The sheriff put his hands on his hips and looked down. “Marlee is missing. It seems she took Abby’s Suburban without telling anyone.”
“The asshole that hit me and took Cooper must have called her.”
Danny raised his brows and nodded. “That’s exactly what we think happened. And it looks like he did it with your phone.”
Jace thought back to when he’d tried to use his phone. He’d assumed it had fallen from his pocket when he was hit, and he hadn’t wasted time looking for it. “The guy took it from me, and I didn’t know it.”
“Hey, you were hit hard on the head. You can’t expect to think of everything.”
“I should’ve told you I didn’t have my phone,” he argued.
Danny quirked a brow at him. “And I should’ve asked where it was earlier.”
“Please tell me you’re tracking my phone and Marlee’s.”
“We were.”
Jace closed his eyes for a second and sighed. “They turned off, didn’t they?”
“Right about the time Marlee called your phone. The conversation was brief. We did get a ping on both locations from towers. They’re in the area.”
“Well, at least there’s that.” But was it enough?
Danny sat on the second bed and looked at Jace. “Everyone is being brought to the ranch, including your parents.”
“The threat is that bad, huh?”
“He tried to kill you,” Danny stated in a firm tone. “He shot Cooper and took him, and he lured Marlee out. At the very least, he wants Marlee dead.”
“Cooper will never get over it if she’s killed.” Jace swallowed, his mouth dry. “Not to open old wounds, but do you think this is like what happened to you?”
Danny shook his head. “I’ve already thought about that and talked it over with Ryan. This is different. I’m not saying they won’t torture Cooper, but I think their main target is Marlee. Not that that helps or matters.”
“No, it does. What now?”
“We head to the ranch with the others. Your parents are worried sick, and they want to see you. Not to mention, I think it’ll help everyone if they can see you’re okay.”
Jace put his hands on his thighs. “Danny, you’ve done a great many things for us, and I know you and Ryan are doing everything you can right now. But that’s my best friend out there. He’s in trouble, along with the woman he loves. I’m going to do anything I can to make sure both of them come out of this alive.”
“I know that. I also know that no matter what Ryan and I may tell all of you, you’re going to do what y’all always do, which is be there for each other and get the job done.”
Jace had thought Danny would tell him to stay out of the way, but he actually got the opposite.
“Come on,” the sheriff said. “Let’s get to the ranch.”
* * *
Marlee held on to the side with the stitch in it and desperately tried to keep herself moving. Her mind told her body to run, but her body could no longer respond properly. It was all she could do to keep putting one foot in front of the other. She was so cold, she couldn’t stop shivering.
She had no idea how long she had been going north. She never wore a watch because she always had her phone, but with that gone, she could only guess at the time. And with the clouds and rain, she couldn’t even figure out where the sun was.
Her head dropped back so she could see through the tree branches, hoping for a glimpse of the sun. Instead, the toe of her shoe caught on something, and she pitched forward. She attempted to catch herself with her hands, even as she saw the big root sticking out of the ground.
Chapter 41
“What about Cooper’s phone?” Caleb asked.
Ryan shook his head. “We’ve already tried it. It’s either destroyed or turned off. There’s no way to track it.”
Jace sat in Clayton’s office with the others. It felt wrong that Cooper wasn’t with them. Everything about the entire situation was wrong.
Abby had her kids, Jace’s parents, Cooper’s mom, Naomi and Nate, Audrey, and Skylar in another part of the house. Not that it did much good. Everyone knew why they had been brought there and what was going on.
“Jace?” Ryan asked. “Do you have any ideas?”
He started to shake his head but then stopped. “I do, actually. Cash.”
“Why didn’t we think of that?” Caleb asked as he looked at Brice.
Danny held out his phone to Jace. “Do you know his number?”
“Yep.”
In moments, Jace listened as the phone rang, waiting for Cash to pick up. Just when Jace thought it would go to voicemail, Cash answered. Jace quickly filled him in on what was going on.
“I’m not far. I can be there in a couple of hours. Quicker even, maybe,” Cash told him.
Jace gave a thumbs up to the room to let them know. “I don’t care how you get here, just get here.”
Less than an hour later, someone buzzed for entrance at the gate of the ranch, and Cash said his name. Jace couldn’t believe that he had gotten there so quickly, but he was glad Cash had. And the man came prepared.
He walked in carrying a hard, black bag that looked like a cross between a suitcase and a briefcase. His gaze landed on Jace first. “You okay?”
“It looks worse than it is,” Jace said.
Clayton held out his hand to Cash. “Jace is lying. It’s that bad. Come in. Glad to have you.”
Jace took more pills for his headache, hoping it would alleviate the pain, but he knew it was wishful thinking. What really bothered him was that he wasn’t any good to Cooper right now, not in his current condition anyway.
He rubbed his eyes and dropped his hand to find Ryan staring at him. The police chief was the kind of man who noticed everything. Which is what made him so damn hard to beat at poker. Ryan gave him a nod before turning his attention to Danny, who was telling everyone that the sheriff’s department had set up a perimeter around the county, stopping all vehicles. Other deputies were on the lookout for any signs of Cooper, Marlee, or Stella Pearson.
“Additionally, the department notified OnStar to locate Abby’s Suburban,” Ryan added. “I’m hoping we hear something from them soon since we can’t track the phones.”
Jace leaned a shoulder against the wall. “Marlee will have ditched the SUV by now. Regardless, we need to find it. If it’s in a parking lot, we can see what other cars are missing. If it’s elsewhere, there’s a good chance a car was waiting for her or she’s on foot.”
“I agree with Jace,” Cash said. “I had some time to think about this on the way over. If Stella is the ringleader for this criminal activity, then any number of people could be working for her. Is she in custody?”
Ryan shook his head as he crossed his arms over his chest. “We didn’t bring her in yesterday because there isn’t enough evidence. Marlee has been after these people for a long time, and if she didn’t have evidence, then we’re going to be hard-pressed to find any.”
“But bringing Stella in would at least let her know that we’re on to her,” Caleb stated.