“Maybe.”
Her long legs kept up with his fast stride. He wanted to believe he was overreacting, but the grim line of Torie’s lips was a reminder she felt how wrong this all was too. He yanked open the door and followed her through to the information desk.
A girl of about seventeen looked up with a smile from behind the desk. “Can I help you?”
“My daughter was told she won a megalodon tooth. Is this where she would get that prize? She’s eight and has red hair.”
The girl’s smile faltered. “We aren’t giving away megalodon teeth. They are much too valuable. And we have no fake ones either, so that’s odd. You’re sure she was told she won something?”
Dread took a firmer hold on his gut. “Positive. Someone dressed in a dinosaur costume led her away. I didn’t see it, and a friend told me what was said. Why would an employee or volunteer take a kid without talking to the parents?” He drew in a deep breath when he realized he was nearly shouting. “I’m sorry. I’m a little upset and worried.”
“I understand that, but I don’t believe any of our employees would have done this. Maybe I should call the police.” She reached for a phone.
The police.
His terror ramped up. This wasn’t sanctioned by the exhibitors. “You call them while I keep looking. And call your supervisor. We need to lock down the fairgrounds and not let anyone out.”
He started to walk through the rest of the building, but Torie tugged at his arm. “She’s not in here. Let’s look elsewhere. There are other buildings.” Her phone went off, and she glanced at it.
Her gasp stopped him dead in his tracks. “What is it?”
Her hand shook when she held out her phone for him to see the message.
Tag, you’re it.
He froze. “He has her.”
“They have to be here somewhere.”
“I’ve taught Hailey to scream for help if she’s being abducted. To fight and do whatever she has to. She would have caused a commotion.” He thought it through. “But she might not have been afraid if she couldn’t see who had her. She might have thought it was all part of a game.”
The phone dinged again, and they peered together at the message.
Livestock can make quite a stink.
But you’ll find me here before you can blink.
He turned the other direction. “One of the barns!”
They ran down the path to the two barns, neither of which were being used by the Jurassic exhibit. The first barn was locked.
Torie headed past him. “I’ll try the other one.”
He looked around for another point of entry into the barn—a window, another door.
“It’s open!” Torie disappeared inside the other barn, and he ran to catch up with her.
The place was a cave inside. No lights, no sign of life. Just the stink of manure, dust, and old hay.
“Hailey!” he shouted.
“I found the lights,” Torie said.
A moment later, the overhead lamps came on and illuminated the cavernous interior. He saw no movement in the open area and no indication anyone had been here recently. But it was unlocked. That had to mean something.
Unless the guy was leading them on a chase to torment them.
He cupped his hands to his mouth. “Hailey!”
“Daddy?”
He whirled at the tiny voice. “Hailey, where are you?”
“H-Here.” A door opened to his right, and Hailey peeked out of it.
He shot forward and pulled her into his arms. Tears struggled for dominance, and he breathed in the sweet aroma of her hair, vaguely aware Torie was right there too.
After a fierce hug, he gripped her shoulders and checked her over. “Are you all right?”
Please, God, don’t let her have been harmed.
Her clothing was all intact. She still wore her shoes. Even her hair looked in order.
Torie caressed Hailey’s hair. “It’s all right now, honey. You’re safe.”
He should have reassured his daughter like that so he hugged her again. “We’ve got you. Did he put you in the bathroom or did you get away?”
“The T-Rex told me to go inside and wait for you. He said if I came out, I’d be sorry.” Hailey sniffled. “I messed up, Daddy. I knew better than to go off with someone without telling you. B-But I thought I won a tooth!” She began to cry in earnest.
He held her close and let her sob on his shirt. “You’re okay, Peanut. He can’t hurt you.”
In the distance the sound of a siren wailed toward them. This ordeal wouldn’t be over for Hailey for hours.
If he got his hands on the guy who had terrorized her, he’d be the one going to jail.
* * *
He’d spare his little girl if he could.
Joe wanted to reply to every question the police asked Hailey, but only she knew the answers to so much of what had happened today. The problem was, even she didn’t know the identity of the man who had taken her.
The female officer gave Hailey a reassuring smile. “Since you don’t know what he looked like, how tall was he?”
Hailey glanced at her dad sitting next to Torie by a wall outside. “Not as tall as Daddy or Torie. Taller than me.”
Which meant exactly nothing since they were both six feet tall and over.
“How about his voice? Was it deep? Did he have an accent?”
Did Hailey even know what an accent was? Joe didn’t want to sit here wasting time when he should be scouring the place for the guy.
“He talked funny. Like this.” She did a falsetto imitation. “He kind of sounded like Donald Duck.”
Joe exchanged a glance with Torie. The guy had changed his voice, hidden his face, and could basically be one of these detectives and Hailey would never know. They’d been outsmarted in every way.
The female officer put away her pad. “Thanks for helping us, Hailey.” She handed a card to Torie. “Could you forward the texts you got from the kidnapper? We’ll start with your phone number, too, and see if we can trace the messages. Our tech guys might want your phone to try to get to the perp.”
Torie held out her phone. “You want it now? We need to find this guy. I can get a new one on the way home.”
“It might speed things up,” the detective said.
“That’s fine. I’m due an upgrade anyway. Nothing is more important than keeping Hailey safe.”
Joe set his hand on her knee. “Thank you.”
He would have offered to buy her a phone, but that was ridiculous now that he knew who she was. She could buy a cellular company all by herself. His shock over that revelation had been pushed aside by the trauma of nearly losing Hailey, but the knowledge festered in the background.
The detective took the phone and bagged it as evidence. “Thank you. I have your contact info, and we’ll be in touch.”
“That’s it?” Joe asked. “We just go home now not knowing if this guy is still watching?”
“I’d assume he is,” the detective said. “Take precautions and be alert.”
He wouldn’t want to go to work and let her out of his sight. Maybe he could take a leave of absence, but he was badly needed to work this next week, especially knowing someone had planted an explosive and tried to kill him. The thought of bringing her into the office crossed his mind, but she’d be bored silly. It would take some thought to figure out what to do. His parents both worked so they couldn’t really take her either.