Page 75 of Sheriff's City Girl

“Missing female, approximately five feet six inches tall, brown hair, green eyes, one hundred thirty-five pounds.”

“Well,” one of them chuckled. “They sure got on that real fast, didn’t they?”

“Looks like we’re in for a wild time, I’d say,” the man with the deep voice replied. “And it is gonna be one hell of a time baiting that son of bitch in. I might have to call the boss and tell him we’re gonna have to act a little faster on this whole plan. It looks like Hewitt really ain’t gonna play, is he?”

My heart fluttered in my chest.

No, no he’s not. He’s going to find me.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Mason

“You had something to do with this!” I shouted at Graham, who was staring at me with wide eyes.

“I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about, Sheriff Hewitt. I was just throwing my gala, like we do every year.” His voice was calm and cool, his hands up in a little surrender pose.

“That’s the biggest load of bullshit, I’ve ever heard,” I growled, lunging toward him just as Jackson got in the way.

“You gotta quit this shit, Mason,” he warned me, his blue eyes sharp as a knife. “I get that you’re pissed—and you have every right to be—but we don’t know that they had anything to do with this.”

I shook my head at him, clenching my fists to keep from punching him right in the face. “You’re being an idiot, Jackson. You know they had something to do with it.”

“I don’t know,” he lowered his voice as Graham stalked away, accompanied by Ron. We didn’t have enough units and had to call in for backup, but they haven’t responded yet. “We don’t know anything other than the fact that you got a phone call saying she had been kidnapped. We’re taking it seriously, obviously, but we can’t point the finger… Not until we have the right amount of evidence. You taught me that.”

Seething, I backed away from him, shaking my head. “I just don’t fucking understand why anyone would wanna take her. Nothing is accomplished by kidnapping her.”

“Well, you’ve been the sheriff a long time. Easily could be anyone that you rubbed wrong over the years,” Ron spoke up, appearing from the crowd of pissed off attendees. They’d been gathered in the main area, forced to wait while we got our shit together to start interviewing them one by one. A few of the deputies and town police had already started searching the grounds—and the canine was on the way.

“We gotta find her,” I urged, panic surging through my chest as the seconds kept ticking by. I knew the clock we were on, and it made me sick to think of poor Emma dragged into this mess—my mess.

“We can’t trace the call, Mason,” he said, his voice flat. “It wasn’t long enough, and we’re still waiting to see if we can locate her cell phone. You’re gonna have to take a deep breath. We don’t even know exactly what’s going on right now.”

“I know the Hudsons are behind it—and so do you.”

“Damnit, Hewitt,” Ron barked at me. “We don’t know what they are. Even if you got your suspicions, it doesn’t help to go pointing fingers. They are some wealthy people with a lot of connections in places that we could only dream of—you gotta shut your fuckin’ mouth before it gets us a lawsuit. I don’t wanna get sued.”

I snapped my jaw shut at that comment, suddenly more than aware of the eyes looking on at us. “Right, I know, sorry. Just give me a minute.”

Jackson let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. “You want me to start interviews? Because I don’t like sitting here and waiting any more than Mason does. It feels like we’re stalling.”

“Yeah, ought to just go ahead and start them,” Ron said, his voice staying flat and indifferent. “I don’t know what we’re up against with these people. The rest of the team should be done searching the area before too long though.”

I nodded, trying to get my brain in the right order to follow procedure with everything… But the migraine was nearly crippling now, and my thoughts plagued me with regret.

If I’d not left her…

If I hadn’t told her to go in without me…

If I hadn’t dragged her into this…

“Sir,” one of the uniformed town cops called out, waving his hand. “We found a purse with her cell phone in it. We got pictures of it and bagged it.”

I shut my eyes, knowing now that the trace I had already contacted the phone company for wouldn’t lead to anything.

“Where was it?” Ron asked, placing a hand on my shoulder as he spoke.

“Right out the back door. There’re some tire tracks there. We’re calling in the crime scene people. I think this might be above our pay grade.”

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