Page 28 of Safe
I struggled to even make it to bed, collapsing into a deep sleep the moment my head hit the pillow. I didn’t wake up again until late morning when my phone rang. Cody was calling to check in, and I let him know what had happened overnight. While I was showering, Warren called with news of a lead on themissing car. I rushed through the rest of my routine and headed to the station, where I found Warren waiting in his car outside.
"Get in," he called, waving me over.
I handed him a coffee and took a sip of my own as he pulled away from the curb. "What did you find?"
"We're looking for a red 2003 Toyota Corolla. But your boy isn't too bright."
"Why's that?"
"According to the woman at the lot, the car's pretty distinctive. It's got rust spots, a taped-up bumper, and no license plates. We're heading to Stup's now to get stock photos for release."
"To the public?" I asked after considering it. "That might backfire. If he knows we're looking for him, he'll just abandon the car again."
"Good point. Maybe we should keep it within the department for now, plus county and state."
After collecting the pictures from Stup's, we headed back to the station. Warren's phone rang as we settled into the car.
"Yes, Chief?" Then nothing. Just Warren listening. "We're on our way."
"What happened?"
Warren let out a deep, burdened exhale. "Fire department reported a car burning under the I-70 overpass."
"Let me fucking guess. Red Toyota?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
Warren's silence confirmed it. I slammed my fist against the passenger window in frustration. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!"
We hit the siren and raced to the scene. The firefighters were just finishing up when we arrived. The anger I’d been storing inside for the sake of professionalism boiled to the surface as I watched smoke curl from the wreckage. This bastardkept slipping through our fingers. I slammed the car door and stormed over to the chief.
"What the fuck?" I demanded.
"Trase, calm down. We'll find him."
"He knew! He fucking knew we were onto the car. That's why it's torched now. This can't be a coincidence. Are you sure it's the right one?"
The chief gave a slow, almost reluctant nod, jaw clenched like he already knew what would come next if he answered. "Red Toyota Corolla, taped bumper on the passenger side, no plates."
My rage threatened to overwhelm me. Cody must have told Danielle about the car. I needed to call him and make sure Danielle wouldn't get her hopes up, only to have them crushed again. But as I hung up with Cody, a thought hit me. I sprinted toward Warren.
“He’s got someone helping him.”
“What? How can you know for sure?”
"Look around," I barked, sweeping a hand across the mess like it explained everything. "Thousands of people drive this road daily. If he'd walked away, someone would have seen him. Someone picked him up."
"Alex, he could have stolen another car within minutes." Warran tried to interject, and I knew he was trying to calm me down, but this was it. This was my boiling point.
I turned to the chief. "Any reports of vehicles stolen along the highway in the last thirty minutes?"
"No," the chief replied.
"Get in," I told Warren, already heading back to his car.
Warren slid into the driver's seat and started the engine, but stopped shy of putting the car in drive. He turned and looked at me.
"You and I both know you're over-emotional right now, and you have nowhere near enough information to go off on awild goose chase based on a feeling that he has someone helping him. Not to mention if you're going to argue that you're right simply because no cars have been reported stolen, you're even more lost than I thought.”
He stopped talking long enough to see if I’d respond, but I didn’t. I knew he was right, but I wasn’t going to admit it.
