Page 41 of Her Baby, Her Badge

“I’m on my way,” Wilson blurted, and he headed for the door.

Grace stepped in front of him, blocking the door, and told the caller, “I’ll get right back to you. Go ahead and text me a copy of the note and assemble a team. We also need to make sure no oneis inside the church, so call the pastor and check that,” she added before she ended the call and looked at Wilson. “Just stop and listen. You can’t go charging out there.”

Even though Dutton had no idea what was going on, he stepped in when Wilson tried to move Grace away from the door. He took hold of the man and hauled him back. But it wasn’t easy. Wilson was strong, and he was hell-bent on getting out of there. Dutton was equally hell-bent on keeping him in place, at least until he learned what the heck was going on.

“I’m going to Bailey,” Wilson shouted. “I have to save her.”

“Then save her by thinking this through,” Grace said, her voice level and calm, the exact opposite of Wilson’s. She glanced at Dutton and her mother. “Officer Bailey Hannon has been kidnapped.”

Dutton didn’t have to ask who that was. Bailey was a cop in San Antonio. And she was also Wilson’s fiancée.

Damn.

Did the killer have her? Was she dead? Was she the murderer’s fourth victim?

He hadn’t asked those questions aloud, but Grace obviously knew what he was thinking. “Kidnapped,” she repeated. “This isn’t like the murders. The killer didn’t contact us for those, but for this one, he left a message taped to the front door of her house, where she was likely taken. Then, he or she made an anonymous call to SAPD so they could get the note and let us know what’s going on.”

“Kidnapped,” Dutton muttered, and despite still struggling with Wilson, he forced himself to think this through. “What’s the ransom demand?” Because there likely was one, and Dutton had a bad feeling he knew what it was.

Grace looked him straight in the eye. “The kidnapper has demands,” she began just as her phone dinged with a text.She stopped, read it and lifted the screen to show Dutton and Wilson.

Wilson immediately stopped struggling. Good thing, too, because Dutton’s main focus now was on that image. A copy of the note Grace had already mentioned.

“‘Grace, here’s what you need to do to save Officer Hannon,’” Dutton said, reading. “‘Dutton and you get in a cruiser. I know you have one handy. And just the two of you come to the Hilltop Church. I’ve left the cop in the cemetery. Come alone. If you bring Hannon’s boyfriend with you or anyone else, she dies.’”

So, a note from the killer.

“You can’t go there,” Dutton immediately told Grace. “It’s a trap.”

“I know,” she confirmed on a sigh.

“You can’t let her die,” Wilson said. “You have to go. You have to save her.”

No shout this time. It was barely a whisper, and it was filled with emotion. Well, it seemed to be, anyway. But at the back of Dutton’s mind, he wondered if Wilson was putting on an act.

Because Wilson could have arranged this whole mess to kill Grace and him.

Yeah, that sounded extreme, to use his own fiancée, but everything about this situation was extreme. And potentially deadly.

“I told Rory to assemble a team,” Grace said. “And he will. You and I will go in a cruiser to the cemetery, and Rory and at least two other deputies will be behind us. They’ll stay out of sight until we can figure out how the killer intends to handle this.”

“He’ll handle it by killing Bailey if you two don’t get there now,” Wilson insisted.

Grace shifted her attention to Wilson. “The killer will have to communicate with us somehow. Maybe a phone call ortext. Maybe another note, since that seems to be the preferred method. But unless he’s an idiot, he won’t expect Dutton and me to speed up there and bolt from the cruiser so we can be gunned down.”

“I can go to the cemetery and park my truck on a trail,” Aileen offered. “I can be backup to your backup.”

Grace sighed. “And that could be exactly what the killer wants. Remember, you could be the primary target.”

Dutton could tell Aileen wanted to argue that. She was a cop to the bone, and she wanted to help. She wanted to try to protect her daughter and unborn grandchild. But Aileen didn’t push. She gave a confirming nod.

“I’ll go to the police station and wait there for news,” Aileen conceded. “I’m guessing you’d rather me be there than drive back to my place?”

“Yes,” Grace quickly agreed, and she reached out and gave her mother’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Dutton and I will be as careful as we can be.” With that assurance, she turned to Wilson. “And I want you to go to the station, too. Use your own car,” she added, but didn’t spell out that she didn’t want him in the same vehicle with Aileen. “Don’t go near that cemetery, understand?”

Wilson nodded, but Dutton was nowhere near convinced the man would stay put. Maybe because he was out of his mind with worry over his fiancée. Or the man might go if he was the killer. Dutton just wished he knew which.

And that he could figure out how to stop this nightmare.

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