Page 97 of The Fragile Ones

Katie stopped the Jeep, letting it idle.

“I’m not sure, but it could be the same stuff. Here’s my theory. What if…when the Mayfield girls were abducted, maybe subdued somehow, he hid them under the tarp so no one would see them in the car or being transported onto a boat… or…”

“Or what?”

“When we were driving to the Oak Grove Cabins we passed that boat storage yard. We should check it out.”

“Let’s go,” McGaven urged.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Wednesday 1030 hours

Chad plowed through the crowds of people moving sand bags in front of their businesses and down the sides of streets to redirect the flow of water. The rain pounded harder and the wind blew with such powerful gusts that it made it hard for him to walk in a straight line.

He spotted Sheriff Scott directing some of his deputies to patrol streets that should be cleared of civilians and stray animals.

“Sheriff,” yelled Chad.

“Chad, what are you doing here?” he barked, competing with the wind.

“Sir, I can’t get a hold of Katie or McGaven. The road is out and, from what I’m told, there’s no power.”

“Yes, that’s true. I received a partial voicemail from her—cell phone reception is spotty. Surprised there’s any at all, quite frankly.”

“I would like to take some help and remove trees to get there,” he said.

“No way. We can’t afford to take anyone away from the department right now.” He turned somber. “They are having some problems there. The police chief is dead.”

“More reason for me to get there.”

The sheriff pulled Chad to the side. “Look, Chad, I know it’s difficult to think about Katie being in the middle of something, but she has McGaven and Cisco. And they are trained for this. That eases my mind a bit—at least until tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t afford to send anyone with you.”

“Sir, what about John?” Chad said.

“From forensics?”

“Yeah.”

The sheriff thought about it. “You might be running into danger, I can’t okay that.”

“What if…you didn’t know that I was going…would that make a difference?”

The sheriff cracked a tiny smile. “It might.”

“Sir, I made a mistake.”

“Meaning what?”

“I didn’t ask your permission to marry your niece,” Chad said, as the rain poured down his face.

“And?”

“And Katie said yes!”