Page 94 of Exposure of Murder

The sirens were getting closer. His phone rang, and he answered it, hoping it was Jane but knowing it wasn’t.

“Ethan.” Sean’s voice was tight. “Tanner called, said Jane is missing. Have you pulled up the feeds?”

Cameras! Ethan forgot about those in his haste to get here. Hopefully, they would show what happened.

Jimbo and Rosie pulled up just as Adam and a couple of other deputies arrived. The shrill sound of the sirens faded as they parked.

“You haven’t found Jane?” asked Adam.

“She’s not here,” Ethan replied. “I’m going down to the house to check the feed. You look around for any clues.”

Ethan sprinted to the house. Savannah had tears in her eyes, and Tanner was rubbing her shoulder.

“What do you think happened?” Tanner asked.

“Don’t know,” Ethan replied. “You didn’t see anything strange today, did you?”

Tanner shook his head. “No, I’ve been busy catching up on some chores.”

Ethan ran into Jane’s study, with Savannah and Tanner close behind him. He switched on the computer and was grateful he knew the password.

The screen flickered to life; he clicked on the security camera app. Footage from multiple angles of the barn showed up. He scanned the feed. Nothing for the past couple of hours. He rewound them.

“There,” Savannah shouted, pointing to one screen. A black sedan drove up to the barn.

Where the hell was Jane? There she was.

She was unaware of the danger as she got feed for the animals. The cats were around her feet. The ewe butted her, causing her to drop the food, most of it going under the feed bin.

She reached under it, most likely picking up stray food to prevent the mice from eating it. Ethan saw her tilt her head, then lie flat on the barn floor and reach underneath. She was trying to pull something out.

Jane. Run!

A man got out of the car and walked toward the barn. Jane cocked her head and sat up.

“Victor?”

Ethan listened to their conversation. The son of a bitch was going to die. Victor had put two and two together. Then he pulled out a gun and pointed it at her.Oh God, did he shoot Jane?

He watched as Jane tried to escape.Did she get away?

No.

Ethan watched in fury as Victor tackled her to the ground and dragged Jane by the hair and threw her into the trunk before pulling out a syringe and slamming the lid shut. Then he drove down the street. Down a street that Ethan knew had no cameras. But maybe…

He called Sean, who picked right up. “Can you have one of your guys tap into cameras around the Community Church and see which way a black sedan went?” One of the things the town did a while ago was hire Sean’s company to install cameras around the old mill and church because kids were always getting into mischief there.

Ethan walked back to the barn. Tanner and Savannah followed him. When he arrived, his deputies were searching for clues.

“Anything?” he asked Jimbo, who shook his head.

“There was a scuffle and blood on a rock, which I assume is Jane’s, but that’s all,” Jimbo replied.

Damn. Ethan remembered seeing Victor pushing Jane, and she fell against the rock. He was going to kill the bastard when he found him.

The deputies continued their search for anything that could lead them to Jane. There wasn’t much he could do here except go back to the station. Hopefully, Sean would call soon. Additionally, there was the matter of keeping Savannah safe.

“Do you want to stay here or…?” he asked her.