Page 36 of Not Our Daughter

Cole had intentionally parked out of view from the front counter. Plus, he’d never once noticed the young guy look out the front windows. The kid had been too absorbed in video games on his laptop and messing with his phone. “I think we’re okay.”

“Youthink?” Lisa said, her voice continuing to rise with anger. “I can’t believe this, Cole. You’re the one always telling me to be so careful. And then you blew it? Who did you call?”

“Stop, Mom!” Jade interrupted, crying again. “It wasn’t Dad! It was me! I called Tyler. I’m sorry. I didn’t know this would happen. This is all my fault. I screwed everything up!”

Realizing her misguided anger, Lisa quickly changed her tone. “No, baby, you didn’t screw anything up. None of this is your fault. We don’t ever want you to think that.”

“She’s right,” Cole agreed. “If anyone is to blame, it’s me.”

He kept thinking about the money. If he hadn’t touched it, they would still be sleeping peacefully in their beds back home. He’d allowed his own brokenness about his daughter’s dire medical condition to cloud his better judgment.

“No one is to blame,” Lisa clarified. “We’re all in this together.”

Jade continued to sob, her whole body shaking. Lisa pulled her in close, held her, and Cole saw tears now forming in his wife’s eyes. She looked up at him in the mirror and mouthed,I’m sorry.Sitting there, watching his girls lose it, Cole felt his heart ripping in two. All he wanted to do was protect them. And he was failing miserably.

Twenty-Four

Brock Gunner was slouched behind the steering wheel of his Ford Bronco loaner, having difficulty staying awake, when he got the text. It was a few minutes past three in the morning. He’d been parked for the past two hours in an empty lot behind the Grand Park Community Recreation Center, which was a half mile from the Shipleys’ home. He hadn’t bothered trying to find a bed anywhere since he needed to be able to instantly respond to anything that popped up during the night. The last report he got was that one of the Shipleys’ vehicles had been found at a storage property over in Granby, but there were still no leads on their actual whereabouts. The police continued to have all exits from the valley manned and guarded. At this point, Brock thought everyone, including Cole and Lisa Shipley and their daughter, might have buckled down for the night.

Where are you?

He responded:Still here in Winter Park.

Well, they’re not. They pulled a Houdini and somehow made it out of the valley. They’re already four hours down the road.

Brock cursed.Where?

FBI traced a call from the daughter to a town called Alamosa.

Brock slammed his fist against his steering wheel.They arrest them already?

No, they got away. Feds are headed there now.

They know what they’re driving yet?

No, still haven’t figured it out.

Brock searched his mapping app. Alamosa was 222 miles south.

He texted:I can be in Alamosa in three hours.

They’re probably already gone. Daughter told boyfriend they’re going to Mexico. Closest border crossing is El Paso.

I have border patrol contacts there.

Call Justin. Get on the plane and get down there ASAP.

Twenty-Five

An FBI helicopter arrived from Denver within an hour of Burns and his team tracing the phone call. It was one of the FBI’s light utility choppers that could travel up to 175 miles per hour. With the Shipleys now out on the open road, Burns needed to be able to cover a lot of ground as fast as possible. The helicopter landed in a parking lot right next to the Viking Lodge and likely startled awake vacationers staying in other hotel rooms. Burns, Davis, and Agent Myers quickly boarded. The pilot had them up in the air within sixty seconds and began racing across a dark sky toward Alamosa, Colorado.

So far, there had been no confirmation from the Alamosa County Sheriff’s Office that the Shipleys had been apprehended. But he’d been getting regular updates. The store clerk and security footage both confirmed Cole had been inside the gas station. But the clerk said he never saw the vehicle he was driving. And the exterior security cameras were all down. The sheriff’s office was trying to find other security cameras in proximity that might have caught sight of a vehicle coming or going around the same time.

Agent Myers had been able to track the specific phone the daughter had used to place the call to Tyler Healey. According to their GPS tracking map, the device was still located somewhere near the gas station. Burns guessed Cole had dumped it. It was clear from the brief exchange he’d overheard between Cole and his daughter he was not pleased she’dused the phone. Burns found it ironic his fugitive was dealing with the same kinds of frustrating daughter issues he was. Neither of them had any control over their teenager.

They finally landed in an open field right next to the gas station around five thirty in the morning. It was still dark outside. There were two police vehicles in the parking lot. Burns, Davis, and Myers all climbed out of the chopper and hurried over to the building. A sturdy fiftysomething man in a tan police uniform with a matching cowboy hat met them at the front of the store.

“Sheriff Lewis,” he introduced himself.

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