Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
That was when he heard it. Such an odd sound, and muffled by the Beach Boys blaring out of the speakers. A sizzle and then a thud.
He stopped, listening. What had happened? Why did he know that sound?
Morgan had gone pale. “That sounded like a stun gun.” She left her basket behind, and she started jogging. “What aisle was she on?”
“Olivia,” he yelled over the music.
His heart started to race. Maybe they didn’t hear what he thought they had. Maybe it was a light fritzing out. Maybe it was something, anything but a stun gun hitting Olivia.
He ran up and down the aisles, pushing through when he had to. Panic started to bubble up, threatening to take over. He searched the store, looking for that wild mop of red hair.
He got to the back of the store and saw Morgan standing there. She had her cell in her hand.
“Sheriff, we have a problem. Olivia Barnes-Fleetwood has been taken,” she said.
Keane’s phone rang. He pulled it out, praying it was Olivia. It was Olivia calling to tell him she’d stepped out for a moment and was waiting by the truck and then he would hug her and spank the hell out of her. Her backside would be red. He would never let her out of his sight again.
“Liv?”
“No, it’s me,” Garrett said. “Hey, you need to be careful. Ruby’s here and she thinks this is about way more than Scott Whittiker.”
Keane’s hands started to shake.
They were already out of time.
* * * *
Garrett felt his stomach drop as Keane spoke.
“They took her.”
Ruby sat up and grabbed her cell phone.
“What do you mean?” The words didn’t make sense. He’d seen them an hour and a half ago. He’d kissed Olivia and teased her about not being gone long. She promised him they were just going to the feed store and a grocery. She’d rolled her eyes about being escorted, but they weren’t letting her walk around alone until they figured out what was going on. It was the middle of the day. There wasn’t any real reason to worry because Keane was with her.
Keane’s voice came out on a tortured rumble. “I mean she’s not here. I left her alone for a couple of minutes to pick up some cream and I met with Deputy Morgan and now she’s gone. We think they took her out the back.”
“Deputy Morgan? She’s gone?” His brain couldn’t process it right now.
Ruby had stood up and was pacing. He vaguely heard her talking to someone she called Harlow.
“No, Olivia.” Keane said the words with a finality that forced Garrett out of his haze. “They took Olivia. From what I can tell they used a stun gun on her. She didn’t scream out my name. I don’t think she had time to fight.”
Ruby looked at Garrett, her face a professional mask. “I need to know where she was and how the police think they took her out. This town still has some traffic cameras, I think.”
“I heard that,” Keane said. “Who’s with you? Put me on speaker.”
Garrett did as he asked. “Ruby Lockwood is here, and she thinks she knows what’s going on. She doesn’t think it’s Scott. Jessica Fellows started working for Gladen Farms.”
“That’s what Morgan figured out, too. She doesn’t think Scott is the real guy behind this. She thinks it’s Gladen,” Keane replied.
So they were all on the same page. “How long has she been gone?”
“No more than a couple of minutes, but they could be anywhere.”
He’d never heard that level of panic in his Master’s voice before. “Where are you? Ruby wants to cut into the traffic cameras.”
“We’re at the GrabItQuick,” a familiar voice said. “I’m Deputy Morgan. I’ve already called it in, but I warn you our traffic cams don’t always work. The county put them in thinking it would be a great source of revenue, and then the governor made it impossible to use them to write tickets, so the county no longer cares about them.”
“But they didn’t shut them off?” Ruby asked.
Garrett was still reeling. “Olivia is gone?”
“They’re still on, but if they malfunction, no one cares and I don’t think the cameras in this store have worked in forever, but I’m going to try,” Morgan said. “I need to find the manager.”
“He was with Olivia,” Keane replied, sounding stronger, as though he heard Garrett’s horror and responded with the strength they needed. “He was standing with her when I went to the back to grab the creamer. He was going to show her where the makeup aisle was. He should have been there.”
Ruby’s eyes closed, and she shook her head. There was resolve in her gaze when she opened them again. “Stephen Gunderson?”
“That’s his name,” Keane agreed.
“He’s on a list of people I watch because they have beef with the Barnes-Fleetwood family,” Ruby replied. “I quietly monitor the socials of those people. Stephen doesn’t have much, but what’s there is bitterness. He feels like the Barnes-Fleetwood family killed his birthright.”