The lights of the paramedic vehicle, a fire truck, and the sheriff’s SUV came into view, lighting up the edge of downtown. People that lived close by were already congregating on the sidewalk. In the small town, there was no need for caution tape; they would pass through it anyway.
As soon as the vehicle was in park, Cliff dove from the driver’s seat, leaving the car running and the door open. Beau was a bit slower on the exit. He was too afraid of what he’d find when he stepped out of the car. Would she be gone, killed, alive? He had no idea.
A gurney’s wheels squeaked from the clinic entrance as it was wheeled down the ramp. Whomever it carried was moving and held onto their shoulder. The hair was dark and short, which told Beau it was neither Alexis nor Savannah; it must have been Trisha
Opening the door, Beau stepped from the car and looked around. He’s been there a million times, but it looked completely foreign then.
His eyes locked onto the steps of Savannah’s home and he found a small creature sitting on the stoop, her eyes rimmed in red as if she had been crying. Her shirt was torn open, revealing a gray sports bra and a Kevlar vest. Cliff was sitting beside the heap, his head bent over his knees as she rubbed his back.
Beau made his way toward him and the woman stood as he approached.
“Beau. Beau, I’m so sorry. I tried,” she cried, the tears welling up along her lower lashes. “I tried to keep them back, but there were three of them that broke in and a fourth in the clinic.”
The saliva dried up in Beau’s mouth and it took him a second to say anything. He stared at her in a state of shock, unbelieving the words she was saying.
“How. . .,” he started and had to wet his lips to continue. “How did they get in? Where is she?”
He could feel someone loom closer at his back. Beau spun around, ready to fight whoever was sneaking up on him.
“Hey, it’s just me,” Preston said as he held up his sheriff badge and stepped under the light projected by the post lamp. “I’d like to know what happened too.”
Alexis started from the beginning and quickly relayed that they had used a tool that bore into the lock, disengaging it. She was familiar with the device from her time with the FBI. It wasn’t something common criminals used, so she immediately tried to get Savannah out of danger, but they were faster than she suspected.
They shot Alexis three times in the chest and once in the leg, just grazing the skin before firing off all of her rounds. They left her there, as she wasn’t their intended target and went in search of Savannah.
“She’d almost made it out. I heard the back door alarm beep, notifying me that it was open. She screamed and fought. I could hear it from the front room, but then. . .nothing.”
“Shit. Does she have her phone? Do you know?” Beau asked frantically, reaching out and gripping the lapels of her vest and hoisting up the petite woman in the air.
“I don’t, Beau. I’m sorry. I just don’t know.”
“Fuck,” he growled as he placed her unsteadily on her feet. Thank goodness Cliff was there to catch her.
Reaching into his pocket, Cliff opened his phone and began to dial her number.
“No!” Preston shouted and grabbed the phone from Beau’s hand.
“What are you doing?” he shouted, reaching for the phone.
“If you call and the assailants don’t realize she has the phone on her, we lose the chance to track her down. I need to get this to Jameson Connelly as soon as possible. He can put it in his system and track the number.
Without another word, the sheriff walked away at a quickened pace, leaving Beau, Cliff, and Alexis staring at his back.
“Are you okay?” Beau asked Alexis, and when she nodded, the trio quickly caught up to Preston, who was entering the large glass and stone building a block away from the clinic. Jameson’s software company resided on the top floor. From everything Beau had learned, the man practically lived there with his wife Poppy, who ran a daycare in the same building.
Jameson was waiting for them at the entrance and they all rushed up the stairs. Normally it bothered him, but he was glad they didn’t have to explain anything in this case. That was a plus of small-town living. Everyone knew everything.
As he plugged the phone into one of the thousand computers in the room, a map showed on an oversized screen attached to the wall compiled of twenty or so smaller monitors. Jameson typed wildly on his keyboard while saying, “I heard that they took her in a black SUV that went the opposite direction of the highway. That gives us some help in pinpointing her ping.”
It felt like hours but was merely seconds when a red dot showed on the screen.
“There it is,” Jameson said, zooming in on the location.
“Let’s go,” Beau said to Preston, yanking at the sheriff's arm, but the man stood solid.
“Wait. Let’s finish the satellite image. There is a good chance they found it and tossed it out of the window. We can’t rush in a situation like this. It could cost us more time.”
“Christ,” Beau sighed, delving both of his hands deep within his locks of hair.
“I’ve already looked at the town surveillance and I’m tracking the suspected vehicle pulled out of the field across from the clinic. I’m just waiting for them to get caught on a camera somewhere.”
“In that direction, they’re about thirty miles from the town of Tucker, but I know Mr. Sheffield’s farm runs surveillance at his entrance,” the sheriff explained as he pointed to a blip on the map. “See if you can run his camera. They aren’t that far ahead from us right now.”