Page 100 of Line of Sight

He called Riley. “Have you still not heard from Gary?”

“No.”

“Okay, I’m starting to worry here. He isn’t answering his phone.”

“Want me to track it?”

It was on the tip of his tongue to sayyes!He forced himself to keep calm. “Not yet, but I’ll bear it in mind.”

Maybe after a little trip to the store.

DAN CALLEDRiley. “Okay, I’m switching to full-on panic mode. I’m at the store, and there’s no sign of Gary’s car.” He hesitated. “Can you come here? See if they can find him on the in-store cameras?” He scowled. “They won’t do it for me, even with my police department ID.”

“Send me the link to the store. I’m on my way.”

Dan drew in deep breaths, his heart racing.

Where are you, Gary?

He sat in his car, gripping the steering wheel, doing his best to shove that one thought from his head.

The one he didn’t even want to contemplate.

Riley’s soft knock on the window scared the crap out of him. Dan got out of the car, and they walked briskly toward the main entrance. Five minutes later, Riley was seated in the store office, staring at a monitor.

He stabbed at the screen with his finger. “There. There he is.” Gary was at the cash desk, paying for his purchases. The time stamp showed 04:45PM. Riley turned to the manager. “Any cameras outside?”

“No, none. Kids keep smashing them.”

Dan frowned. “I’ve been over the whole parking lot. Is there any other place he could have parked?”

“There’s employee parking at the rear of the store.”

“Would you check it, please?” He rattled off Gary’s license plate, then sagged into a chair when the manager left the office.

Riley patted his hand. “You wait. He’s gonna turn up.”

Dan wished he had Riley’s confidence, but right then his gift was saying something else entirely.

The manager returned. “The car’s there.”

Dan was out of that chair in a heartbeat. “Show us.”

The car sat in a corner of the lot, and the sight of it stirred the same sense of foreboding Dan had been experiencing all evening.

He addressed Riley. “Can you have it dusted for prints?”

Riley stilled. “You don’t think Gary drove it there, do you?”

“There’s one way to find out.” He walked toward the car, his heart pounding.

I’m getting a very bad feeling about this.

“I don’t suppose you have a spare key?” Riley asked.

Dan held it up. “Right here.” He opened the driver’s door and got in. He went to grip the wheel, but stopped. “There might be prints, but I need to touch it.”

Riley set his jaw. “Do it.”