Page 126 of Obsession

She gave him a small nod. “The man who gave Mary Jo theflowers.” She paused to breathe deeply. “Don’t remember his name, but she said ... he was going to be a lawyer.”

Corey, maybe? “Did he live here in Natchez?”

“Don’t know ... wish I did ... but that’s all I remember.”

Talking tired her, and he hated to ask more questions.

“Sorry it’s not more. Just seemed important...”

“You said you met him once. Do you rememberanythingabout his appearance?”

She closed her eyes and sucked oxygen through the cannula. Suddenly her eyes popped open. “His eyes. They were blue, but really pale ...”

That fit Corey. His cell phone rang, and he silenced it but glanced at the ID. Chief Pete Nelson. “I’m leaving now. If you remember anything else, have your nurse call me. Doesn’t matter what time it is.” Sam squeezed her free hand. “We’re going to get who did this to your family.”

Sam waited until he was in the hallway before calling Nelson back. “You’re up late,” he said when the chief of police answered.

“Yeah. I had an officer on the night shift check the database for the license plate reader in front of Emma’s apartment. The records show Dr. Gordon Cole’s vehicle numerous times, but nothing compared to two vehicles registered to Corey Chandler. The last record showed he was at her apartment at nine thirty. When Emma didn’t answer my call, we came immediately, lights blazing. She’s not here, Sam.”

“What? She has to be. Her truck is at Mount Locust.”

“I’m inside her apartment now, and only her cat and phone are here.”

“Corey must have her.” The knowledge made him sick. “Do you know how long he was there?”

“No, but she answered a call on her phone at ten fifteen. We just missed them.”

71

Where would he take her?” Nate said.

Sam looked up from the computer he’d brought upstairs to Emma’s apartment. “I don’t know. I don’t find any records where he owns property in Adams County. Any hits on the BOLO?”

Nate had arrived not long after Sam, and he and the Natchez police chief had put out a Be-On-the-Look-out for Corey Chandler’s pickup. The truck license plate had been the one that showed up the last time on the license plate reader.

“Except for the house on Mulholland Road, there’s nothing in his name. Same for surrounding counties.”

Pete looked over Sam’s shoulder. “Do you think he might have used a holding company?”

Sam’s heart sank. If he had, they might never find him.

“We need a real estate agent,” Pete said. He was quiet a minute. “Your dad. When my folks were looking for a farm, they said he knew where every piece of property in the county was.”

“Don’t you know anyone else?”

“I’ve heard he knows every piece of property that’s been bought or sold in the last five years,” Nate said.

Time was ticking away. Was he going to let Corey Chandler kidnap Emma and get away with it because he was too proud to ask his father for help? Sam jerked his phone off his belt and dialed his mother’s number. “Is D-Dad there?” he asked when she answered.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

“Yes. Corey Chandler has kidnapped Emma.”

“No! Why?”

“It’s a long story. Is Dad there?” he repeated.

“What does Emma’s kidnapping have to do with your dad?”

---