Page 20 of Stand By You
Nick knew she was worried. Hell, he was worried too. He knew the chances of them finding the boy with the two guys was slim to none and he could tell that Jillian realized it too. He was surprised she’d stayed so calm talking to Carlos, but then she was a nanny, and it was her job to deal with children every day. But, just maybe, if they caught up to the two guys, they’d tell them where Travis was. After all, they hadn’t made a ransom demand.
Jillian dugin her purse and pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on. She hadn’t heard from Mr. McGinty the previous night even though Detective Simons had said he’d call to follow up with her after her accident. With the time difference in the Cook Islands, she had no idea when he’d meant to call and if he had only twenty-four hours to reach Geneva to inform her of Travis’ disappearance then that came first.
It was winter on that side of the world, and even though the Cook Islands boasted to have sunny and warm weather all year long with June being part of the dryer months, there could still have been a tropical storm blow through knocking out phones and electricity which would have kept him from reaching out to her or Geneva as planned.
Now here they were finally on this goose chase toward the interstate in hopes of catching up with the silver Subaru that had been spotted yesterday. What if this turned up another dead end? What if they were no closer to finding Travis than whenthey started? She thought about that for a moment and decided it was better than sitting at home feeling helpless.
Nick’s car slowed and her head jerked up noticing they were getting off the interstate and turning west. “Where are we going?”
“Hopefully in the same direction as the Subaru. The footage showed it got off at the exit going north about twenty minutes ago,” Nick explained. “Considering we had to cross town to get to this point after we left Carlos, I feel we made good time catching up. Help me watch for a silver Subaru Impreza. It’s dented on the right rear fender and has begun to rust. That should make it easier to spot.”
“Right,” Jillian said, scanning the side streets for cars fitting that description. She saw cars parked along the street in front of rows of houses in the neighborhoods, but nothing that matched Nick’s description.
Then they came to a gas station at an intersection. She did a double take. “Wait. Pull in here. I think that car over there has a dent on the rear right bumper like you said, and it is rusted near the taillight.”
“Are you sure?” He asked slowing down and going to the second entrance of the station. Driving past the gas pumps, he inspected the car in question before pulling into a parking spot on the opposite side of the Subaru in front of the Quickie Mart store.
“You saw it, right?” she said, excitement bubbling in her voice and she grabbed the door handle to get out.
“I did, but hold up,” he warned reaching for her hand. “You could scare them off if they are inside. Let me call Detective Simons and report where we are and have him and his partner join us.”
“Okay. Okay,” she said, pulling her hand away like it was on fire.
Nick placed the call. “Detective Simons, it’s Nick. We’ve found the car at the Quickie Mart and Gas over on Ochoa and 6thStreet. We’re here now, parked outside.”
The silence while the detective spoke was driving Jillian crazy, but she knew she had to be patient and stay calm.
“Okay. We’ll stay in our car and wait for you to arrive,” Nick finally said. “We won’t engage even if they come out and get in to leave.”
Jillian felt her mouth drop open in protest, but clamped it shut when Nick shook his head at her as he hung up. “You really aren’t going to sit here and let them leave in that car, are you?”
“If it means keeping you and everyone around here safe, I will. We don’t know if those two are armed and dangerous,” Nick said. “And we don’t know if they still have Travis. Do you really want to risk his life by taking matters into our own hands instead of waiting for the police to get here?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t.”
“Then remember that the moment you see them reach the car and begin to get inside.”
They waited in silence. No one came out of the convenience store to get into the car and as the time passed, she realized it was the longest twelve minutes of her life by the time Detective Simons knocked on Nick’s window. He was alone even though Nick had mentioned he had a partner now.
“They’re not here,” she said as soon as he lowered his window. “Those two creeps who took Travis are not in that store. The car may be here, but they’re not.”
Detective Simons looked from her to Nick and over at the car in question. “Are you certain it’s the same car?”
“Absolutely,” Nick declared. “It’s the stolen plates, same make a model. We followed it here on the surveillance feed.”
“Okay,” Simons said. “I’ll get Crime Scene Techs down here to get the car back to headquarters. And I’ll go inside to see ifthe manager can let me look at their surveillance footage to see where the two men went once they parked. Sit tight.”
Nick rolled up his window and made a phone call.
“What are you doing?” Jillian asked.
“Seeing what Swede call tell us in the event the manager isn’t forthcoming with the information,” he said.
Jillian watched the people who came out of the Quickie Mart to make sure no one suddenly tried to get into the car. She tried not to think of what might be in the trunk of the car. No. She wouldn’t go there.
“Here we go,” Nick said.
“What?” she asked, startled out of her tortured musings. She slowly looked away from the car and over at him. He held out his phone for her to see. It showed the car pulling up in front of the mart and the two guys getting out. They were still wearing the same clothes from yesterday and they didn’t go inside, but around to the side of the building. The camera angle shifted, and it showed a bicycle rack where they unlocked two black Sirrus X bikes and headed off.
