Page 14 of Come Home to the Lawmen

It was three o’clock in the morning, but the trio separated and started filing paperwork. Jordan wanted to get this in the newspaper right away. He also wanted to alert the local school district that they had an abductor in the area and to warn the parents. Lastly, he wanted to pull cases and see if what Camila said was true – that fifteen missing children were from this area of Texas.

Why hadn’t he known?

Just as the eastern sky was beginning to turn pink, Ely and Camila came into his office.

“It’s late,” Ely said. “I’m ready to go home and come back later when I have a little sleep.”

They had not gone to bed and they needed to get some rest.

“I’m leaving Robin an email, telling her we’ll be in later. But if she learns anything to call me immediately.”

Standing, he glanced at the two of them standing in the doorway of his office. Camila was beautiful, but there were dark circles beneath her eyes and even Ely looked like he was ready to fall over.

They had worked on this case for over two hours, and now other law enforcement agencies in the area would know about the missing child. Why hadn’t the other agencies contacted him when they had a child go missing?

“Let’s go,” he said. “Camila, are you going to stay with us? It’s too late to search for a hotel room. You’re welcome to stay. We have a guest room, or even better, you could bunk with us.”

She gave him a look that told him she wasn’t quite certain. “I’ll stay if I can sleep in the guest room.”

“All right,” he said disappointed. He’d really have enjoyed waking up and doing her again. But maybe it wasn’t meant to be. They were both in law enforcement and he got the feeling that maybe she was there to investigate them as well as anyone else on this case.

“Let’s go,” he said.

“Could we drive by the parent’s house before we head to your place?”

“Sure,” he said thinking that was a smart move. What if they saw the car they believed had taken her parked in front of their house? No, it didn’t feel like an inside job. The mother had been emotionally wrecked.

After walking out the door, he locked it behind him. Robin would be showing up in thirty minutes, but until then, it was best they kept it locked.

Ely helped Camila into the truck. Her evening dress was looking a little frumpy after the day and night she’d worn it.

“Damn,” she said, “my suitcase is locked in the back of my car.”

“You can sleep in my T-shirt and we’ve got some extra toothbrushes. Tomorrow afternoon, we’ll go by and pick it up,” Jordan said not wanting to drive back to his parents’ home to retrieve her car. His father would already be up and getting ready to tend the herd.

He didn’t want to have to answer a lot of questions, especially where Camila was concerned.

When he turned onto the street where Marta’s parents lived, he noticed there were still a lot of cars parked in front of their house.

“Look,” Camila said. “Isn’t that a dark sedan parked out in front of their house?”

She took out her phone and snapped pictures.

“What’s the license plate?”

“I’ll be a son of a bitch,” Ely said. “That plate is WHS 659.”

Jordan pulled the truck to the side of the street and jumped out.

Ely and Camila were right behind him.

When he reached the door, he pulled it open and walked in.

“What the hell?” someone shouted.

“Sheriff Jordan Nash,” he said gazing around. “Is that the sedan that took Marta?”

A man sighed and sank down onto the couch. “Yes. We found it parked on the outskirts of town. The engine was still running, but there was no sign of my daughter.”

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