Page 63 of Vanishing Point
“I can give you a list of all the people I talked to, all the places that saw him, but the most important sighting was outside the library. Dahlia, our librarian, happened to be locking up to head home. The guy flew by. She said she might not have remembered or paid much mind, even with the speeding, but he made a screeching turn at 124th Street. She was worried because theUnderkirchers let their kids ride bikes up and down the road since so few people drive it.”
“124th. There’s nothing down that road but ranches and more ranches. It doesn’t even hook up to any of the main highways, does it?”
Jack shook his head. “It’s a lot of space. Some of the ranches might back up to the interstate, but he’d have to drive over their land to get there. Seems unlikely, or at least I would have had a call about property damage by now.”
Thomas nodded. “So he could be holed up somewhere out along there?”
“Seems possible. I don’t know what other end destination would be out that way. My deputies can start searching and canvassing, but most of the houses are a way off the street, so not a lot of eyes on the road. Not sure we’ll get much, unless someone thinks they got a trespasser and, again, I’d have a call by now on that.”
“I’d appreciate them asking around anyway.”
Jack nodded. “I’m sure you’ve thought of everything, but what about bringing in the K-9 unit?”
Thomas knew Jack brought it up because his fiancée was on the unit, so it didn’t grate that Jack was suggesting something Thomas had already considered. “It’s too big of an area, and we don’t have enough information yet. This is good, but it’s still not enough for the sheriff to approve it.”
“You guys follow me out to the ranch, I can hook you up with Cash. Maybe the area’s too big, but I’m sure he’d be willing to give it a shot with his dogs.” Cash Hudson was Jack’s brother who trained dogs for a number of things, including for the sheriff’s department and for search and rescue.
Thomas knew it couldn’t hurt. “Okay, we’ll follow you out that way.”
He and Rosalie got into his patrol car and started driving out to the Hudson Ranch.
He hadn’t gotten far when Laurel called. He answered the phone on speaker.
“Hart.”
“I just got done harassing a real estate agent and everyone in her office. She told me what Kay was looking for—land, out of the way, outbuildings preferable but didn’t need to be in good shape. She didn’t want to give me specifics, but I finally got a list of the addresses she’d given to Inspector Kay.”
“Are any of them out by Sunrise, on 124th Street?”
Laurel was quiet for just a second. “As a matter of fact, nearly all of them. I take it you’ve got a lead?”
“Yeah, send me the addresses, though. They’ll narrow it down.” He hoped. “Any word from Copeland?”
“No, think he’s still interviewing hotel employees. I’m going to apply for search warrants on these addresses, then I’ll head over and give him a hand. If we don’t get anything there and nothing else crops up, we’ll meet you in Sunrise. Unless you want us to come out now?”
“No. But I want to know why we don’t have a search warrant to ping Eric Carter’s phone yet. The evidence is there. I want it done.”
“On it. Talk soon.” The call ended.
No doubt Eric, or his alias, had also turned off his phone, but if they could get a ping anywhere in the Sunrise vicinity, even if it wasn’t a direct hit, maybe they could narrow it down.
“That isn’t a coincidence,” Rosalie said, leaning forward in her seat. “Itcan’tbe.”
“If you’ve got service, see if you can look up anything about the addresses she texts me.”
Rosalie nodded. He followed Jack out to the Hudson Ranch, passed the main house and up to a big outbuilding that Thomas knew housed Cash’s many dogs.
Cash and his wife, Carlyle, were standing outside eyeing both police cars skeptically when Jack and Thomas got out of their cars. Thomas knew all the players, because not only had he worked with all the Hudsons, but Carlyle had essentially saved Laurel’s life a while back. She was the newest Delaney-Carson addition’s namesake, in fact, though they called her Cary to avoid confusion.
“We’ve got a missing person case we’re hoping you can help us with,” Jack said by way of greeting.
Thomas explained the situation, doing his best to leave his personal connection and feelings out of it, but considering all the different connections, he doubted very much that Cash and Carlyle didn’tknowVi was…his.
Cash considered the information Jack and Thomas gave him.
“I only have two dogs right now trained to do scent-specific tracking. But we can give it a shot. If you’ve got an idea of where you want to start, we can head out now. But we do have to get property owner approval before we do any searching. Legally, anyway.”
“All three properties I want searched are up for sale. I’m working on a search warrant.” But… “I don’t care about legality right now. I want her found, then we can worry about the rest.”
