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“She’s not. They put her in the van. She fought like hell, kicking and screaming. It looks like she shot the dude who kicked the door in. She head-butted the third guy before he knocked her out. They took her father with them.” Jamie quickly filled us in, looking as worried as I felt. We all knew a person’s chance of surviving an attack plummeted if they were taken to a second location.

AJ came in. “It’s stolen.” Not surprising.

Dad started issuing orders. “Janerek, text the number to everyone. Sharpe trace Meg’s phone. Jamie, call WPD and get a BOLO on the plates. Janerek, Sharpe, you’re with Jamie.” He looked at me. “You’re with me. We’ll meet at the motel.”

Weatherford PD was on sight when we arrived. They had set a perimeter with yellow crime scene tape and were questioning witnesses. Luckily, dad knew the officer in charge and convinced him to let me inside.

I put on rubber gloves and plastic booties to preserve the integrity of the crime scene. I swallowed down bile as the smell of blood hit me, Meg’s apartment was a crime scene.We’ll find you, Meg, keep fighting.

My chest tightened in panic when I saw the blood on the floor. I took a deep breath and reminded myself it wasn’t Meg’s. She wasn’t bleeding when they put her in the van.

I searched for Meg’s phone. Doug hadn’t been able to get a lock on it on the short drive over, not that it would matter if it was still in her apartment. Meg’s purse was on the coffee table. To my relief, her phone wasn’t in it, unfortunately, it didn’t last long. My heart sank when I walked into her bedroom and saw her phone on her bed.

Her phone was evidence, so I couldn’t take it, but I convinced the officer to let me review at her call history. “I'm her boyfriend, and might see something odd that could help.”

The officer agreed, but told me I had to do it in front of him. He watched me closely as I pulled up Meg’s incoming call history. I knew it was a long shot since her father shouldn’t have had her number, but if he’d somehow gotten it and called her before coming over, then maybe we could find her by tracing his phone. There were several calls from the same unknown number, the most recent about thirty minutes before Meg’s father knocked on her door. She hadn’t answered them. I memorized the number and gave the phone to the officer. It might not be her father’s phone number, but it was the only lead we had.

I went straight to Doug after leaving Meg’s apartment and gave him the number so he could find out who it belonged to, and trace it. I drummed my fingers on the roof of the truck as he searched. The phone was off, so he couldn’t trace it.

“I’ll keep trying. The phone number belongs to Anthony Ramos.” Doug asked, “Mean anything to you?”

I said no at the same time Jamie said, “He’s one of Sullivan’s men.”

“Fuck.” We had suspected the men were Sullivan’s, but having it confirmed still felt like a dagger to my heart. There was no way of knowing what horrors he'd subject her to, or how long before he killed her. An icy chill ran through my body.I have to find her, fast.

Dad finished talking to the WPD and joined us. He told Jamie to turn over the footage from the camera to WPD. “Start when the van appears and cut it when it disappears out of the frame.”

“On it.”

“Let’s get back to the office and gear up. It’s going to be a long night.”

“Yes, sir.” We all answered in unison.

“Jack, I know you’re worried, but you can’t let it get in the way.”

I nodded.Easier said than done. “I know dad, I’ll keep my shit together.”

“Good, because Meg needs you.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat.I just hope we find her in time.

“We’ll find her.” He paused when my phone vibrated, then added quickly, “She’ll be okay. Meg’s a fighter.”

“Thanks dad.” I hit the accept button and told Doug, “You’re on speaker.”

“Sullivan’s MIA. Jamie just got the call. He’s been off the radar for at least two days.”

“Dammit.” I hissed.

“Why didn’t we hear about this two days ago?” Dad growled as he asked.

“There was a glitch in the system, causing his ankle monitor to be offline for sixty minutes. Enough time for him to take it off and put it on someone else. His dead parole officer, to be specific.” Doug filled us in.

“Given the circumstances, I think we need to assume he’s coming here.” Dad said. “Is there any way to track his movements using his known associates? We know at least one is already here.”

“Janerek and I are working on it now. They’ve issued a nationwide BOLO. If he’s on the move, he’ll have to be cautious.” Good. Cautious meant slow.

“Keep working on it. We’ll help once we’re back in the office.” Dad said.

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