Page 239 of Things We Hide from the Light
“Wanna tell me what the fuck is going on?” Nolan demanded as he followed me off the porch.
“Hugo didn’t pull the trigger. Dilton did,” I said, sliding behind the wheel of my SUV. “Ouch! Damn it.” I’d forgotten about my new ass art until now.
Swearing, Nolan jogged around the hood and got in on the passenger side. “What does that mean?”
“It means either Dilton did this on his own or he’s mixed up with Hugo. Either way, he’s going down.”
I threw the vehicle into drive and made a U-turn, the headlights cutting through the misty layer of fog.
“Where to next?” Nolan asked.
“The station.”
“We’re coordinatingwith the state police and setting up traffic stops here, here, and here,” Officer Bannerjee said, pointing at the map as we walked into the station. It looked like every first responder in Knockemout was already here. “All units have been advised to be on the lookout for Lina Solavita, the unsub, and a tan 2020 Ford Fusion.”
Lina was out there somewhere, in the dark, in the cold. And I wasn’t going to fucking rest until I found her.
I opened the folder on Grave’s desk and snatched the first piece of paper out of it, then headed up to the board. Tashi stepped aside as I stuck Tate Dilton’s photo next to Lina’s.
A round of whispers rolled through the crowd.
“All officers will be on the lookout for Tate Dilton, former police officer. He’s wanted for attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, domestic violence, and assault. Anyone with information on Dilton’s whereabouts needs to talk to me.”
I didn’t wait for questions. I headed straight for the armory. Nolan was still on my heels.
“What’s the plan?” he asked me when I handed him a shotgun.
“We knock on the doors of every one of Dilton’s fucking friends until we find someone who knows where the hell he is. We find him, we’ll find Lina.”
“What about Hugo?”
I shook my head and threw two magazines and a couple boxes of bullets into a duffel bag. “Don’t know if he’s part of this or if it was all Dilton from the start. But my gut says they’re in this shit together.”
Nolan calmly loaded the shotgun and threw another box of bullets into a bag. “Think she’s made them regret it yet?” he asked.
My lips quirked as I tossed two more boxes of ammo inside. “I guaran-damn-tee it.”
“Ball retrieval surgeries are gonna be at an all-time high in this state after tonight,” he predicted.
I zipped the bag shut and looked at him. “You don’t have to come,” I told him.
“Fuck off.”
“I’m not doing this by the book. I’m not going to follow fucking protocol. I’ll do whatever it takes to get her back.”
“Then lead the way.”
We cut through the bullpen and almost made it to the door when it opened. Wylie Ogden entered wearing one of the department’s old rain slickers.
“Nash. I mean, Chief,” he said. He looked older than I’d ever seen him. His face was drawn and pale. “I just talked to Melissa and she told me what’s goin’ on.” He shook his head. “I didn’t know. Had no idea. We were friends, but… I guess you never really know anyone. It ain’t right. What he did to you, to his wife.”
“No, it’s not,” I said stonily.
“I’m here to lend a hand wherever I can,” he said. “Make things right.”
“See Bannerjee for an assignment,” I said, then stepped around him and headed for the parking lot.
I opened the hatch of the SUV, and while Nolan tossed the bags inside, I loaded a second shotgun, then strapped two full clips to my belt.
