Page 94 of Silver Sanctuary
“Do you need me to run back to the truck for some water?” he gently asked.
“No. Let’s go.”
They walked, hand in hand, through the main doors and into the front office of Embrie’s school. Everything was eerily calm. A woman was behind the desk, sniffling. Her eyes widened as they landed on Lacy.
“My daughter?—”
“Of course. I’m so sorry, Ms. Graves. I don’t know how this happened.”
“Clarissa, I think it’s best we just let Principal Nix speak with Embrie’s parents.”
Nash recognized the woman talking as Embrie’s teacher.
“Of course.”
“It’s Mrs. Caldwell,” Nash asserted. “You better get the principal out here right now or you are going to have a much bigger problem than me correcting you on my wife’s last name,” Nash growled.
“Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell, please.” A slender woman, maybe just a few inches taller than Lacy, but at least in her early fifties, walked out from a private room tucked in the back. “Let’s take this to my office.”
Nash pressed his hand into the small of Lacy’s back, guiding her one step in front of him through the front office until they made it to the back room. Inside, Colt and Deputy Shannon stood in front of a wall of bookshelves.
“Nash,” Lacy whispered as her eyes darted to Deputy Shannon. The last remaining color in her face was gone as her fingernails dug into his hand.
“Not. Him.” Nash had no problem pointing directly at the piece of shit who tried to blame Lacy for her store being vandalized.
Deputy Shannon held up his hands. “I understand there might be some tough feelings between us?—”
“Tough feelings don’t begin to cover it. Colt, I don’t fucking want him?—”
Colt held up his hand. “Eric. Step outside.”
“You can’t be serious? Again?”
“Step. The. Fuck. Outside. The only thing that matters is getting information, fast, about what happened to their daughter. So, if they think you’re going to be a problem here, then get out so we can get the information and do our job.”
Deputy Shannon shoved his notepad back into his pocket and left the room, the door clicking shut a sobering reminder of why they were there.
“Please, sit.” Ms. Nix gestured to the seats in front of her desk. Lacy didn’t move, so neither would he. “Okay. That’s fine, too.”
“Who took her?” Lacy’s questing hung heavy in the space between everyone.
“The description we got from our secretary was a woman,maybe in her early fifties, who came in with a gentleman and signed her out.”
“Nash…”
He nodded, knowing exactly what Lacy was thinking. It had to be her mom—Embrie would have recognized her. The chances were high that Embrie would leave with her without causing a scene or questioning things.
His phone felt oddly heavy in his hand, but just as he was getting ready to send a message to the team, a notification popped up on his screen.
Gage:
Located Embrie’s backpack. It’s in a field about ten miles east of Kingsley Road. Sending coordinates. Doc and Reap are heading out now.
His stomach dropped. Embrie needed to be okay. He had to believe she was going to be okay.
“How is that possible? Nash and I are the only two people authorized to get her from school! And Embrie knows not to go with anyone. She would have said something…” Lacy’s panic was palpable in each and every word.
“The secretary assured me that she checked identification and the name matched the driver’s license. The person opted to wait in the hallway outside the office for her. We didn’t… Embrie didn’t come into the office before she left.”
