Page 32 of The Perfect Divorce

We’re cut off by the sound of my phone ringing. I unclip it from my belt and bring it to my ear. “Sheriff Hudson.”

“Sheriff, it’s Lieutenant Nagel. We found Stacy Howard’s vehicle.”

“Where?”

“Over on Lawson Road.”

“I’m on my way,” I say, ending the call.

* * *

Chief Deputy Olson and I walk toward the scene that’s unfolding on a dead-end street in a subdivision. There are plots of land for sale with several houses in different stages of construction, but none of them are complete. Deputies are spread out, surveying the area. The forensics crew is already hard at work examining Stacy’s vehicle, a black Hyundai Santa Fe, and Nagel stands near the abandoned SUV with his back to us.

“Lieutenant Nagel,” I call out as we approach.

He turns to face us and nods. “Sheriff Hudson. Chief Deputy Olson.”

“Fill us in,” I say.

“A patrol car spotted the SUV and called it in. I’ve got deputies searching for clues, and field techs are processing the vehicle for forensic evidence.”

I look to the forensics team and then back at Nagel. “They find anything yet?”

“Yeah, what appears to be dried blood on the steering wheel, so I think we’re looking at a possible abduction, sir.”

“Can we verify that it belongs to Stacy?” Olson chimes in.

“Not without a DNA sample. She’s an only child. Her mother passed when she was twenty, and her dad ran out on her when she was a kid, according to her roommate. However, I have Sergeant Lantz en route to Stacy’s apartment to collect a hairbrush and toothbrush; hopefully the lab can use one of those items for DNA comparisons.”

“Good,” I say. “And yes, I agree this is a possible abduction, which upgrades Stacy’s status from a missing person to a critically missing person. Has she been entered into the National Crime Information Center and the Virginia Criminal Information Network?”

“I’ll get Deputy Lane on it back at the station.”

“Once that’s entered”—I look to Olson—“I want you to consult with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.”

“You got it,” she says.

“What about putting out a critically missing adult alert or a media release?” Nagel asks.

“We have to consult with BCI first, and they’ll take it from there, coordinating with state police to activate an alert and with the Public Affairs Office to put out media releases and social media posts,” I say, scanning the area. “I’m guessing there’s no traffic cams out here.”

“That’s unfortunately correct, Sheriff,” Nagel says.

I blow out a breath and shake my head. “Whoever dumped it here either got lucky or they knew it was a surveillance blind spot. Find anything else in her vehicle?”

“A cell phone was found on the floor of the passenger’s side. It’s dead though, as we expected, since its last known location, according to Stacy’s cell provider, was in the vicinity of her apartment.”

“Make sure that goes straight to the lab, so they can start working to unlock it.”

“It’s already en route,” Nagel says.

“Good. Hopefully, they’ll get it open so we can actually see her text messages, since her cell phone carrier doesn’t store them.”

“What about Stacy’s roommate?” Olson asks. “We should get ahold of Lantz, since he’s already headed to Deena’s apartment for the DNA collection. Maybe she knows Stacy’s password.”

“Good thinking,” I say. “Reach out to Sergeant Lantz so he can ask about that while he’s there.”

Nagel nods again. “There’s also this, Sheriff.” He holds up an evidence bag containing a white business card with red typography.

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