Page 49 of Chasing a Kidnapper

“That sounds good.” West hoped this drop point was still in use, but it could have been recently abandoned, too.

Another depressing dead end for both the gun trafficking case and the search for the masked perp.

Trisha could tell both West and Dan were bummed, but the plan to keep an eye on the place was a great idea.

In the meantime, she had no idea where to look next for something that might hold stolen property. She was anxious to head back to be near Laurel and Gabriel, although she feared that once she did that, West would take Peanut and go off on his own.

He was in as much danger now as she and Gabriel were. It didn’t sit well that he would leave her behind.

Granted, he was participating on the gun trafficking task force that could call him away at any moment. She had hoped they’d have a few answers by now.

How much longer would she, Gabriel and Laurel have to stay at the safe house? How could they find this guy when they had no idea where to look?

Or who he was? Nick Cutter? Or someone else?

“Okay, we can get out of here,” West said after Dan finished speaking on the phone. “Dan has it under control.”

She glanced around, then reluctantly nodded. There wasn’t anything more to do here. There were four lockers that were closed with a padlock, but a key wouldn’t work to gain access.

And the masked perp had specifically mentioned looking for a key.

“Come, Peanut,” West said. The beagle trotted to his side and dropped the toy ducky on the floor at his feet. He picked it up, tucked it away and clipped the leash to her collar.

She fell into step beside him as they headed back out to the SUV. The ATF agent’s SUV was parked next to theirs, or so she assumed because there was what appeared to be an extra-large crate area in the back for his impressive Great Dane K-9.

“Did Laurel need us to bring food back?” West asked once they were settled in the car.

“No, she mentioned having groceries delivered,” she explained. “I guess she felt we were running low on diapers and formula for Gabriel so she made the call. I told her I’d reimburse her for the expense.”

He frowned. “I’m not sure I like the idea of a stranger delivering food.”

“What else was she supposed to do?” She shot him an exasperated look. “The shooter was out at the Wild Wild West Restaurant, so they were perfectly safe.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m being overly protective.” He rubbed the back of his neck, a gesture that betrayed his frustration. “That was smart of her to order out for items she needed.”

“We need something more to go on,” she said, sharing his frustration. “What about heading back to my house?”

“No.” His tone was sharp. Then he added, “I considered that, but we’d need to search with backup on standby. I’ll call the captain to see if we can arrange to do that later.”

“Okay, that sounds good. To be honest, I’m not even sure where to start looking for the stupid key.” She frowned. “From what I remember that first night when Laurel was injured, the perp had done a good job of tossing the kitchen and living room and had started on Gabriel’s room before we arrived.” The more she thought about the possibilities or lack thereof, the more depressed she became. “Maybe Bryan only told him he’d hidden the key in the house, but really put it somewhere else.”

“Your bedroom wasn’t touched?” he asked.

“Not that I know of. Maybe he assumed that if Bryan had hidden something in the house late at night while I was home, he wouldn’t have gone into the room where I was sleeping.”

“And how many bedrooms?” He asked.

“Just two. It’s a small home, more than enough, though, for what Gabriel and I need.” It was also all she could afford.

“I think we’ll have to check it again, just to be sure,” West said. “I’m inclined to believe you’re right that he wouldn’t have risked stashing the key in your bedroom.”

“Maybe the garage, although Bryan didn’t have any tools or anything.” She sighed and shook her head. “I still find it hard to believe he stashed anything at my house in the first place. I mean, why would he? Why not take the goods and skip out of state?”

“He may have hidden it to wait for the heat to die down,” he said thoughtfully.

She straightened in her seat. “But there was no heat. Unless I missed hearing about a robbery.”

“That’s a really good point,” he admitted. “We need to look into robberies that may have taken place a year or so ago.”

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