Page 39 of Valor (Long Hot Summer: Christian Romantic Suspense #2)

GIBSON

“Anything new?”

I glance up as Deputy Brown sets a paper cup of coffee onto my desk. She looks as exhausted as I feel, and I know she’s taking this one hard too. Even if she didn’t know Lani well, when someone in a small town suffers, the entire community feels it.

“Nothing. It’s as though she vanished.” I spent all night combing over every inch of the hospital, talking to anyone and everyone I found.

Then I went back to her apartment and combed it again.

I checked her car.

Ran her phone records.

Checked bank records to make sure her cards haven’t been used anywhere.

Her clinic.

Her office at the hospital.

There’s nothing. One moment she was there, the next, gone. We even scanned traffic and ATM cameras in the area and all around town, only to find nothing of any value. “I’ve filed missing person’s reports with Dallas, Shreveport, Austin, and Tulsa as well.” Main cities in Texas and surrounding states. Anywhere with a large enough department that officers can be spared.

They’re all looking for her.

“You think whoever took her left Pine Creek?”

“I think it’s a possibility I can’t rule out,” I tell her, leaning back. Even as I hate what that would mean. The world is large, and there are a lot of places to hide. If she’s been taken out of town, there’s no telling where she is now.

My chest aches, so I rub the heel of my palm against it.

“Sheriff, go home and get some sleep. I’ll keep cracking at it. We’ll find her.”

“I can’t sleep. Not when she’s out there.” It’s been nearly two full days. Thirty-six hours of her out there somewhere, likely suffering. Is she scared? Cold? Injured? I know the latter is true—her blood was all over the apartment.

I rest my face in both hands and try to steady my breathing. I’m running out of avenues to chase. I have checked and rechecked everything. So what am I missing?

My cell rings, and I frantically scan the readout. It’s an unknown number, so I answer and put it up to my ear. “Sheriff Lawson.”

“It’s Bradyn.”

Relief assaults my system with the force of a freight train. “Bradyn. You all need to get back here. Now. All of you. Lani?—”

“We’re on our way,” he interrupts. They’re traveling, I can hear the wind noise from whatever vehicle they’re riding in. “Our pilot is waiting at the airstrip. We just got your message and rushed out as fast as we could.”

“What do you have so far?” Elliot questions over the speaker.

“Nothing. It’s like she vanished.”

“No one vanishes,” Tucker calls out.

“I promise I’ve looked everywhere. I hope you guys can find something I missed, I?—”

“No one is questioning you,” Tucker says. “I only meant that you have limitations to what you can access, I don’t. If there’s something, we’ll find it.”

“We know you’ll do everything you can to find her,” Riley calls out.

“We’ll have a plan of action by the time we land. Do you have an estimated timeline?” Bradyn questions.

“I dropped her off at her apartment at nine fifteen on June 2. When I texted her thirty minutes later, she didn’t answer.”

“So she was taken sometime between nine fifteen and nine forty-five,” Bradyn says.

“If I had known, if I’d even thought something would happen to her?—”

“It’s not your fault,” Bradyn says, his tone serious. “We know how you feel about Lani, Gibson, and we know you’ll do whatever it takes to find her.”

“Whatever it takes,” I repeat, hoping they understand that I don’t care what laws we have to break. What lines we have to cross. I just want her home.

“Great. We’ll be back in fifteen hours.”

“I’ll see you then.” Thank You, God. Thank You! I nearly weep with relief, overjoyed that the Hunts will be here. No one—and I mean no one—is better at finding people than they are. And it doesn’t sting in the least to admit that.

The call ends, so I set my cell down and cradle my head in my hands again.

“The Hunts are coming home?” she asks.

I look up at Deputy Brown, relief flooding my veins. “The Hunts are coming home,” I repeat. “And God help whoever took Lani.”

* * *

Fifteen hours and what feels like lifetimes later, I’m watching as all five of the Hunt brothers get out of two separate Hunt Ranch trucks parked in Lani’s apartment’s parking lot. Growing up, I’d always been intimidated by them. Even though they never did anything to make me feel that way, I’d known that if I crossed that friendship line with Lani and broke her heart, they would have torn me apart.

Or, at least my teenage mind thought so.

But seeing them now, expressions serious, moving like the tactical team they are, I can honestly say I’ve never felt more relieved. Because Tucker is absolutely right.

Given I lack Tucker’s computer skills, there’s no way I could get into the databases he can. If Lani is still out there, these are the men to find her and bring her home.

Each of the Hunt brothers has their own service dogs, though today it looks like they’re only bringing Bravo—Bradyn’s dog—in.

“Gibson,” Elliot says. His wife, Nova, is at his side, dressed in similar tactical clothing to his. She joined the team after moving here from Dallas.

“It’s really good to see you guys,” I tell them. “Uh, you should know, the scene is rough.”

“We’ve seen worse,” Dylan says.

I hate that it’s true. That even though their sister’s blood is on the floor, the scenes they’ve witnessed not just in their current jobs but also when they’d been Special Forces for the Army are far worse.

Without another word, I pull the crime scene tape down and unlock the padlock we placed on the door. After shoving it open, I step aside, letting the five brothers and Nova into Lani’s small apartment.

Once they’re all in, I follow, standing in the kitchen while they comb the place, looking over every nook and cranny.

“I believe she was attacked by the door. That cardinal picture was hanging next to it,” I tell them.

Bradyn nods. “She fought back.”

“She did,” I say. “Hard.” My gaze lands on the shattered coffee table and the blood staining beneath it.

“Enough blood that we know she was hurt, but not so much to think she was killed and moved,” Dylan says, his hands tightening into fists at his sides.

“She’s alive,” I tell them. “She has to be.”

“There hasn’t been any contact?” Riley asks, turning to me. “No mention of a ransom?”

I know the Hunts are wealthy, likely the wealthiest in town and quite possibly the state, but they never show the money off. Still, it’s not a theory that I’ve dismissed. “Not yet. They could still try and make contact, but so far there’s been nothing.”

Bradyn points to the floor, right near Lani’s blood. Bravo leans down and sniffs it then looks up at Bradyn expectantly. “I’m going to walk him outside. See if we can catch a scent. It’s been long enough I’m not hopeful, but it’s something. And right now, we need a place to start.”

“One tiny thread,” Dylan mutters. “And we’ll bring the weight of the world crashing down on top of whoever took her.”

I can’t explain the relief I feel at his words. Because I feel the exact same. “I canvassed the area, but I’d like to go back to the hospital today. See if I can catch up with a few of the nurses who were out.”

“I’ll go with you,” Riley offers.

“Great.”

“I’m going to start scanning traffic, street, and security cameras in the area,” Tucker says as he heads for the door. “See if I can’t pick her up on facial recognition.”

“I’m going to talk to the neighbors,” Dylan says, his gaze landing back on the bloodstained floor. He looks about two seconds away from detonating like a bomb, ready to tear the building apart to find her.

It’s a sentiment I share.

“I’ll go with you,” Elliot replies.

“I’m going to go talk to her friends. See if there’s something they might be willing to share,” Nova offers.

I’ve already done everything they’re doing, but somehow, knowing they’re looking too gives me hope. The more boots on the ground, the more we can cover. The less likely someone will miss something.

We’re coming, Lani. Hang in there.