Her Silent Cry (Detective Josie Quinn Book 6)(73)

“Yes,” Josie said. “It’s in the city park, in the woods.”

“Okay. You’ll show me on a map when we get back to command. Anyway, we’ll need a team there, one at the football field, one to transport Colin Ross and one to transport Amy Ross.”

“Five teams,” Josie said. “You need a team to locate Violet Young.”

“Violet Young is dead,” Oaks said. “We need to prioritize and get Lucy Ross home.”

Josie put a hand on her hip. “You don’t know that Violet Young is dead.”

“Based on this suspect’s prior behavior, I know she’s dead. If Violet Young was still alive, wouldn’t she have made herself known by now?”

“Not if she’s tied up or incapacitated,” Josie answered. “What if she’s seriously injured? We can’t take the chance of waiting to locate her.”

Oaks said, “Detective Quinn, I’ve been in this business a long time. You can’t save everyone. Based on the information available to me, there is a high probability that Violet Young is dead. As far as we know, Lucy Ross is still alive. I need to devote my resources to rescuing her.”

“I never suggested you shouldn’t,” Josie said.

“We don’t have the manpower for a full-out search for Violet Young right now.”

“All I need from you is one thing,” Josie said. “Do you have someone who can download the GPS history from Violet’s phone?”

“Of course,” Oaks said. “I’ve already instructed them to do that, and they are working on it, but the GPS history on her phone only updates each hour which means that if this guy took her and dumped her during the time period between the updates, we’re not going to find her that way.”

“But what if her GPS updated… let’s say, a half hour before she was abducted. In that case, it would update a half hour after she was abducted. The killer had her for longer than a half hour. We know that because he abducted her around one-thirty and he didn’t call Amy Ross until almost three o’clock. There is a slim chance the GPS history could lead us to Violet Young.”

“Okay,” Oaks conceded. “But again, I don’t have the manpower for this right now. Not with the drop only a few hours away.”

“I’ve got people who can look for Violet,” Josie said.

“I need your people in the field on this, too,” Oaks complained.

“I won’t have to take anyone off the Ross case,” she told him.

He threw his hands in the air. “Fine. Let’s just go. We’re running out of time.”





Forty-Nine





The man was gone again. She didn’t tell me where he went, but I loved it when he was away. I could skip through all the rooms. I could jump and run and make as much noise as I wanted. Mostly. She still reminded me that when he got back, I’d have to be quiet again. Then she must have felt guilty because she said, “I have a special treat for you today.”

I ran into the kitchen and climbed into one of the chairs that surrounded the table. “Is that for me?” I asked, pointing to the small plate with a cookie in the center of it.

She smiled and the sight made the words stick in my throat. She never smiled. “Yes,” she said. “It’s for you.”

I wanted it to last forever, but the cookie—and the smile—was gone in an instant. “More?” I asked.

“I’m sorry. You haven’t had much to eat lately. I don’t want you to get sick. Too much sugar isn’t good.”

My shoulders slumped. She touched my hand. “When I take you home, you’ll be able to eat as many cookies as you want.”

I smiled back at her.

“Go play,” she said. “Before he gets back.”

I was jumping from the couch to the armchair when a knock sounded at the big door to outside. She came out of the kitchen, a finger pressed to her lips. I had to be quiet again. She pointed toward the room, but I didn’t want to go back there, so I jumped down and hid behind the chair. I listened to her steps. Then the door opening. A voice I never heard. “Hello, dear.”

I poked my head out from behind the chair for just a second. Long enough to see that the silver woman was at the door. I strained to hear all her words but only caught some of them. “… next door… thought I would say hello… need any help…”

Without a word, she slammed the door on the silver woman, turning and pushing her back against the door as if the silver woman might try to get in. But we both heard her steps fade.

Her fingers trembled as she turned the locks. Over her shoulder, she said, “She didn’t see you. She didn’t see anything.”

I ran out from behind the chair. “Cause you didn’t let her in. You have to let her in. She can help us, maybe.”

“No,” she insisted, shaking her head. “No. No one can help us.”





Fifty





Bodies packed the mobile command tent: two dozen FBI agents, Oaks, Chitwood, Josie, Noah, Mettner, Gretchen and several uniformed Denton officers. Closer to the entrance of the tent were officers from the state police and the county sheriff’s office. The energy in the room was electric. There was a hum of anticipation. Bodies rustled; feet tapped against the ground. In one corner of the tent, Amy and Colin stood with the agents they’d each been assigned to fit them with bulletproof vests beneath their clothes. Next to them were two large duffel bags filled with money. Oaks gave a briefing and handed out assignments, and the crowd dispersed. Josie waited until Amy had been left alone before sidling over to her.