Page 82 of The Last Love Song
“Sylvia Hauf. I don’t have a number or an address, but she was a year ahead of my granddaughter, Ally, in school, and she was one of Heather’s best students.” She paused. “Mayor, can I tell you something without you thinking I’m a crazy old woman?”
“I know you’re not crazy or old, Mrs. Finley. Please do.”
“That Jeremy Covington practically salivated on my Heather when she walked by him at Erin’s wedding. I know you’re looking for a troublemaker at the quarry, and if you ask me, it’s that man right there.”
Zach wanted to ask her how she’d seen that when she’d hidden in the house all day, but getting ahold of Sylvia Hauf and finding Heather was more important.
“Thank you, ma’am. And if you hear from Heather, please call me.”
“Likewise, young man. I’m counting on you to be sure she’s safe.”
“I won’t let you down.” He disconnected the call and did a quick internet search for Sylvia Hauf. “I need a phone and address on this woman,” he said to Sam when the sheriff got off the phone with Dan Bryer. He showed Sam his cell so he could see the social media profile of Heather’s former student.
“Megan’s missing,” Sam informed him, feeding the information on Sylvia into a tablet. The all-business cop look on Sam’s face was an ominous portent. “Her dad says he realized it a few minutes before I contacted him. He was in the backyard yelling her name while we talked. Her car is gone.”
Zach told himself to shut down the emotions making his blood run cold. Heather and Megan needed him to focus right now.
“APB on the car. Helicopter over the quarry?” he suggested.
“Definitely.” Sam barked orders into a police radio, then turned the tablet toward Zach while he held his hand over the mouthpiece on his radio. “Turns out Sylvia’s in rehab. Her last-known number is this.” He indicated the digits on the screen. “I need to get to the station to coordinate this. I’ll bring Gabriella with me.”
“How long has the woman been in rehab?” The ground gave way beneath his feet. His whole world would topple if anythinghappened to Heather. “Are you sure this is accurate? Could she be getting released today?”
“Looks like a court-appointed stint for heroin and she’s done two weeks of a four-week bid. No way is she out and using her phone to arrange a meeting with Heather.”
Zach swore. “Someone jacked her profile. Did I mention that J.D. is excellent with computers? It’s his only good subject in school.” He grabbed his keys, trying to make the pieces fit. J.D. was too young to be Gabriella’s stalker. But he might be helping his father. “I’m going to the station with you and I’m getting in the fastest squad car you have. You can arrest me for misuse of equipment when I find her.”
“Fuck that.” Sam scooped up his tablet. “Gabriella can stay here. We’ll take your Porsche and I’ll put my badge in the window. No one’s getting arrested today except a stalker.”
Chapter Nineteen
Impatient, Heather tappedher foot inside the fifties-themed doughnut shop just outside town shortly past noon.
She’d ordered two doughnuts and bought two coffees for the road, but now she needed to get back on the road. Yes, she desperately wanted company for the ride to Charlotte. Needed someone to keep her spirits up and assure her she hadn’t made the biggest mistake of her life by walking away from Zach Chance. But Sylvia was a newly minted adult and maybe didn’t fully appreciate what a big break this was for Heather. How the hell could she be late when they needed to get on the road? Heather’s nerves grew more frayed by the minute, especially since she hadn’t received a confirmation note from Sylvia this morning.
Giving up, she headed back outside. She debated hopping in her car and driving away, but first she walked around the back of the restaurant. She’d gotten some food here a long time ago with her family and remembered there were picnic tables in the back. She stopped. Not anymore, but there were a couple of parking spots. There was a plain white service van in one spot, and in the other, a car she could have sworn belonged to Megan Bryer.
Suddenly, a plastic hood was shoved down on her head. Darkness enveloped her. She dropped the coffee and doughnuts, and her hands scrabbled at the hood to tear it off.
She wheeled backward as the plastic was yanked hard. The material sealed to her lips and nose, choking her so that when she inhaled, she pulled the garbage bag–like material into her mouth. She would pass out in a minute between the pressure of the plastic squeezing her windpipe and the bag closing her nose and mouth. She heard a scream, muffled swearing and brakes squealing right before she was kicked in the back.
She fell on top of a body. A body that moved, thank God. The feminine form beneath her squealed but didn’t try to shove her off.
The hand that had been holding the bag over her head was gone. She used the freedom to shake her head hard and dislodge the thing from her airway.
Precious, precious oxygen flowed into her lungs before she turned herself to slide off the person she’d landed on. Her shoulder hit cold metal. She tore the bag off her head and found Megan Bryer lying next to her inside the back of a van, her mouth duct-taped. Shock froze Heather for a moment before she lurched forward to help.
“Oh my God, Megan.” She put an arm around the girl and tugged at the tape with her other hand.
Only then did she realize that Megan was staring out the back of the van at the fight in the parking lot. Sam Reyes had a big boot in another person’s back. A person who was… J. D. Covington?
Horror had her reaching for Megan’s hand. She squeezed it as she watched the teen face down in the gravel. Until Zach stumbled into her line of view, grappling with another man.
Jeremy. She couldn’t believe her eyes.
Her mayor punched town council member Jeremy Covington in the face. The gut. The jaw. Heather couldn’t believe a long-time member of the town board had done this. With a teenage son as an accomplice, no less. She squeezed Megan tighter to comfort them both.
Zach’s last jaw punch knocked Jeremy to the ground. Sam wasted no time tossing a pair of handcuffs at Zach. Heather sat up, dragging Megan to sit with her.
