Page 27 of Not Our Daughter

The boy nodded and seemed relieved the conversation was over.

A moment later, Burns and Davis were back inside the Tahoe and debriefing.

“You think he knows more than he’s saying?” Davis asked.

“Doubtful. The kid was too scared to lie to us.”

“Yeah,” Davis agreed. “So what do you want to do?”

“I think there will be more communication at some point, if up to Jade. Young love does not easily fade, Agent Davis. I’ve eavesdropped plenty of times on Izzy when she’s talking to one of her boyfriends. When she’s in that place of teenage euphoria, she can’t go more than a couple of hours without texting or calling him.”

“You think Tyler will contact us when she does?”

“Not a chance. Let’s monitor his phone.”

“I’ll make it happen ASAP.”

Eighteen

They were stopped in the car line at the blocked pass.

Lisa anxiously scooted up toward him. “Are they searching vehicles?”

Cole watched closely. “Yes, sort of. Just quick looks with a flashlight.”

“Can you turn around before getting up there?” Lisa asked.

He shook his head. “Not without drawing attention to us.”

“Maybe Jade and I should climb out the back. You could pick us up on your return.”

He glanced in his rearview mirror. “How’re we going to explain that to the row of cars building up behind us? It would be like shining a huge spotlight on ourselves.”

“So what do we do?”

“Get under the blankets. Don’t move. Don’t make a sound. I’ll handle it.”

Lisa squeezed his arm, then moved into the back again. Cole felt his heart racing as he drew even closer to the police officer. They were five cars back. He racked his brain for any alternative to having a flashlight beam hit his face but couldn’t come up with anything. The officer turned a Jeep Wrangler around. Four cars now. In the back, Lisa grabbed two thick blankets they’d stored in the van. She handed one toJade. Cole watched his daughter’s face in the rearview mirror and could see it growing paler by the second.

“Everything will be okay,” he said, trying to reassure her.

“Right,” Jade muttered. “This is completely insane.”

But she did what she was told. Both now had blankets over them. The cargo area of the van was dark. They were three cars back. Cole kept reminding himself to breathe as normally as possible. He couldn’t look uneasy right now. He had to find his poker face. He wondered if the officer would want to examine the back of the van. To this point, there had been only cars and trucks turning around in front of him. The officer had not searched the trunks of any cars, but a van might be a different story. Two cars back. He watched as the officer shined his flashlight inside a Jeep Cherokee. Just a pop of light at the male driver in the front. The officer then did a quick glance at his cell phone. He said something to the driver, who quickly turned his vehicle around in the street and headed back toward Winter Park. The officer clearly had photos of them on his phone. Cole was about to find out if his dramatic makeover would work. He hadn’t expected to test it so soon.

The small car in front of him got a quick scan. It looked like a lady with curly hair was driving. The officer smiled at her and waved her around into a U-turn in the road. They were next. He eased the van forward. It was go time.

“Not a peep,” he whispered to the back.

The officer stepped up toward the driver side of the van. He looked to be about Cole’s age, with slightly graying hair. Cole felt his heart pumping so fast he wondered if the officer would be able to notice it from the outside. He took one last deep breath, let it out slowly, then smiled wide as he rolled down the van’s window. He felt the flashlight beam hit him square in the face, blinding him for a moment.

“Evening, officer. We got an accident or something?”

“No, sir. Just a police emergency. Pass is closed.”

The flashlight remained on him for a few very uncomfortable seconds. It felt like forever. Was the officer putting it together? Was he adead man? If the officer asked him to get out of the van, Cole knew he’d have no choice but to aggressively react. His plan was to punch the gas while doing a swift U-turn, hoping the officer would feel compelled to protect himself and get out of the way. Cole would then speed back down the street and out of view, pull off somewhere short of town near the ski resort, and immediately ditch the van. From there, he wasn’t sure. They might be forced to run deep into the woods of the mountains and hide out for the night until he could figure out their next move.

He hated the plan and quickly prayed he wouldn’t have to utilize it.

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