Page 30 of Chasing a Kidnapper

He shared the same weary sense of exhaustion.

Their most promising lead to identifying someone higher up within the gun running organization was dead.

Trisha quickly set Gabriel in his car seat to feed him dinner, listening as West spoke on the phone.

Greg Zillow was dead? She had gotten a glimpse of the two bodies that had been pulled from the dumpster and placed on the ground for the ME to examine more closely.

“Thanks, please keep me in the loop,” West said to their boss, then set his phone on the table, meeting her gaze. “I’m sure you heard that Greg Zillow is dead.”

“Not good,” she agreed. Gabriel kicked his feet when she didn’t feed him fast enough. Her boy loved to eat, anything but his vegetables. “But maybe they’ll find something useful when they execute the search warrant.”

“I hope so.” West sounded glum. “It feels like for every step forward, we take two steps back.”

“I know.” She wished there was something she could say to reassure him. Truth be told, they weren’t much further along on her case, either. “Maybe we should focus our efforts back on figuring out what key the kidnapper was looking for. It could have been coincidence that our investigation into the key led us to the gym, which enabled us to find an illegal gun. Or the cases could be connected.”

“You’re right.” He straightened in his seat. “I’ll make a list of places that we can check out tomorrow.” He glanced at her son, then added, “I can do the legwork. I’ll ask one of the patrol officers to hang out here with you while I’m gone.”

She frowned, not liking the sound of that. “I can see if Laurel is feeling better. Maybe she can come to the hotel to watch Gabriel.” When she’d called to check on Laurel earlier, her dear friend was grumpy about needing to stay when she felt just fine. The former cop had let Trisha know that the masked man had caught her off guard only because she had no reason to expect danger. Now she did and would be prepared.

He shrugged. “That’s up to you, but I don’t think it’s necessary for both of us to go.”

Maybe not, but that wasn’t the point. Her son was the one in danger. Laurel had been injured because of this guy, and she wanted him found and arrested.

“I want to go with you,” she said, knowing she was being stubborn. “Laurel let me know she wants to keep watching Gabriel. And if anyone tries to break into the room, she’ll be ready.”

He frowned but didn’t say anything more. No doubt West planned to try talking her out of going along with him in the morning.

Fat chance. She knew her ex-husband—if he was the one involved in this—better than he did.

Gabriel ate his dinner like a champ. When he was finished, she hauled him out of the seat and set him back on the floor. She’d placed the teething ring in the small freezer, and now he happily gummed it to death. He’d need a bath before bedtime, and she hoped that would soothe him enough that he’d sleep during the night.

While she’d fed Gabriel, West had cleaned up the mess from their meal, rolling up the half-finished potato chip bag and setting it aside. She had to admit, she appreciated the way he pitched in with cleanup duty.

Although he still hadn’t held Gabriel. Either because he wasn’t comfortable with babies or to keep their relationship professional. Either one was a good reason enough to forget about their near kiss.

She busied herself with making a bottle for Gabriel, then straightened the items in the diaper bag. She had enough supplies to last another day or two, but after that they’d have to stop at a local store to get diapers and formula.

“What about a storage locker key?” West asked.

She glanced over to where he was once again working on the laptop. “It’s possible, but I know Bryan never had one while we were together.”

“Still worth a look into. Unfortunately, there are several storage locker units available in at least three different locations.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I guess we could start at the one closest to where you live.”

She nodded. “I think that’s reasonable. I do wonder what we’re not thinking of, though. Besides a storage unit or safety deposit box or PO Box.”

“I made a list of other ideas, too. Storage units come in different sizes, and I think that’s the best place to start.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “If Bryan has one that he kept secret from you, I think we’ll need a search warrant to get inside.”

She grimaced. Not only was Bryan not the man she thought he was, but he’d likely kept secrets, too. It bothered her that she’d fallen for a guy like him. “Do we have enough for that?”

“I don’t know.” He frowned and added, “We’ll see what we can do. With a case involving a kidnapping attempt, we might have an easier time.”

“Whatever you think is best.” She had to smile. “You managed to get Stewie to cooperate, so maybe you can do the same with those storage unit places.”

He chuckled. “I don’t mind giving it a try, but this is a big corporation. I’m not sure they’ll be as easily swayed by a cop with a badge as Stewie.”

“Maybe not,” she conceded. Gabriel offered his teething ring to Peanut, who wagged her tail but didn’t take the rattle. Watching the two of them made her think that raising a child with a pet might be nice.

Not that her life wasn’t complicated enough. Still, it was something to consider. In the short time she and West had been together, she’d gotten attached to Peanut.

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