Found With Murder (16 page)

“Are you up for a little covert work?” she asked.

Elise grinned.  “It's been far too long.  What do you have in mind?”

“I need you to plant an idea in the head of a psychic so she can come in and suggest where we should start looking for Kim,” Rilynne said.  Even as the words left her lips, she knew how insane it sounded.

Unsurprisingly, Elise looked confused.

“This isn't one I can just pop off with,” Rilynne continued.  “I don't have time to make up a story for it.  If she comes in and plants the idea, though, I can spin off of it.”

“I still don't get why you can't just claim it as a hunch like you usually do,” Elise stated.

Rilynne took a deep breath, trying to decide how to explain it.  “Because it's a really stupid idea,” she finally said.

Her sister laughed and nodded in resignation.  “What's the plan?”

R
ilynne stood up and walked into the conference room before answering her phone.  “Did you have any problems?” she asked.

“It was even easier than you said,” Elise chuckled.  “She was in the
bar, no doubt trying to overhear anything she could about the case.  I sat next to her and pretended to be on my phone and said what you told me to.  She left right after.”

“And headed straight here,” Rilynne said, watching Selena Young rush through the door.  “I owe you one.”

Rilynne walked back into the office just in time to hear Young start.

“He's taking her through the woods,” she announced.  Everyone stopped and turned toward her.  “I can see it.  He can't get out of town with the roadblock, so he's going to take her out through the woods.  I can see it all happening.  He's moving her today.”

Matthews sent an irritated look at Rilynne before standing up.  “Thank you, Ms. Young.  We will start looking into this right away.  Do you know where he’ll be taking her out?”  He was indulging her, though doing a surprisingly good job at keeping it off of his face.

She pulled one hand up to her temple and reached out with the other.  When she closed her eyes, she started chanting and swaying in place.  After a few long moments, her body relaxed and she grew quiet.

“I've lost the spirits,” she said softly.

“All right,” Matthews said.  He walked toward her and herded her to the door.  “We'll get right on this.  Thank you for your assistance.”

She looked stunned that she was being pushed out the door but complied without argument.  As soon as she was gone, Rilynne walked to her desk and picked up the phone.

“What are you doing?” Matthews asked with a note of amusement.

Rilynne took a quick breath to calm herself.  She had to convince him and this was her only chance.  If they waited, even a day, they might be too late.

“I'm calling in the search dogs,” she said.

There was a look on his face that she had never seen before.  He was looking at her like she was crazy.  Rilynne wanted to turn away, his eyes stinging as they hit her, but she forced herself to hold his gaze.

“You can't seriously believe her?” he asked.

Rilynne let out a quick laugh, hoping it didn't sound as fake as it felt.  “No,” she declared.  “That woman is a quack.  I'm sure she's been sitting at Travis Bar listening to the off duty cops talking about the case.  We know Erin wants to get Kim out of town but can't with the road block.  I’m sure it’s one of the main topics down there right now.”

“So he's going to hike out of town?” he asked skeptically.

“No one in their right mind would try to hike out of town,” she said.  “But she made a public announcement about it.  If it does turn out that he's holding her in the woods and we didn't do anything, it will come back on us all.  Do you want to be the one to tell Lori we didn't look into it because it came from that fraud?”

His face went blank and he nodded.  “Make the call.”

“They’ll be here in half an hour,” she said when she hung up minutes later.  “That gives us enough time to pull together a search party.”

“I've already put out the call,” he said.  “Everyone's to be downstairs in fifteen minutes.  I've asked LaShad and Donovan to stay here in case we hear back from any of the motels or rentals.  We'll have every available officer out until we can get the Texas Rangers in to take over the search.”

She nodded and leaned back in her seat.  After taking a breath, she closed her eyes and concentrated.  Before she could see anything, though, she was interrupted by footsteps storming toward the office.  She opened her eyes and spun around just in time to see Lori step through the door.

“What did you find?” she
asked, her cell phone in hand.  Rilynne turned around and shot Matthews a baleful look.  He closed his eyes and let out a low groan, realizing his mistake.  When he sent the mass text to the department, he failed to remove Lori from the list.  “Have you found her?”

“We’re just following up on a lead,” Rilynne said calmly.  “We've already identified the man and know that he’ll want to get out of town.  With the roadblock, he's limited. 
We received a tip that he might try to get out on foot, and although it's highly unlikely, we're sending out a search team.”

“Who is he?” she asked.

Rilynne took Lori and sat her down in her desk chair.  “His name is Trent Erin.  He was Kimberly Adams’ boyfriend before she started dating Dustin Fore.”

“Why does he want Kim?”

Rilynne shrugged.  “It's possible Kimberly had family you weren't able to find.  They may have enlisted him to grab her.  The good thing is, from everything we've learned, he has no intention of hurting her.”

Lori nodded quickly.  “I'm going with you,” she said.

Rilynne hesitated, shifting her gaze to Matthews.  He shrugged.  She knew exactly what he was thinking, even without him having to say it.  He didn't think anything would amount from their search.  Allowing her to go would give her something to do to feel useful.  Rilynne knew otherwise.  She also knew, though, that there wasn't anything she could do to keep Lori away.

“All right,” she said.  “But you will stay with Matthews and me.”  Lori nodded.  “And you can't be armed.  That's not negotiable.”  Lori looked like she wanted to argue, but just let out a resigned sigh and nodded.  “Get ready and we'll meet you downstairs in a few minutes.”

When she disappeared out the door, Rilynne turned back to Matthews.  “You know we shouldn't be allowing her to come,” she said.

He pulled open his desk drawer and retrieved his gun.  “If there was any chance of us actually finding them, I would agree.  But I-” Before he could finish, his phone chimed.  “It's Katy.”  He looked down at the message and the color left his face.  “She's on her way to the hospital.  She's in labor.”

“Go,” she said without hesitation.  “Go!”

He dropped his gun back into the drawer and rushed to the door.  Stopping just before stepping through, he turned to face her.  “Are you sure?”

“I'll text you if we find anything,” she said.  “Go!”

His head quickly bobbed on his shoulders as he turned and ran out the door.

“Oh, the timing,” she muttered.  She grabbed her own gun and walked out after him.

The lobby was full when she stepped off the elevator.  By first glance, it appeared that every officer had responded to the call for help and came in.

“All right,” Rilynne said, standing on the nearest chair.  Everyone stopped talking and turned toward her.  “You've all received a picture of the man we’re looking for, as well as one
of Kim Sibrian.  We received a tip that he might be trying to get out of town through the woods to avoid the roadblock.  Search dogs are being brought in, so we will be spreading out and working through the perimeter of the city.  I know I don't have to tell you, but our first priority is the safe return of Kim.  Detectives Tylers and Steele will be assigning search areas.  If you find any sign of them, call it in immediately.”

Rilynne stepped down off the chair and walked toward Steele and Tylers in the back corner.

“This one's mine,” she said, pointing to the area just outside the mouth of the city entrance.  “Lori will be coming with me.”

“Where's Matthews?” Lori asked, walking up behind her.

“Katy went into labor,” she replied.  “He went to the hospital.”  Lori smiled and nodded.  “We'll have one other officer with us, as well as a dog and ranger,” Rilynne continued.  She turned back to Steele and Tylers.  “Spread the other dogs out.  I want Ranger.”

Rilynne walked back toward the center of the room as the crowd surrounded the map.

“What's going on, Rye?” she heard from just behind her.  She turned around and found Ben walking toward her.  His eyes swept across the room before returning to Rilynne.  “Did you…”

She nodded.  “We’re taking dogs out to search the woods.”  She stepped toward him and looked around to make sure no one could hear her.  “He's going to try to get her out of the city through the woods.  I had Elise talk about the possibility in front of the psychic so she would make a scene in the office about it.”

“So you would have to look into it and it wouldn't appear that you had anything to do with it.”  He looked impressed, though his expression quickly changed to confusion.  “So you are validating her as a psychic?”

Rilynne groaned.  “I had to.  It was too crazy for me to suggest and be taken seriously.  But I made a point to discredit her while saying we still have to look into it.  If people actually start taking her seriously, Elise can always claim she was on the phone with you when Young overheard her.”

“You're a conniving little thing, aren't you?”  He slowly shook his head.  “You wouldn't be willing to just throw her a bone?” he asked.

“I thought you knew me better than that,” she said.

Ben smirked and rolled his eyes.  He reached out and tightened her bullet proof vest before zipping her jacket up. “Can I join in on the search?”

She thought about it for a moment before shaking her head.  “I'm already going to take heat for allowing Lori to come when this is all over.  Besides, I can't have you getting shot… again.”

He wrapped his arms around her.  Rilynne could hear his heart pounding as her head pressed against his chest.  He hated having to wait behind for news; she knew it, even if he never said it aloud.  “Just promise me you'll be careful,” he said after a few long moments.  “And bring her back safe.”

She took in a deep breath, the sweet smell of peaches tickling the back of her nose, and nodded.

“Dogs are here,” Tylers called out.

Rilynne pulled herself away from him, kissing his chest where her head had just been.  “I'll see you soon,” she said softly.

*     *     *

“He's got something,” Ranger Albert said, looking down at his dog, Ranger.  Ranger was the best scent dog Rilynne had ever seen.  He never lost someone's trail once he was on it.  In fact, the only person to evade being found while he was tracking them was Rilynne herself.

“Is it Kim?” Lori asked.  Her eyes moved away from the dog and swept through the trees.  A look of relief came over her face, replacing the frustration that had been building since they stepped into the woods two hour before.

Rilynne looked at the trees themselves, searching for anything familiar.  About two hundred feet in front of them, she saw it.  Two large trees, crossed to form an 'X'.  She
moved toward them, the others not far behind.  Rilynne had just reached the spot when something caught her eye.

Her hand shot up as she motioned the others to stop.  Moving carefully and quietly between the trees, she could just make out movement in the distance.  Rilynne squinted, trying to get a better look.  The trees were moving, not with the wind, but from something pushing through them.  Then there was a flash of red.

“Stay here,” she whispered to Ranger Albert.  Motioning to the officer with her, she started to ease her way forward.  Her heart was booming in her chest.  It was so loud that she feared he might actually hear it.  Something else sounded through the trees, though, making it almost stop.

“I want my mommy.”  The soft voice carried toward them with the breeze.

Rilynne turned quickly and grabbed Lori before she could run toward it.  To her surprise, Lori didn't fight her.  Instead she just nodded and waited for Rilynne to continue.

The brush was thick in front of them.  She knew they wouldn't be able to go through it without giving away their presence.  After studying the scene, she decided their best bet would be to go around.

She motioned to the officer to go left while she and Lori moved to the right.  Luckily, the trees thinned as they progressed and soon opened up into a clearing.

Rilynne's heart jumped when she looked in the middle of it.  Seated on a fallen tree, hand reaching into his pack, was Trent Erin. 

“I need to go potty,” Kim said, seated just inches from him.  She was wearing the same red jacket she had seen in her flash.  It appeared brand new, as did the matching one Erin wore.

He looked down at her for a moment before nodding.  “Make it quick.  We're just going to rest so we can eat, and then I promise we will go see your mommy.  She's going to be so excited to see you.”

Kim's little face, covered in dirt, lit up.  He looked down at her large, happy smile and grinned. 

“You can go behind a tree over there.  Just don't wander off or you’ll get lost and you won't be able to see your mom.”

She nodded and ran toward a thicket of trees.  It was just feet from the one Lori and Rilynne were hiding behind.  Lori made to move toward her daughter, but Rilynne reached out and stopped her.  She knew they had to time it just right.

Kim ducked behind the trees and disappeared from sight.  Rilynne watched Erin carefully, and as soon as he turned his back, she moved quickly for Kim.

When she approached that child, she was just pulling her pants back up with her back to them.  Rilynne moved quietly, not wanting to alert her to their arrival.  She reached out quietly and swiftly slid her hand over Kim's mouth.  Her little body tightened.

“Shh,” she whispered in her ear.  “It's all right, baby.  It's me, Auntie Rye.”  She turned Kim around, hand still clasped over her mouth, and smiled.  Kim's eyes shifted between Rilynne and Lori before they filled with tears.  She tried to wiggle free, but Rilynne wouldn't let her.  “Listen to me.  You have to be very quiet, okay?  No talking.”