Page 435 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

“I said nothing?” Russ shot Lachlan a pointed look.

Lachlan pressed his lips together, silent.

“What’s this?” Addie asked.

Lachlan said to Russ, “Your judgment was clouded.”

“Because Jacob Wilson is a friend of mine? Not me who got that wrong, or so it would seem.” He let that statement hang with no elaboration. Russ didn’t waste time over-explaining anything. Especially not when he seemed to think the truth was simple.

Still, Addie was interested in getting out of there to find him, not talking around and around about who made a mistake and who was going to take the blame. “We need to figure out where he took them and what he’s up to.”

She looked at her watch. “My team will be here in a couple of minutes.”

They’d called to tell her they had something. Addie was on the way to the hospital at the time. The plan was to hook up and work this as a team, so she had backup just in case Hank came after her, too.

Addie didn’t care about that. In fact, she welcomed it. They could hang back and let him come to her. Then she’d spring a trap on him.

But Hank would expect that.

If he wanted her, he had to have some plan. After all, this had been building for years. She’d have said there was no way he hadn’t methodically planned all of this. Except for Austin and Celia. She was convinced Hank had snapped and killed Celia. Then Austin had asked too many questions—or figured it out—and Hank had to kill him as well.

Austin was murdered after Jacob was stabbed. Maybe Celia’s father had interrupted Hank’s plan for Jacob, and Austin was the death that came as a result. Hank had scrambled. All that pent up need to take a life interrupted by the fact Jacob was taken to hospital. He’d bided his time and later come after Jacob at the house—along with Mona.

There had to be a reason Hank took Mona as well. Maybe she’d decided to fight off Hank to save an injured Jacob, and Hank had to improvise.

She figured Hank was determined to carry out his plan, no matter what.

She just couldn’t figure out if he intended to finish what Ivan Damen started or wrap up that part of his life so he could start over somewhere else.

Reborn.

Or something else, entirely.

“And after your team is here?” Russ asked. “What will you do?”

“The FBI is going to find Hank and we’re going to get Jacob and Mona back.” Addie didn’t care if she was making a promise she might not be able to keep.

The promise she made was to herself first and foremost.

Shewouldget them back.

Why else was she in Benson again? She wasn’t going to accept that it was all Hank’s doing. Not if she believed God had ultimate control and He had allowed it to happen.

That meant He was in this whether she was accustomed to acknowledging that or not.

Addie might just be getting a jump on that fresh start.

God, Jacob knows You. He needs You now, and so does Mona. Keep them safe. Help me get them back.

“Addie.”

She sniffed back the burn of tears. Looked at the police chief and the captain. “Ideas where Hank might have taken them?”

Lachlan winced.

McCauley said, “He hunts.”

“Okay.” Did they think she could do anything with that? It seemed like they were scrambling, but maybe also realized they didn’t know Hank all that well. It could cost someone’s life, and it just might be their fault.

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