Her Silent Cry (Detective Josie Quinn Book 6)(86)

“Both could have come from guns that were stolen from the hunting cabin,” Gretchen said. She flipped a page in her notebook. “The Remington 700 takes a .308 round and the Glock 19 takes a nine millimeter round.”

Josie nodded and went on, “We believe that the male kidnapper was hiding in the Stacks near the football field. We believe that Natalie Oliver was supposed to be at the Lover’s Cave location, but for whatever reason, maybe because of the disagreement they’d had, she instead came to the Denton East location, where she remained hidden in the cave. We don’t believe that the male suspect knew she was there until she had already shot Amy Ross. Once the confrontation between the male suspect and the agents patrolling the ridge began, she took the opportunity to shoot Amy Ross. The male suspect located her in the cave, shot her in the head, and took her rifle.”

“So all bets are off,” Noah said. “He’s on the run now. No partner and no money.”

“Right,” Oaks said. “We don’t know what he’s going to do next: try to return to one of the drop sites and take the money, or go back to wherever he stashed Lucy to get her and try the whole thing again—assuming she is still alive.”

“Why would Natalie Oliver shoot Amy Ross?” Gretchen asked.

Josie sighed. “That’s anybody’s guess. Some type of jealousy? Maybe she felt the kidnapper’s personal need to torture Amy was interfering with the kidnapping plan. The ransom seemed secondary to him. Also, he asked for waterproof bags and then had the parents drop the money at sites where water wasn’t an issue. Maybe they thought it was going to rain or maybe they had originally planned the drop site near the river and then changed their plan. It’s possible that could have been part of their disagreement. It’s impossible to know what they were thinking or what went on between them, but at this point the more important issue is locating Lucy.”

“Or recovering her body,” Chitwood said.

Oaks added, “And finding this bastard before he kills again.”

Josie said, “Did your guys in New York get anything on Oliver in the last hour or so?”

Oaks nodded. He shuffled through the pages in his hands. “Natalie Oliver, twenty-four years old. A foster kid since she was a baby. Moved from home to home. Aged out of a group home at eighteen. Worked odd jobs: waitress, receptionist at a gym, made some money driving for Uber, worked at a mall. Did a few semesters at Erie Community College in Buffalo. She hit the New York lottery for a hundred thousand dollars two years ago. Quit her retail job, moved to a nicer apartment in West Seneca. Paid her rent for a year. Neither the landlord nor the neighbors have seen her in six months.”

“Vehicles?”

“Yes,” Oaks said. “She is the owner of a black Honda Accord registered to her address in West Seneca.”

“Can you check toll booth cameras? Does she have an E-Z pass account?”

Oaks checked his notes. “No E-Z pass account but we’ve got a team looking at cameras now and we’ve released the license plate number to the press in case the kidnapper is still in possession of the vehicle and driving it around.”

“How about her friends, associates?” Josie asked.

Oaks said, “We’re still running down those leads. As of right now, I’ve got units at Denton East and at Lover’s Cave watching the money. Colin is with Amy at Denton Memorial Hospital. I’ve got three agents there, one who is specifically monitoring both their phones. We’ve got units searching the two-mile radius that Detective Quinn has outlined here where Violet Young was found. The sheriff’s office has their K-9 unit on site, and they’ll be searching for Lucy all night. Obviously, there will be units outside, monitoring the carousel in the very unlikely event that the kidnapper delivers Lucy.”

Josie added, “I’d like units on standby in case there are any developments at either of the drop locations or in the search for Lucy. Everyone available should join the search.”

As everyone dispersed, Oaks said to Josie, “You should go home. Get a couple of hours of sleep.”

“I can’t,” Josie said, even though every cell in her body yearned for sleep or just to lie down in her comfy bed.

Gretchen said, “He’s right, boss. We’ve all been at this all day. We can rotate like we did last time. You and Noah go get a couple of hours and then you’ll relieve us.”

Chitwood said, “If anything develops, you’ll be the first to know, Quinn.”

All four of the Denton detectives stared at him. It was the least abrasive and abusive thing he had ever said to her. “Chief?” Josie said.

Chitwood rolled his eyes. “You do your best work when you’re clear-headed. If I’m not mistaken, you carried a dying woman off a football field today, climbed a mountain, got shot, fell down that mountain, and now you’re still here. Did you even eat anything today?”

“N-no,” Josie stammered. “I—there was no time.”

“Well that seals it,” Chitwood said. “Take Fraley. Eat and straight to bed. We’ll see you back here in three hours to relieve Gretchen and Mettner.”

Josie looked around at all of them. Lamay stood up. “Boss,” he said. “I’ll stay here. If anything happens—anything at all—I’ll call you myself.”

Noah lurched to his feet and put his crutches under his arms. “Let’s go,” he said. “The clock is ticking.”