hotel room ever since Charlie Dodge’s call. She’d sent Ray a text, only to get a message back from him within minutes that he was catching a flight to Dallas, and he would be there before midnight.

At that point she sat down and cried. The stress of dealing with this on her own had nearly broken her. She hadn’t been able to sleep more than an hour or two at a stretch. She couldn’t bring herself to face people, and had taken to ordering room service, and then wasting most of the food they delivered because she couldn’t eat for thinking of Rachel.

She’d paced the floor for hours until her feet and legs were aching, and now she was just standing at the window, looking down at the street below. All those people were coming and going about their lives, and Millie felt like hers had come to a complete stop.

When her phone rang again, she raced to answer it.

“Hello?”

“This is Charlie. We found Rachel. She’s in bad shape and unconscious, but she’s alive. They’re taking her to Baylor Scott and White Hospital.”

Millie dropped into the nearest chair, trembling from the shock and the relief.

“Oh, my God, oh, my God! Where did you find her? Did they catch the man who did it?”

“In a hidden room off a tunnel beneath the building, and no, ma’am, they still don’t know who’s responsible. The rest of this case will fall back to the police department. Our job was to find Rachel.”

“Yes, yes, and I’m so grateful. There aren’t enough words to—”

Wyrick interrupted.

“This is Wyrick. There are things I can do to help the police find him, and I give you my word I’ll stay with the case until it’s over.”

“Thank you,” Millie said. “You are both angels on earth. I can’t thank you enough.”

“You’re welcome, ma’am. Drive safe. Dallas traffic is pretty bad,” Charlie said.

“I’m not letting a little traffic stop me from getting to Rachel,” Millie said. “I got this.”

Then she was gone.

Charlie glanced at Wyrick. Her eyes were closed.

“So we’re not done here?” he asked.

“We can’t quit yet,” Wyrick said, thinking of that vision she’d had in the passage after Charlie handed her the earring—of the small blonde woman slung over the killer’s back. “Someone has to find the other women who went missing.”

Charlie sighed. “Okay.”

Detective Floyd pulled up his contact info for Rachel Dean’s sister and made a quick call. Even though the family had hired Charlie Dodge, the Dallas PD was still on the case. Rachel had gone missing on their watch, and it was his duty to notify the next of kin, regardless.

He called Millie Chriss and waited for her to answer.

Millie was in traffic when her phone rang again, but she’d already switched to Bluetooth so she tapped it to answer.

“Hello, this is Millie.”

“Millie, this is Detective Floyd with Missing Persons. I wanted to let you know that, with the help and cooperation of Charlie Dodge and his assistant, Wyrick, we have found your sister, Rachel.”

“Yes, yes, Charlie just called me. I’m on my way to the hospital now. I am so appreciative of the way you coordinated and cooperated with me, wanting to hire private help, as well. Thank you. Thank all of you. Rachel means everything to us.”

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