Page 21 of Knight

"No you're not," I argue. "No one is calling you selfish. What we're trying to figure out is why you didn't feel like you could come to any of us."

"Because I knew this is what it was going to be like. Everyone wants me to talk about what happened, tell you how my feelings are, and how am I dealing with it? Newsflash, I'm not dealing with it. I'm not sleeping with my wife, fuck I'm not even living there right now, and my life is going down the drain. How you gonna fix that, Dad?"

He gets up, and when I make a move to follow him, Cutter comes over with the sign on for the CCTV. "Mom said do whatever you need to with it. There's a copy on the server, so it's going to be there whenever you need it."

"Thanks," I'm already holding my phone, ready to sign in and see what the fuck I can find.

Chapter Sixteen

Menace

With an educated guess, I've gone to what I think will be the time where Taylor and D saw this guy who gave her the creeps. I wish I'd known about this weeks ago, but it's the same with any investigation. Sometimes things come in a little bit at a time, and big breaks are thanks to a bunch of small pieces.

Fast forwarding, I come to a stop when I see Taylor and D sharing a table together.

This makes me wonder how close they are, especially when he reaches across and grabs her hand with his. Maybe it's something I need to discuss with him. They're laughing, when Taylor's body language changes in the blink of an eye. She immediately closes off and tries to turn away from the person sitting at the table next to her.

"Look into the camera, fucker," I whisper, my leg pumping up and down as I wait to see his face up close and personal. With this picture, I might be able to run it through facial recognition for the state-wide ID's. The pictures from the bus weren't good enough.

As I'm about to give up on the fact he's going to look at the camera, he does. His eyes meet mine in the frame of the video, and I realize quickly, I've seen this guy before. Not when it comes to Taylor, but he was in the police station not long ago, fucking filling out an application. His name is on the tip of my tongue, but I can't remember what it is. Anger like I've never felt before courses through my body. This guy has been making fun of us the entire time he's had her.

Getting up from the booth, I give Cutter a look. "I'm outta here, I know who this guy is."

"Let me box up your food," he holds his hand up. "You'll need it, I have a feeling you'll be working late tonight."

Truer words have never been spoken. The amount of time it takes for him to box it up equates to what feels like years. When I have the box in my hand, I take off at a run for my patrol SUV. When I get to it, I hop in, start the engine, turn on my lights and burn fucking rubber toward the police station.

*****

"Becca," I call out to one of our newest dispatchers, as I come into the station. "Look at this guy. Do you remember who he was? He filled out an application."

Luckily she isn't on the phone, and has the time to take a look at the picture I'm holding up to her. She gasps. "He gave me the creeps. I put him to the side, because if you were going to call him back for an interview, I was going to tell you he gave me the creeps."

"He did the same with me," I admit to her. "But I never thought he'd be the person I'm looking for with Taylor."

"Do you think he's involved?" She gets up to go get the file.

"Yes, there was a tip today about him walking into The Café , and Taylor having a reaction to him. I was able to find it, and this is definitely the guy. She closed off as soon as she saw him. I think he was following her for a while and she'd finally started to get wise to it. Even a teenager can recognize when they're being watched, and when others give them a weird feeling."

"This is it," she pulls the file out of one of the cabinets. "Troy Noble."

When she turns it so I can see the picture, it's as if everything falls into place. I can see him, clear as day, the afternoon when he came in here to fill out an application. He'd asked a ton of questions about how we go about searching for kids, and what our close rate was. It wasn't something that sparked my sixth sense back then, but now? He's tripping all my buttons.

"Thank you, Becca. I appreciate you doing this."

"No problem, if you need anything else, let me know."

Taking the file to my office, I get prepared to learn everything I can about this man who's had me chasing a ghost for the past few months. Sitting at my desk, I take a deep breath before I type his name in, and start to figure out who in the fuck this guy is.

Chapter Seventeen

Rina

My hands shake as I stand in front of the podium. I pray this is the last time I'm going to have to do this, that Taylor will come home. "Taylor," I speak to her. "Please know we're close to finding you. Closer than we've ever been. We know his name, and we're coming for you. If you can hear the police, please make it known. They will be looking for you, and they're ready to bring you home. You're family is ready to see you again, your cat is waiting on you."

To the man who's taken her, I have other things to say. "To the man who took her. I know who you are, and after this press conference, everyone will know who you are. Your friends and family? They'll turn you in because it's the right thing to do. They'll know what the hell you've done. Those same friends and family? They'll be ashamed of you, trying to figure out why you thought you'd get away with this. Why you had to take a child who had a family who loved them. Why you had to kill two people who were doing nothing but trying to protect their child. There's no coming back from any of this. Once they find you, you can kiss the rest of your life goodbye. Taylor however will be able to overcome what you've done to her. She'll have the rest of her life to live, and she'll have many more memories to make where you won't be a factor. I hope you realize that while you've made yourself important to her for the last few months, you'll realize you don't have that ability to control the rest of her life like this."

If she's watching, or listening I want her to know we have her back, and we're willing to help her with whatever she needs help with.

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