Sealed with Trust, page 16
He disconnected from the call, certain Maggie had been crying. It pained him to hear her so distraught, yet he was feeling pretty unhinged himself. He forced himself to take a deep breath and listen. Maybe Laney was close enough to have overheard his part of the conversation. It was possible she was hiding out of sight, unwilling to face him.
Then again, there weren’t that many places to hide. Even for an eight-year-old.
He thought about the cameras and mentally kicked himself for not checking them earlier. He quickly thumbed through them as he walked, finding the one that showed Laney wearing jean shorts and a blue-striped shirt heading down toward the lake in her pink flip-flops.
Where are you, Laney?
Romeo caught his attention. The lab was sniffing the air again, then took off up the slope, taking a route that led away from the lake.
It was strange that Laney would have chosen to go up the incline here where there wasn’t any path. Especially if she was wearing flip-flops. But he wasn’t about to second-guess Romeo’s instincts.
Trust your dog.
The trainer’s advice echoed in his mind. He shook off the uneasy feeling, knowing that Romeo might pick up on his discomfort. He trusted Romeo, and he had faith that God was guiding him.
Yet when the incline grew steep, the terrain ragged and littered with rocks, more doubts jangled in his head. Had Laney really come this way in her flip-flops? It didn’t seem likely, but he kept silent, other than giving Romeo the occasional reminder to seek Laney. Thankfully, Romeo treated these searches like a game, and he was always up for having fun.
When they reached the top of the ridge, he was surprised at how far they were from the rental property. He glanced around, wondering if they were currently standing in someone’s backyard. Romeo continued trotting along, sniffing and tail wagging. Then the K9 abruptly sat and turned his head toward Dallas, his long tongue lolling out of his mouth in a way that made him look satisfied with a job well done.
Dallas crested the top of the incline and double-checked to see if they were trespassing. He noticed there was a road not far away, which made that unlikely. He quickly crossed over to where Romeo sat. His heart dropped like a rock when he saw what had caught Romeo’s attention.
A pink flip-flop. Not an old one but a newer-looking one. And small, as if it belonged to a child not an adult.
He knelt beside the dog, praising him even as he stared in horror at the find. He threw the ball up into the air, and Romeo leaped up to grab it, running around like a proud papa with the ball in his mouth.
Dallas tore his gaze from the flip-flop and forced himself to stand, sweeping another gaze over the area. The proximity of the abandoned footwear being so close to the road gave him a sick feeling in his stomach.
“Seek Laney.” He couldn’t hide the desperation in his voice. “Romeo, seek Laney!”
Romeo dropped the ball at his feet, then eagerly went to work, sniffing all along the area where he’d found the flip-flop. Dallas pocketed the ball, hoping and praying he’d pick up Laney’s scent. He watched as the dog made a wide circle, sniffing all around before going right back to sit near the flip-flop.
This was it. The end of Laney’s trail.
He stared helplessly down the road. He knew in his gut Laney had been kidnapped. Unfortunately, he had no idea how or where to find her.
Chapter Thirteen
Maggie moved from one window to the next, desperately searching for signs of Laney, Dallas, and Romeo around the shores of Lake Buchanan. She caught glimpses of Dallas walking near the lake, but this rental property being up on a hill made it difficult to see much of Romeo.
Her stomach churned when there was also no sign of Laney.
Please, Lord, keep my daughter safe in Your care!
The prayer didn’t ease her mind. Dallas and Romeo had been outside for nearly thirty minutes. If Laney was sitting and watching the water, or had even gone swimming, they’d have found her by now.
She knew in her heart that something was wrong. Terribly wrong.
When her phone rang, she grabbed it like a lifeline. “Dallas? Did you find her?”
“I’m afraid not. Mags, I found one of her pink flip-flops near the road roughly a half mile from our rental.”
One flip-flop? She stumbled toward the sofa, her knees going weak. “You’re saying she’s been kidnapped.”
“Romeo followed her scent all around the lake and up the embankment. The trail ends here, so yeah, I think someone has taken her.”
“We need to call the police. The FBI. They need to get an Amber Alert out.” Her mind shimmered between cop mode and scared-to-death-mother mode.
“I’ll be there soon. I can check the cameras to see if any of them caught an image of the vehicle.”
“Hurry,” she whispered. “I need you, Dallas. I’m so scared.”
“I know. Me too.” She could hear his breathing accelerate and realized he was running. Knowing she wasn’t entirely alone in this gave her strength. She disconnected from the call, then crossed over to the computer. Lake Buchanan was too far outside of Austin for that police department to be notified. She had to look up who had jurisdiction over this area. Turned out to be the small town of Burnet.
As she punched in the phone number, the door burst open. Dallas and Romeo had made good time in getting back here.
“Hold on, Maggie.” Dallas held up a hand. “Let’s call Agent Tomlin first.”
“Okay, you think he’ll be a quicker connection to the feds?” Her finger hovered above the call button. “It’s the locals that would issue the Amber Alert, though, right?” Holding off even a few minutes seemed impossible. What if whoever took off with Laney stopped for gas? The sooner her picture was plastered all over the media, the better.
“You’re right, call the locals to get the Amber Alert started.” He looked chagrined. “Meanwhile, I’ll contact Tomlin. I feel certain Laney’s disappearance is related to the ghost gun investigation.”
She didn’t disagree. The dispatcher put her through to a detective right away, who introduced himself as Detective Artes. “My daughter, Laney Chandler, is missing. She’s eight years old, blond hair, brown eyes, four feet ten inches tall, and slender, weighing fifty-five pounds. She was last seen in our rental house on Lake Buchanan. One of her pink flip-flops was found about a half mile from the property near a road. I need an Amber Alert issued ASAP.”
“First, we should search the area,” Artes began.
“That’s been done. I’m a Fredericksburg police detective, and her father is a former Navy SEAL. He and his K9, Romeo, have already searched the area, that’s how they found the pink flip-flop near the road. What’s your number? I’ll send you a recent picture of Laney.”
Detective Artes’s entire attitude changed with that information. He repeated Laney’s description, then rattled off his number. “I’ll get this Amber Alert out ASAP, but I need to come and talk to you and her father.”
“That’s fine.” She quickly provided the address of the rental property. “Please hurry. She’s been missing for almost an hour.”
“I will,” Artes promised.
She lowered the phone, wishing the news of the outgoing Amber Alert made her feel better.
It didn’t. If anything, she felt more helpless than ever. She needed to do something, anything to try to find Laney.
Turning, she noticed Dallas was still on the phone with Tomlin. Maybe the ATF agent could get them in touch with the FBI. She agreed with Dallas, this was more than an incidental child abduction case. Laney was smart, she wouldn’t go off with a stranger.
She had to close her eyes, imagining Laney screaming and crying out in fear as some pervert dragged her into the car.
“Thanks, Tomlin. Call me back.” Dallas disconnected from the line. “He agrees that Laney’s abduction is likely related to the case. He’s notifying the FBI about the Amber Alert.”
Again, she tried to be reassured that the authorities were involved and taking this seriously. “What else? Has Tomlin made any progress on Mitchell Werner?”
“Not as much as we’d like,” he admitted.
“I’m calling my boss.” Maggie punched in her lieutenant’s phone number. “He needs to be aware of what’s happening.”
“Who is this?” Fernando asked in a cranky voice.
“It’s Maggie. Laney has been kidnapped.” The words tumbled from her lips. “I tried to call Simmons earlier to be filled in on what’s happening with the case, but he didn’t answer. I need to know what you know, Fernando. This is well beyond Tate’s murder.”
“Are you sure she’s been kidnapped?” Fernando asked.
It was all she could do not to scream at him. “Yes, I’m sure. The Burnet police have already issued an Amber Alert. But you know Laney’s disappearance can’t be a coincidence. Please, tell me what you know!”
“Agent Tomlin and a female agent, Karen White, have taken over the case. We honestly didn’t get very far on uncovering details about Tate’s murder. No wallet or ID at the scene and no phone either, but his carrier’s records indicate his last call was to you.”
“But that was hours before his death,” she said.
“Yes, the ME estimated his time of death to be about five o’clock in the morning. He wasn’t killed where you found his body, that location was a dump site. We went to his last-known address in Austin but were told he hadn’t lived there in well over six months. Some other guy is there now.”
Six months? She found that interesting. “Where was he staying?”
“We’re tracking his credit card, seems he’s spent some time at a motel and at another rental property in Austin. So far, those places have come up clean.”
It was disheartening to realize how much they hadn’t uncovered. “What about the dead gunman, David Cortney? What do you know about him?”
“Not much, although I’m still mad you didn’t tell us your SEAL friend was the one who shot him until after you left the scene.” Reproach underscored his tone. “There were two witnesses inside the pool area who saw you, your mom, and daughter, a muscular guy with a chocolate lab, and the gunman. Their opinion indicated the shooting was self-defense, but you still should have turned yourselves in.”
“I know but tell me this, Loo, if your family was in danger from a gunman, would you be so willing to stop in and chat about the recent attempt on your life? Or would you get them someplace safe? I did what I felt was necessary.”
Fernando sighed. “That’s the only reason you still have a job, Chandler. Because I get your concerns about your family’s safety. But you know very well you and your new boyfriend aren’t above the law.”
To hear Dallas described as her boyfriend would have been comical under different circumstances. “You really have nothing more on this Cortney guy? What about the black sedan?”
“We didn’t find a vehicle the gunman may have used at the hotel, it appears he was dropped off or had a partner that got out of Dodge when the bullets started to fly. Cortney’s last-known address was also Austin, but it wasn’t anywhere close to where your ex used to live.”
“You need to check rental properties under the name Freedom Fighters, LLC. We think the owner of that LLC is the one behind the ghost gun scheme.” She snapped her fingers. “That reminds me, we found a black sedan with a license plate that doesn’t match the one listed on the DMV records. The house address was only two blocks from Tate’s previous address. That guy is driving around with a stolen license plate.”
“We’ll look into that,” Fernando said. She was glad he didn’t ask how she knew about the DMV records. She didn’t want to rat out Waylon, but nothing mattered other than finding Laney.
“Please, Lieutenant. You have to keep digging. Tate was involved in something criminal, and that’s put Laney in danger.”
“I see the Amber Alert now.” As if on cue, Dallas’s phone chirped with the same alert. “I’ll get my beat cops out searching the area in case she ends up back here.”
“Thanks.” After disconnecting, she went over to where Dallas was looking down at his smartphone screen. “The alert went out?”
“Yeah.” He lifted his intense gaze to meet hers. “This may be enough for the guy to drop her off somewhere, rather than risk being found with her.”
It was a slim hope, but one she clung to just the same.
Her mind went back into investigation mode. If it was the gunman who’d taken Laney, how had they been found? She thought back over their actions but she couldn’t come up with any way for the gunman to have located them here at Lake Buchanan.
“Maggie? What’s going on?”
She turned to find her mother looking at them in concern. She winced, realizing she should have clued her mother in sooner. She hadn’t mentioned Laney’s disappearance right away, feeling certain Dallas and Romeo would have found her.
Now the Amber Alert had gone out, informing her mother the wrong way.
“Oh, Mom.” She crossed over to put her arm around her mother’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry I didn’t come find you sooner. Laney took off through her bedroom window. Dallas and Romeo searched down by the lake for her but only found her pink flip-flop near the side of the road a half mile from here.” Her voice began to wobble. “I—We believe Laney’s been kidnapped.”
“That’s what the Amber Alert said, but how? Why? Who would do such a thing?” Her mother gripped her hand tightly. “Is this my fault? I shouldn’t have let her stew all alone.”
“It’s not your fault,” Maggie said sternly.
“We’ve put out an Amber Alert, and the feds are involved,” Dallas said, his calm voice soothing and irritating at the same time. “Please know we’re going to do everything possible to find her.”
Maggie wanted to believe him. To believe God was watching over their precious daughter, keeping her safe from harm.
But right now her faith was thinner than smoke, swirling up and wafting far out of reach.
Even during his worst ops, Dallas had never felt this helpless. At least during an op, there was always a way to strategize their next move.
He didn’t have any such strategy now.
A knock at the door snagged his attention. It surprised him until he realized it was the local police.
“Hello, I’m Detective Emilio Artes and this is my partner, Shondra Cook.”
Dallas eyeballed their gold shields, then stepped back to let them in. “Dallas Hoffman, and this is Detective Maggie Chandler. Laney is our daughter. Oh, and this is Sarah Stevenson, Laney’s grandmother.”
It appeared Shondra was the junior member of the detective team as she primarily took notes. Dallas found himself annoyed at how Artes was using her as a secretary but told himself it didn’t matter as long as they made headway on the case.
“Would you mind starting from the beginning?” Artes asked. “What brings you here to Lake Buchanan?”
Dallas glanced at Maggie, who silently nodded. They were both in agreement that the time for secrecy around their location was over. Leaving anything out could jeopardize their ability to find Laney.
“Please sit down, Detectives,” Maggie said, gesturing to the kitchen table. “I’m afraid this will be a long story.”
Dallas let her take the lead, after all, the entire case started with her finding her ex-husband’s murdered body. He was impressed at how organized she was in relating the events that had transpired over the past few days.
He couldn’t sit still, though, and found himself wandering from one side of the room to another with Romeo keeping pace at his side. The dog kept looking up at him, sensing there was something amiss. Twice the dog went over to the door as if wanting to go out to keep searching for Laney.
Dallas would go back to searching in a heartbeat if he thought there was a way to track the little girl. But Romeo had lost the scent at the flip-flop near the road. As Maggie finished explaining the events leading up to Laney’s disappearing out her bedroom window, he pulled the flip-flop from his pocket and placed it on the table near Maggie.
She swallowed hard and said, “Yes, that’s Laney’s.”
“How do you know for sure?” Artes asked.
“Because of this tiny chunk missing from the side of the sole.” Maggie pointed at the indentation. “That happened the first time she wore them. She wanted me to take them back to exchange them for a new pair, but I refused.”
“And this shoe caused Romeo to alert,” Dallas added. “He followed Laney’s scent all around the lake. The trail ended at the road.”
The two detectives exchanged a knowing glance before Artes nodded. “Okay, we’ll want to see the location where this shoe was found when we’re finished here.”
“Sure.” Dallas swallowed a wave of frustration. These were all necessary steps that needed to happen, but none of it was moving fast enough for him. He turned and went back to look through the patio doors that offered a view of the lake. He imagined an upset Laney had decided to escape through the window to check out the lake. She’d made it down the embankment and then walked around for a bit.
Someone must have approached her, either when she was down at the lakeshore or making her way back up the embankment. The dropped flip-flop made him believe she fought the abductor, losing her flimsy footwear in the process.
“Dallas?” Maggie’s voice made him turn from the window.
“What?”
“The detectives would like to know about how you and Romeo searched the lake.” She seemed to understand his mind was miles away. “They’d like to go there too.”
The area was dark now, but that wouldn’t stop him. “Sure. But let’s walk and talk. I’ll bring Romeo so you can see how he works.”
“Is he a trained police dog?” Shondra asked.
“No, but I’ve been doing scent training with him for months. He has a great nose and knows Laney very well as they’ve played together nonstop over these past few days.” He glanced down at the lab and began walking toward the door. “Come, Romeo.”
Romeo wagged his tail and trotted over to stand by his side. Dallas opened the front door and gestured for the detectives to join him. “Let’s go.”
