Cut and Run(58)

“Never much to speak of, but since Paige vanished, I’m cooking her favorites all the time just in case this is the day she comes home.” Vivian scooped up the small dog and then clasped her husband’s hand, her knuckles turning white with tension.

“Smells nice,” he said.

“Just say what you have to say, Ranger Hayden,” Vivian said. “We’ve been expecting a visit like this for months, and now that you’re here, I just want you to spit it out.”

“We have evidence suggesting that Paige has been held captive since she vanished.”

Vivian’s eyes filled with tears, and she nestled close to her husband, who wrapped his arm around her. “How do you know?”

“We believe we found the location where Paige was being kept. But when we searched it, Paige wasn’t there.” He refrained from telling them about the manacle and the blood.

“Why wasn’t Paige there?” Vivian asked.

“For whatever reason, her captor moved her. By what we found, it was fairly recently.”

“What about the baby?” Vivian asked.

“There was no sign that she’s given birth,” Hayden said.

“Where was she held?” Fred asked.

“A remote location in the Hill Country. For now I can’t say exactly where.”

“How did you even know to look in this place?” Fred countered.

“Your daughter’s name came up in another case. Another law enforcement officer was interested in her case.”

“What does he say about all this?” Vivian demanded.

“The officer, a female, passed away before we could ask her.” He hated lying to them about Macy Crow, but until he knew who was behind all this, he would stick to the story.

Vivian drew in a sharp breath, and tears spilled down her cheeks. “What kind of case was she working on?”

“I can’t say.” He chose his words carefully.

Vivian looked up at Fred, shaking her head as more tears fell. “Paige and I had a terrible fight. I was so disappointed when I found out she was pregnant. I yelled and said awful things. She finally lost her temper and left. What I wouldn’t give to take back those words.”

Fred patted his wife’s shoulder. “Paige wasn’t easy on you either. She wasn’t perfect.”

Vivian’s eyes filled with tears and frustration. “But she’s just a kid, and we can’t find her, Fred.”

“I know. The Rangers are getting closer.” He hugged his wife tight as she struggled with the news.

“How long was she gone before you started looking for her?” Hayden asked.

“Two days,” Fred said. “We thought she was at her friend Brittany’s house.”

“Why did you think that?” Hayden asked.

“First I called her cell and she didn’t pick up. She also has the Find My Friends app, and I could see that she was at Brittany’s,” Fred said.

“That made sense because that’s where she always goes,” Vivian said. “Always.”

“What’s Brittany’s last name?” Hayden asked.

“Russo. Brittany Russo.”

Hayden scribbled down the girl’s contact information. “Okay.”

“We’ve told all this to the Austin police. Brittany told the police Paige never contacted her,” Vivian said.

“What happened after you called Brittany?” Hayden asked.

“Brittany said she wasn’t there, so I drove over, thinking she was lying,” Vivian said. “I called the phone and heard it ringing in the bushes. That’s when I really panicked.”

“I started calling all her friends,” Fred said. “No one had seen her, so I contacted the police.”

“She’s a teenager,” Vivian said. “She lived on that phone. She would never have tossed it away like that.”

“Paige can be headstrong, but it’s not like her to ditch her phone and completely ignore her mother,” Fred said.

“What about boyfriends, new friends?” Hayden asked.

“She broke up with her boyfriend last year, before she got pregnant. She said all along the baby wasn’t his, but she never would tell us who the father was. Anyway, we went to see Derek, her ex-boyfriend, and he swore he’d not seen her in months.”

“What’s Derek’s last name?” Hayden asked.

“Smith,” Fred said.

“Did you check her social media accounts?” Hayden asked.

“We did,” Vivian said. “It took me a whole day of trying to figure out her password, but I did. Buddy two thousand. Our dog and the year she was born.”

“What did you find?” Hayden asked.

“Nothing out of the ordinary. The account is still open, and I check it several times a day, thinking she might post something there.” She rattled off the username, which Hayden wrote down. “The account hasn’t been active since the day before she vanished.”

“What about before?”

“It all seemed normal. She wasn’t out partying with friends because she was pregnant, and I think that was frustrating for her. You know how girls like to dress up and pose for the camera.”

“What about friends other than Brittany?” Hayden asked.