Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

I n addition to her phone, Keys got her a bank account, checkbook, credit cards, social security card, birth certificate, passport, and driver’s license. Based on the history he provided her, it looked like she’d had all of them for several years.

Having her own checking account, she was able to receive a real paycheck from her new job at the sheriff’s station. When she asked Keys where the money in her account came from, as she hadn’t received a paycheck yet, he just smiled at her and wished her a happy birthday—even though it was nowhere close to the fake birthdate on her fake driver’s license.

As soon as she had enough money from her new job to feel sufficient, she was writing Keys a check for the amount he’d given her. Then again, she thought as she looked at the price of some of the groceries in her cart, that might take a long while.

It hadn’t occurred to Zoe how much it had cost, first the Mountain Mutineers and then the VDMC, to feed and house her and Kyle. She owed both groups so much. How could she even begin to repay such a debt?

She had her eye on Kyle in the kid’s seat of the shopping cart as she browsed the vitamins aisle. When her eyes landed on the vitamin brand Davis had used, a cold sweat appeared on her skin. Gooseflesh rose and, for a moment, Zoe couldn’t breathe.

It was so stupid. It was a vitamin bottle. It couldn’t hurt her. Davis was not standing in front of her. Just his particular brand on vitamin pills.

A hand touched her shoulder. Zoe jumped, the pill bottle in her hand went flying. It clattered to the floor.

Spinning, she met Carlos’s worried eyes. “Zoe, where’s Kyle?”

Zoe blinked. “What?”

“Where’s Kyle?” he demanded.

The worry in his voice snapped her out of her haze. She turned to the cart, prepared to say that Kyle was “right here”, but she froze, the words caught in her throat.

The shopping cart was pushed further down the aisle than the arm’s length it had been. The empty shopping cart. Her groceries were still inside the large basket, but her son was not.

“Kyle!” she shouted, fear gripping her like an iron fist. “Kyle! Carlos, where is he?”

Carlos bolted away from her. He was still in his uniform. They had gone straight from work to pick up Kyle at Jenna’s consignment shop, where Kyle had spent the day ‘helping her out’ with all his four year old workplace experience, to the grocery store. Louisa had dinner cooking at home but was running low on some groceries.

“Attention!” came over the intercom. “There is a missing child, Kyle Scanlon, four years old. Brown hair, brown eyes. The store is on lockdown. If you see him, please call out. ”

The small-town grocery was small enough that anyone could shout and the whole store would hear.

“Kyle!” Zoe yelled at the top of her lungs. “Kyle, if you’re hiding, you’re not in trouble. I need you to come to Mommy!”

Kyle wouldn’t run off. He knew the rules. Things had been different since moving in with Carlos and Louisa, but he knew better. She’d drilled it into him a million times. He was not to wander off, he was to always stay within arm’s reach.

“Kyle!”

Panic was taking over. Her heart was thundering in her chest. How could she have taken her eyes off of him? How had a vitamin bottle so completely distracted her that she hadn’t seen her son be taken out of the cart?

Because he could have only been taken. But by who? Why? Had they been found? Had the Ruttersons found them? Found Kyle, the grandson they knew as Davey?

Zoe spun in circles, running up and down the aisles. Searching… Searching… Others were looking too but she ignored them. Where was her son?

“KYLE!!!”

Three police cruisers raced into the parking lot, followed immediately by a dozen motorcycles.

Wanda, one of the cashiers from the store, was sitting on a bench with Zoe. Carlos was utterly torn, because he wanted to be the one consoling her, but he had a job to do. Beyond that as sheriff, as her man. She needed his strength now more than ever before.

The entire store had been searched, including the bathrooms, storage room, pharmacy, and offices. All three exits had someone posted on them.

“Search the roof,” Carlos ordered Danny seconds after the deputy exited his vehicle.

Danny ran off. Carlos turned his attention to Jeff. “Interview everyone . Someone had to have seen something. Wanda says the cameras are only on the loading dock area so they can watch for deliveries.”

Jeff ordered Carl and Scott to follow him inside.

Steel, Bulldog, and other members of the MC came up to him, but Carlos only had eyes for one of them. In a whispered voice, he asked, “I am required by law to report a child abduction to NCIC,”—the National Crime Information Center—“is there a reason why I shouldn’t in Kyle’s case?”

Keys shook his head. “It’s unfortunate but with the heads up, I can block any DNA searches from flagging in the system for his previous case. Do what you need to do to keep this above board and I’ll do what I need to do.”

He took a backpack off of his shoulders. On the hood of the nearest cruiser, he pulled out a laptop.

“What do you need from us?” Steel asked. His voice barely contained the rage Carlos saw in his eyes.

“Block the exits out of Mount Grove. Others start scouring the town. It’s been less than fifteen minutes, but he could be anywhere by now.” Carlos ran a hand through his hair. How the fuck had this happened? How could he let it? He was the fucking sheriff and he couldn’t protect his girlfriend’s kid?

Carlos’s fists clenched. His internal monster that called for the most primal of justices lifted its ugly head. He hadn’t felt this out of control. Ever . Not even when Zoe had told him her story and what her husband had done to her.

A kid? Kyle was four years old. An innocent.

Carlos rounded on Keys as Steel and some of the others climbed back onto their bikes. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that his brother had remained behind. Did Bulldog sense the rage brewing inside him? Was that why he’d stayed?

“I need you to look into the Ruttersons. I don’t have time for warrants and I doubt I could get one against them anyway.”

“Would certainly lead people to connect Kyle’s alias with his birth name,” Keys mused offhandedly. “I was already looking into them. I didn’t want any surprises.” He looked up at Carlos. “I don’t think it’s them. They have had no large money withdrawals or changes in their schedule. I would have seen it coming if it was them.”

Carlos’s hand slammed down on the hood of his cruiser. “Then who the fuck took Zoe’s son?”

Kyle was so small. The few times he’d allowed Carlos to hold him, he’d been so light. The boy was obsessed with dinosaurs.

Keys looked sick as he said, “We have no registered offenders living in town. Doesn’t mean one didn’t come passing through.”

Carlos’s stomach rolled. It was the bitter reality of their world that such monsters existed. It was bad enough when an adult like Davis existed, who had hurt a woman he should have died protecting, but when an adult went after a kid… It was worse. It was so much worse.

A hand landed on his shoulder. “Deep breath, brother.”

Carlos flung off Bulldog’s hand. “Don’t treat me like a child.”

“Wasn’t,” Bulldog said shortly.

“We need more traffic cameras in this town,” Keys said to no one in particular. “I don’t see anything suspicious on the ones we have.”

Danny came out of the store. “Roof’s clear. We did another sweep of the store and nothing.”

“Keys, I need a computer. As soon as you have a vehicle for me, I need to put out a BOLO.” To Danny, he said, “I have an Amber Alert out and need to contact NCIC.”

“I’ll head back to the station,” Danny told him. “Set up a command center and take care of that for you. Bert texted, he’s on his way in too.”

Carlos nodded his appreciation. He turned towards his brother. “Can you take Zoe to your place or Jenna’s? I need to contact Momma too.”

“I’ll take care of it, though I doubt she’ll listen to me.”

At first, Carlos thought he was referring to their mom, but then he realized Bulldog was talking about Zoe. She was up and at the door to the grocery store. She was yelling at Jeff to let her back inside to search again.

Carlos let out a resigned sigh and then walked forward. “Sunshine—” He barely got the word out before she rounded on him.

“Tell them to let me inside!” She had tears streaming down her cheeks. Her eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot. Her hair was disheveled like she’d been pulling on it. “I need to look for my son! Tell them to let me inside!”

He took a step closer, his arms out as if to hug her. Instead, Zoe raised her fists and pounded them down on his chest. She let out an ear-piercing, heartbreaking wail that shattered his heart into a million pieces.

“Where’s my son!?” she cried out. Continuing to slam her fists against his chest, she demanded, “ Where’s my son! ”

Carlos could care less about her fists, concerned only for her tears. Despite her fight, Carlos took her into his arms. He caged her against his body. Zoe sagged against him, her cries of agony like a branding iron to his soul.

“Carlos!” Keys shouted.

Carlos’s head whipped around, but his hold on Zoe kept him in place. He needed to go see what Keys had but how could he leave his woman in such a distraught place? It tore at him, his need to be in two places at once.

Bulldog approached. “Zoe, honey, you need to let him go. I know I’m a poor substitute for your man, but I’m here for you all the same. Let me take you to Jenna. Let Carlos do his job and bring your son home.”

Zoe lifted her head. She’d worked herself into such a state that she was hiccupping between breaths. Carlos hated his brother’s words as much as he appreciated them.

He took her face between his hands. “I won’t return until I have him with me,” he vowed. “I will bring him home to you.”

It might be the stupidest promise he’d ever made in his career as a police officer. There were too many unknowns. Any doctor, first responder, even politicians, knew better than to promise that everything would be fine, that the patient would live, that the criminal would be found… He should have known better than to vow something so absolute to the woman he was falling for.

As Zoe stared into his eyes, though, he knew that there was no alternative. He had to bring Kyle home or he would lose Zoe. Maybe not physically, but emotionally. She needed her son and he needed her.

Carlos pressed a chaste kiss to her lips before passing her off to Bulldog. “Keep her safe,” he told his brother, a warning in his voice. Kyle’s abduction might have to do with his past—which meant it had to do with Zoe’s past.

Bulldog gave him a single nod. His own vow.

Without another look at her, Carlos turned and walked back over to Keys. “What do you have?”