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T he search of the garage yielded nothing useful so Zeke and Cooper moved on to the barn. As they neared, something inside had him on alert. “Did you hear that?” he whispered.

“Someone’s in there.” Cooper unholstered his weapon and advanced. Zeke did the same while texting Jack with the possible threat.

With his hand on the door, Cooper nodded.

Zeke had his weapon at the ready.

Cooper slowly opened the door and stepped inside the dark, cavernous space. Before he could hit the lights, a body slammed into him. He stumbled backward.

Zeke switched on the lights and spotted Cooper’s attacker. An older man with a shock of gray hair and wild eyes. In the corner, looking fearful, was a woman around the same age. This had to be Irv and Florence.

“Get your hands in the air, Irv.” Zeke kept his weapon trained on the older man.

Irv jerked around at Zeke’s command.

Cooper took advantage of the distraction and grabbed Irv’s arm that held a knife.

“Don’t hurt him.” Florence called out. “Please, don’t hurt him.”

Cooper wrestled the knife from Irv and got him cuffed as law enforcement rushed into the barn.

“Is everyone okay?” Patrick asked.

Cooper confirmed they were. “We’re fine.”

“Irv, what are you doing?”

Cooper handed the man off to Deputy Drake.

“Trying to stay out of jail.”

Florence now wept openly. Patrick went over and asked her to explain.

“We didn’t think it would hurt anything,” she murmured between hiccupping sobs. “We only took a few things.”

Zeke had a feeling they weren’t about to arrest the people involved in two women’s disappearances.

“Keep your mouth shut, Flo,” Irv yelled at his wife.

“Get him out of here.” Patrick motioned Drake to take Irv away.

“You’d better explain, Florence.” Patrick waited for an answer.

Florence did her best to gather her composure. “Irv and I took some of Dr. Flannigan’s things. We didn’t think he’d miss them. He has so much.”

Zeke’s heart sank. These two weren’t guilty of kidnapping. They were thieves.

“Are you saying you and Irv robbed Doc?” Patrick asked.

Florence nodded. “Just a few pieces of jewelry and some silverware. Nothing much.”

“We’ll sort this out at the station.” Patrick cuffed Florence and led her outside.

“Did you find anything useful inside the house?” Zeke asked his sister.

She shook her head. “There’s nothing that leads us to believe Dawn or Sierra have ever been here.”

Zeke combed a hand through his hair. “So we don’t know if he’s involved or not.”

“Nope.” Hannah glanced around the barn. “We can’t rule him out yet, so let’s take a look around this space.”

She was right. They couldn’t afford to rule anything out.

Patrick returned. “I’m going to take Florence and Irv back to the station. I’ve asked him about the strap but he didn’t seem to know what I was talking about. Could be the strap isn’t related to the kidnappings at all. Drake will stay here to assist.”

Jack thanked him. “Let’s spread out. I don’t want a single inch of this space missed.”

Cooper and Zeke took the right side of the structure. Walking within arm’s length, they started at the front of the barn and moved forward.

“Where’s Irv’s vehicle?” Zeke asked because it hadn’t been in the garage and it wasn’t in the barn.

“Maybe he left it somewhere and they walked in?” Cooper’s suggestion made sense.

Obviously, Irv was worried about getting arrested. He must have found out from his wife about the FBI being in town and believed they’d learn his secrets.

Jack’s phone rang, and he stepped outside.

After a thorough search of the barn, there was still nothing pointing to either woman having been here.

Zeke’s frustration grew.

Jack ended his call. “Get this. Irv used to drive a tow truck. He claimed it was stolen recently.”

“A tow truck.” Zeke couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it earlier. “A tow truck would allow the kidnapper to haul the victim’s car and no one would think much of it.”

“We were looking for a trailer or possibly another person,” Jack said with a frustrated sigh. “With a tow truck, the suspect could handle everything by himself.”

“Do we believe Irv when he said it was stolen?” Hannah asked.

“Right now, we can’t afford to believe anything. I’ll have Deb check to see if there was a report filed.” Zeke called it in.

“Let’s go back to the station,” Jack said. “I’d like to sit in on the interviews.”

“What about the woods behind the place?” Zeke didn’t want to leave any stone unturned. “We can’t leave until we check them out.”

Jack slowly agreed. “Zeke’s right.” No one said what they were thinking. This was a waste of time.

Zeke entered the woods flanked by Cooper and Hannah. Jack and Deputy Drake spread out. They’d cover a lot more ground this way.

A text message came in from Deb. “Irv never reported the tow truck missing.” Either he’d lied or he didn’t want to call undue attention to himself and his nefarious crimes.

What did they hope to find out here? Something tying the doctor to what happened to Sierra?

“We’re close to the mountain range, aren’t we?” Hannah struggled slightly with the uphill climb.

“We are,” Drake told them.

“You okay?” Cooper worried about his wife. Being a heart transplant patient, Hannah had to watch what she did.

“I’m okay. Just a little winded.”

“Why don’t you hang back?”

Hannah tossed her husband a disapproving look. “Babe, don’t fuss.”

Cooper held up his hands. “You’re right.”

Zeke watched his sister and Cooper together and wondered what was broken inside him that he couldn’t have that with Sierra.

“What’s that?” Jack pointed to something past the trees.

“Looks like a vehicle.” Zeke reached the clearing with Jack. An older model tow truck was parked in the clearing. Zeke noticed the tracks leading up to it. They seemed fresh. “It’s been parked here recently. Could Irv have driven it and lied about it being stolen?”

“Possibly. But we can’t dismiss that our suspect might be staying close by.” Cooper immediately drew his weapon.

“You’re right. Be careful,” Jack warned his people as they followed the makeshift road.

In the distance, a vehicle’s engine fired.

“He’s getting away.” Zeke ran toward the main road with the others in tow. By the time they reached it, there was no sign of the vehicle.

“I’m going after it.” Drake raced back toward his cruiser.

Zeke went after him. “I’m going with you.” Once they reached it, the two jumped inside.

Drake fired the engine and took off. The cruiser screamed down the road.

“Where is he?” Zeke leaned forward as if to see better.

They almost reached the city limits when the truth became apparent. The driver had given them the slip.

“He probably veered off on one of the old back roads. He could be anywhere.” Drake returned to the doctor’s place, where the others had gathered around front.

“Drake, why don’t you stay with the tow truck?” Jack asked the deputy. “We need to have forensics here to search for prints and DNA.”

Drake drove his cruiser back to the tow truck.

“Let’s return to the station.” Jack climbed behind the wheel, calling Patrick to dispatch the forensics team.

Zeke reluctantly got into the back of the SUV. He stared out at the afternoon sun slipping slowly in the sky, worry dogging him. Dawn had been missing for more than a week. Sierra for almost two days now.

Was she still alive? It was like a knife to his heart to think about something happening to her.

“Don’t go there,” Cooper leaned over and whispered. “We’ll find her.”

He nodded without looking at his friend. Everyone on the team wanted to bring Sierra home safely, but the truth was, they had no idea who took her.

“What about Dr. Flannigan? Do we still think he’s the one who stole the tow truck?” From everything Zeke knew about the doctor, his gut screamed no, but it was found on the doctor’s property. At the very least, they needed him to come in for an interview.

“While we can’t rule him out, we can’t rule out the possibility that someone else may have stashed it back there.” Jack got out with the rest of the team.

At the station, Deb met them at the door. “Doc’s on his way in. Claims he’s been staying at the office while Irv’s doing renovations.”

“Why wasn’t he there when we stopped by?” Zeke didn’t buy the doctor’s story.

“He said he was at the hospital taking care of a patient. We’ll check it out,” Deb assured him.

A convenient alibi that Zeke wasn’t so sure he believed.

He and the rest of the team listened to Irv’s interview. With what happened back at the doctor’s house, Zeke didn’t believe Irv was involved.

“Your wife told us about the things you’ve stolen from Dr. Flannigan. You’re going to jail, Irv. You can help yourself by cooperating.” Patrick claimed a chair across from Irv. “What do you know about Dawn Collins’s and Sierra Parker’s disappearances?” Patrick brought up photos of both women.

As Irv looked at the two women, the truth became clear. “Wait, you’re trying to blame me for their disappearances? I didn’t have anything to do with that. I might be a thief, but I ain’t no kidnapper.”

After another half hour of trying to get answers out of Irv, Patrick left the interview room. He came into the room where they waited.

“I’m going to take a run at Florence and see if she will cave. She’s the one who told us about the items they’d taken.”

“Why don’t I sit in with you?” Hannah volunteered. “Sometimes having a woman interview another woman helps.”

Patrick agreed. Irv was taken away to his cell. Deb brought in Florence.

The woman was clearly nervous.

Zeke watched as the interview began innocently enough. Hannah had a way of making a connection to anyone, whether it be a suspect or a victim. Patrick seemed to take a back seat while she asked the hard questions.

“Right now, I don’t care about the things you and Irv stole. I need you to be honest with me, Florence. What do you know about the two women who disappeared?”

Florence’s eyes widened. “Nothing, I swear. Only what I found out at the diner. They’d been climbers. Like the last ones.”

Hannah leaned forward. “Florence, your husband’s tow truck was found on Dr. Flannigan’s property. Do you know anything about that?”

Florence’s hand flew to her mouth. “That can’t be. Irv told me the truck was stolen recently. He didn’t put it there.”

Zeke wondered if Irv had left it there and reported it stolen for insurance fraud, or if he was involved in Sierra’s and Dawn’s disappearances.

“You see how this looks, don’t you?” Hannah said with compassion. “I’m not saying you’re involved in what happened, but maybe Irv is.”

Florence shook her head. “No. He wouldn’t do that. Stealing’s one thing.”

“He was charged with assault.” Hannah reminded her.

“That was a long time ago, and it was a bar fight. The other man was just as guilty.”

Zeke’s doubts about Irv’s and Florence’s involvement continued to grow.

“Then let us help you. If you have nothing to hide, let us search your place.”

Florence wavered.

“Is your vehicle at your house?” Hannah pressed.

She nodded. “Yes. Irv was afraid of being stopped by the police if we took it.”

“How did you get to Doc’s house?”

Florence pressed her lips together. She didn’t want to tell them.

“The Lexus,” Hannah answered for her. “You used the doctor’s vehicle.”

“Only on occasion,” she said defensively. “We always put it back. Yesterday, I dropped Irv off at the doctor’s house to retrieve it and bring it to your house so we could use it. Besides, Doc wouldn’t mind us using it.”

Zeke doubted that was the case.

“Do we have your permission to search your house?”

“Yes, of course.” Florence didn’t hesitate.

Hannah turned to Patrick. “Our team can go in now.”

“Go.”

Hannah stepped out into the hallway. Zeke and the rest of the team met her.

“Let’s go,” Jack said.

“I have Irv and Florence’s address,” Megan told them and got in beside her husband. The rest of the team piled in behind.

“Do we know what type of vehicle Irv owns?” Zeke asked curiously.

“An old Ford F150.”

Zeke remembered the truck he and Cooper had seen that day on the way to the climbers’ site.

“Dark green.” Megan checked her records. “Why?” She looked back at him.

“Because Cooper and I saw an old pickup truck on the way to the climber’s site.” He turned to Cooper for confirmation. “It was green, right?”

“It was. And it was definitely old.”

“It could be Irv’s vehicle.” Still, Zeke couldn’t let go of his gut feeling that told him they were wasting their time investigating Florence and Irv.

As they left the city limits heading toward Irv and Florence’s home, Zeke had a sinking feeling that they were a long way from having the answers they needed to bring Sierra and Dawn home. And time was running out.