Page 13 of Halloween in Sleepy Hollow
I give him a jerky nod. “Right.” Drawing in a deep breath, I let it out slowly. “So Cole and Rylan will start canvassing Main Street from the east end as soon as they get here. Cash, Ben, and I will head to the library. Can youguys start on the west end? See if anyone saw the women? Check the stores. Restaurants.”
“Got it,” Kane replies. “We can do that.” He exchanges a quick glance with Ian. “Sound good?”
Ian lifts his chin at Kane. “Absolutely.”
“Alright.” Drawing on the years I spent working undercover in the CIA, I shove down my emotions so I can focus. “Elias and Winnie are okay with Grant and Scarlett, right?”
Cash looks pained. “Yeah. I hate to leave Winnie, but…”
“Grant can handle it,” Ian says. “You know he can.”
“I know.” Cash sighs. Though he doesn’t say it, I can tell what he’s thinking. Right now, Winnie’s in view. He knows she’s safe. But once he leaves… Grant’s one of the most capable men I know. But his protection isn’t the same as Cash being there to watch his daughter himself.
“Let’s go,” I announce. My muscles itch to move. Not to just stand here, talking about our plan, but to put it in action. Gesturing to Ben and Cash, I add, “If we hurry, we can be at the library in three minutes.”
With that said, I make a beeline out of the park with Cash and Ben trailing close behind me. Though my legs want to sprint, I force myself to keep my pace to a brisk trot. It’s not because I want to. But if people see a cop running full out down Main Street—and they’ll know it’s me, even without my uniform—it could cause panic. And right now that’s the last thing we need.
We need to get to the library without incident. Without people calling after me, asking what’s wrong. Without scared parents hustling their kids back home andturning the controlled chaos of downtown into outright madness.
We don’t speak until we pass the line of food trucks, not wanting to be overheard by the lines of people waiting to order. But once we do, Ben says, “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it immediately. But I can check the security cameras in the library parking lot. I’m not technically supposed to have access, but after what happened with Thea… I may have hacked into the library security system.”
“I don’t blame you,” Cash says. “If I could do the same thing at Ari’s school, I would.”
“Nice,” I tell Ben. “Maybe you’ll see something. Or,” I add hopefully, “maybe they’re at the library and lost track of time.”
But seven minutes later, it’s clear they’re not.
Three minutes to get there, one for Cash and Ben to shed their bulky costumes, and another three to search the perimeter of the library, establishing that all the doors are indeed locked and no lights are on inside. Not upstairs, where the offices are, or on the main floor that houses all the books, or even through the narrow windows that give a peek into the basement.
Though I knew in my gut that Shea wasn’t in the library, it’s still a blow.
“Search the alley,” I tell Cash and Ben once we’ve finished our loop around the library. Glancing up and down the narrow strip of asphalt that stretches between the old bank and the library, I quickly note all the places where a clue could be hiding. “Check the grass and bushes,” I add. “I know it’s a long shot, but maybe…”
“Got it,” Cash replies. His features are dark and haunted as he looks at me. “Maybe we’ll find something.”
Ben’s face is partly illuminated by the dim light of his phone. “I’m just logging into the security system now. Unless you need me to help search…”
“No, keep doing what you’re doing.” I start heading down the alley in the opposite direction Cash is going. “Between the three of us?—”
“Oliver.”
Not twenty feet away, Cash is crouched in the middle of the alley, staring down at something on the ground in front of him.
My heart lurches. “What is it?”
Cash looks up at me. The fear in his eyes is visible even in the darkness. “It’s a phone. Not Ari’s. But…”
I rush over to him. “Let me see.”
Cash gestures at the phone. It has a shimmery rose-gold case that I know is that color because Shea told me.
“Not gold,”I remember her explaining.“It’srosegold. Isn’t it a pretty color?”
Bile rises in my throat as I reach towards it.
Shea’s phone.
Not with her, buthere.
