Page 161 of Noel Secrets

His heart sank and he leaned against the table, glancing at Cooper and Dean. “The phone was in the trash.” Then he spoke back to the voice on the line. “Did you see the woman who put it there?”

“No, man, I just heard it ringing and found it there.”

“Tell him to remain there with the phone,” Dean ordered. “I’m sending an officer to get it.” He opened the door and gave the order.

Clay relayed the message to the bystander then ended the call. “Why would she toss her cell phone?” He didn’t expect either of them to know the answer, but it struck him as wrong. That phone was her lifeline to her son.

Cooper pulled his laptop toward him. “Let me see if I can pull up the video feed in the store.”

“I know the manager,” Dean said. “I’ll call him right now.” He took out his phone and placed the call. After a few minutes, Cooper had a link to the video surveillance feeds.

He found Darby on the cameras in the men’s section. She looked normal. Everything looked normal until she answered a call. After that, they saw her drop her phone, purchase new luggage, then walk out to her car and leave the parking lot.

“Where’d the second phone come from?” Dean asked.

“Looks like she pulled it from her pocket,” Cooper said.

Clay ran a hand through his hair. None of this made sense. Why would Darby ditch her cell phone, abandon her shopping cart, and purchase only a suitcase? Something didn’t sit right with him.

“Pull up the rental agency’s site. We can track the GPS on her car.”

Cooper did so, and they tracked her movements from the shopping center to the bank, then to the highway heading out of town.

“That’s the road that leads to the camp,” Clay said. “She must know about David going missing.”

“Or she picked him up herself, cleaned out her bank account, and they’ve left town,” Dean suggested. “Maybe someone at the camp dropped the ball and didn’t realize it.”

That suggestion didn’t make sense to him either. She would have called him.

“That doesn’t explain why she threw away her cell phone. Plus, she hasn’t even made it to the camp yet.” He shook his head. Something was very wrong. He felt it in his gut. “Where did she get the second phone? She changed her behavior after she answered it.”

“This can’t have anything to do with Rushton,” Cooper assured him. “He’s locked up. Do you think we missed someone wanting to cash in on the hit?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that she’s in trouble.” He grabbed his coat. “I’m going to follow her. Send me that link so I can track her car.”

“Wait,” Dean said. “I’ll come with you. Just let me grab my coat.”

Clay hurried out to his pickup and climbed inside. His heart was still racing as he pulled up the GPS link on his phone. Once Dean joined him, he started the engine then took off after her.

He couldn’t let something else happen to her. Not after he’d promised her she was safe.

The miles seemed to drag by as Darby drove. Her passenger was silent, only texting his companion with updates on their whereabouts periodically.

It didn’t matter. She didn’t want to have a conversation with this man. She didn’t want to know anything about him…except where he’d taken her child.

A car turned onto the highway behind her—a police car. She tensed and, after a moment, it flashed its lights and sirens.

Her passenger turned to look then swore. “He’s pulling us over.” He turned back to her, pressing the gun against her. “Make this go away. Remember, if anything happens, your son is dead.” He slid the gun into his pocket as she pulled to the shoulder.

A uniformed officer approached the car. Darby fought to keep her hands from shaking as she lowered the window. “Good afternoon. Was I speeding?”

“No, ma’am.” He glanced at her then at her passenger before opening her door. “Please step out of the car. Sir, remain where you are.”

She stole a glance at her passenger. His face was tight but she gave him a nod of assurance. She would do nothing that would endanger her son.

As she got out and followed the officer to the back of the car, he lowered his voice. “Are you Darby Foster?”

“Yes.”