Page 43 of Operation: Discovery

For once, the nurse had no reason to cover her face, as it wasn’t cold enough yet to need a scarf and using one would’ve made her stand out. She appeared to be using the busyness and spike in population at the end of the day as a means to hide.

Dee headed for her but had no idea what she would say or do once she would reach the woman. Her mind threw up warnings with every step. What if this was just a woman coming to pick up their child? What if she was wrong and this wasn’t the same woman? Dee had only seen her for a few seconds unmasked at the church. Moira hadn’t seen her without her mask at all. They could both be wrong.

Yet, the moment the woman caught sight of Dee, she spun in the opposite direction and ran. Dee sprinted after her as the doors to the school opened and loads of children raced out in front of her. Dashing around small children, she headed for the corner where the woman’s dark coat had disappeared a moment before.

Her heart raced momentarily as she considered that anyone could be waiting around the corner to bludgeon her over the head, take her, or even shoot her. What if something awful happened at the school and it was her fault for chasing after someone? Her steps slowed momentarily as she heard some laughter come from around the corner. “Hey! What are you doing back here?” The distinct sound of a young man’s changing voice boomed from around the corner.

Dee charged ahead, certain now she had to move. Two boys stood by an open door in basketball shorts and tees, looking like they might be headed to some type of practice. “Where did she go?” she asked as she approached but didn’t slow down.

Both boys pointed toward a nearby residential area that was a mix of homes, duplexes, and apartments. Once in the mix, Dee would never find her. She saw the woman race across a nearby street.

“Thanks,” Dee called over her shoulder as she jogged toward the area where they had pointed, glad that she’d continued to do her morning run when she’d come to Wayside.

Her breath came a little faster as she slowed her pace. This neighborhood was quiet, almost giving the feel that many elderly people lived there. Though there was a park, it looked overgrown. All the cars in the driveways were larger and either luxury models or older. Running down the street after someone in this neighborhood was bound to attract suspicion. Then again, maybe she wanted a little attention. A homeowner might call the police.

The flash of something in the distance caught Dee’s attention and she realized the woman had removed her dark coat, revealing a bright blue set of scrubs not so different from the ones Dee had on. The woman dropped her coat over a bush and headed toward Main Street.

Without any means to stop her, she wasn’t sure what to do next. All she knew was that letting her go wasn’t an option. Now that Dee was so close to reaching one of the people who could give them information about Jacob’s killer or about those other people they’d found under the floor of the garage, she couldn’t stop now. Unless this woman was the killer.

Dee’s feet seemed to wrap around themselves at the thought and she tripped, scraping her palms and knees in the gravel. Pebbles and grit drove into her tender skin, through her pants and hands. She got up and brushed herself off, unwilling to give up. The woman was fast, meaning she was either fit or scared. Maybe both.

She was almost through the neighborhood when she finally saw the woman in blue about two blocks ahead. The business part of town wasn’t far and, once there, the woman would be able to easily hide.

“Stop!” Dee called. “I know who you are.” Not in the sense that she knew her name, but the woman was becoming a pretty common fixture, which meant there had to be something she wanted in Piper’s Ridge. Otherwise, she would move on. There were children in every town across the nation. What made her hunt here, in tiny Piper’s Ridge?

The woman ignored Dee’s plea to stop and instead sprinted toward the door of the Library and City Offices. She dashed inside, letting the door close on its own. Dee followed, her calves burning. She hadn’t worn her running shoes, assuming she wouldn’t be racing all over town. Her nurse’s shoes were great for long hours, but not sprinting. “I hope Moira listened and headed home.” Dee slowed to a walk and looked inside the large glass windows on the front of the building.

A woman sat behind a large counter with her head down in the city office side of the building. Dee pulled open the door, hoping to see the woman pretending to hide or—at the very least—where she might be headed.

The building was as silent as a grave. Even her footsteps seemed loud against the marble floor. Dee forced her breathing to slow down as the woman sitting at the desk glanced up at her, narrowed her eyes, and then looked back down at what she was doing.

Theswishof a closing door caught Dee’s attention and she headed down a hall that looked like it might lead to a bathroom. Instead, there was an exit out the back and through the glass door, she could see the woman in blue scrubs jogging toward the gas station.

If that was where she’d parked, she would get in her car, and they might never catch her again. Dee didn’t have her phone to call the police, since she’d given it to Moira. There was no other way to contact the police unless she stopped and asked the woman back at the desk to call. That would waste precious time in explaining what she needed.

Dee headed through the door and picked up her pace once again. The hair on her arms prickled to life the closer she came to the gas station. When the woman dashed down an alley instead, Dee thanked God. This was it. There was no escaping from there. She’d finally catch this woman and the case would break wide open.

With renewed energy, Dee ran for the narrow alley and halted at the entrance. Both buildings on either side were three stories tall, and the alley would barely fit a car down the street. Since there was no outlet, if a car did drive into it, they’d have to carefully back out. Worse, with the shadows, she couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead of her. Was she walking into a trap?

“I know you’re there. Come out. I just want to talk to you.” Which would be all she could do without help or a phone to call the police. Maybe she could use her own disadvantage as an advantage? If she could convince the woman nothing would happen to her, maybe she would come out.

Car lights flooded the small alleyway and an engine revved. Dee screamed as tires screeched to speeding, almost instantly. She jumped out of the way just as a black car squealed onto the street and sped off.

Dee got up for a second time and brushed off her palms. A man jogged toward her. “Are you all right? I didn’t even know a car could get down there. Why in the world did they try to hit you?” He looked her over without touching her.

“I don’t know, but I need you to call the police.” She spun around to try to get the license plate, but the car was already long gone.

ChapterEighteen

Brendon looked at his watch and growled. Four o’clock. Dee should’ve been back by now. He’d heard from Connor that Dee had planned to take Moira to pick up Adam from school. He couldn’t blame Moira for worrying about her son being away from her for the first time since his attempted abduction, but he also didn’t like that Dee had separated herself from him and hadn’t even asked him or Connor to go with her.

What if something happened? What if Moira was right and her son was in danger? It was easy to believe that nothing would ever happen at the school, but that’s what got them into this trouble in the first place. He picked up his phone to call Nixon and ask about any new information when Moira rushed into the room with a terrified Adam at her heels.

“Dee ran after a woman in the parking lot, and she never came back.”

“What?” He couldn’t have heard correctly. Dee had promised not to do anything that would put herself in danger. Going after a woman who might have killed at least one person and definitely tried to kidnap people wasnotkeeping her promise. He pushed his chair around the desk. “Never mind. I just couldn’t believe what I heard for a moment.”

“Here.” She handed him a phone in a bright pink phone case. “It’s Dee’s. She told me to call the police if anything happened and she didn’t come back. I called.”

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