Chapter 13

Chapter

Thirteen

Clint heard Lily’s friend say she should leave early. He finished texting Aiden’s tech team. They hadn’t found anyone at the hospital or in Kalispell for that matter who matched Landon Trupp yet, but they were searching diligently. Jacob Wildman was the only match that fit the age range, and he was an anesthesiologist who had moved to town recently. Unfortunately, there were no other red flags in any other area. Jacob had graduated from Stanford. He’d grown up in foster care, so he had no family to check with. Aiden’s guys confirmed he’d worked at a small hospital in Nebraska before relocating a couple months ago to Kalispell. Model employee. Kept to himself. No issues.

Clint asked them to dig deeper and check with any emergency contacts and colleagues of Trupp or Wildman, but he was at a loss. The perp must not have moved to the area but was visiting. Somehow he’d set his sights on Lily.

He stood out of his truck and stretched, plucking his hat on his head and putting his earbuds in. He hurried for the hospital front doors, listening to Lily say goodbye to her nursing friends. She’d be in the waiting room now.

How could I possibly tell the great Sheriff Clint Coleville no? He could see her beautiful smile and had loved the teasing in her voice.

Soon, he’d be with Lily. This guy would make a mistake or they’d find him somehow. How could Clint talk her into not working until they found him? The past five hours had been rough, worrying about her and trying to keep up with all the texts, emails, and phone calls. He didn’t like the phone calls because then he had to switch apps and couldn’t hear her on the listening device.

As he strode into the hospital, took off his hat, and headed for the stairs that led to the waiting room outside of labor and delivery, his phone rang. Dang. It was Aiden. Anybody else he probably would’ve texted he’d talk to them later.

“Hello,” he said, pausing outside the stairwell.

“This is a nightmare of a case, eh?”

“Definitely.”

“I had an idea to run by you.”

“Okay.” He paced, impatient to get to Lily.

“What if this Landon Trupp had plastic surgery on his nose, grew out and dyed his hair, grew a thick beard, wore colored contacts to take his eyes from brown to hazel, and lost weight?”

Clint’s heart slammed against his chest. “Does the analysis show it’s Jacob Wildman?”

“Almost a perfect match if you change all of those factors.”

Clint heard a faint scream come down the stairs, then everything went quiet. Lily? He rushed into the stairwell and raced up the stairs. Reaching the second level, he turned into the labor and delivery waiting room, his eyes darting around. Nothing. There was nobody here.

“Clint?”

“Can you send me what you have? I’ve got an emergency.”

“On it.”

Aiden hung up and Clint switched back to the recording app. It was quiet. Too quiet. He heard footsteps, and some muted voices in the background.

Where was she? Was she in danger? His neck prickled and his stomach churned. Something was wrong, but he didn’t know which direction to go to fix it.

A nurse came out of the double doors.

“Where’s Lily?” he demanded.

“Walked out a few minutes ago.” She lifted a hand.

Clint turned and raced back down the stairs. He reached the lobby, head swiveling to catch a glimpse of her golden hair, her pale pink scrubs, something.

“Did you know my hot sheriff parks in the front parking lot? It was smart of you to park out back,” Lily said. Her voice sounded calm, but a slight tremble revealed her anxiety.

“I don’t want to hear about your sheriff,” a man’s voice snarled

Clint sprinted through the lobby and toward the back entrance. No. Please no. He fumbled with his phone. He couldn’t call and miss something Lily said, but he needed backup and he needed it now.

“Get in,” the man demanded.

“I’ll get in your black Navigator if you promise not to hurt my parents,” Lily said.

“I’ll kill them right now,” the man hissed.

Then he heard car doors closing.

Not only was Lily in trouble, but an accomplished bomber had apparently made reliable threats.

Clint burst out the door and ran through the parking lot. A black Navigator drove out of the parking lot, several hundred yards away from him. He darted through cars and got the license plate. Then the SUV turned and shot off down the street. He was never going to track him down on foot.

Lily was gone, most likely with Jacob Wildman. No!

He ran back through the hospital, the quickest route to his truck. Two security guards approached him; they must’ve seen something on the cameras. He yanked out his badge and flashed it at them. “I’m Sheriff Clint Coleville.” He thought about asking them to call it in, but he feared a patrol cop chasing Lily with lights and sirens blazing would push Jacob to hurt or kill her or her family.

The guards lifted their hands and let him pass.

“Where are you taking me?” Lily asked.

“Somewhere we can be alone for a long time.”

The man’s voice was sickening.

Clint dodged around a nurse pushing a wheelchair. “Sorry.”

He got a severe look. He couldn’t stop. Running out front, he pounded across the pavement, finally made it to his truck, and jumped in. But where to go? He drove out of the parking lot and to where he’d last seen the black Navigator.

He stopped and hurried to compose a group text on his phone to Aiden, Mark, Carlsen, and his dad.

The perp has Lily. Don’t call me. I’m listening to her on the voice recording and praying she’ll give me instructions. Dad, get the Lillywhites out of their house. Aiden, find the best bomb squad close to Coleville and get them to the address my dad will send to you. Mark, put out an APB for a black Navigator, Montana license plate B074C21. Follow at a distance. Don’t confront or use sirens or lights until the Lillywhites are safe and I give the order. Carlsen, see if you can track Lily’s phone.

What else? He looked around his truck, praying for insight.

Text me or try channel 9 on the CB radio, he added to the text, then sent it, grateful his Sheriff’s truck had the CB radio that he hadn’t used in years.

“I’m really hungry from working all day. Can we pick up some Atomic Tacos?”

“Sorry,” the guy said. “We need to get to the cabin. I have food for you there.”

Atomic Tacos. Clint put the vehicle into gear and headed south. When he hit Highway Two, he headed east. Atomic Tacos was on his right. He clicked to text and saw there were multiple messages, but he couldn’t respond.

They’re headed east on highway 2, he typed. He said something about a cabin. Can someone check if Jacob Wildman owns a cabin anywhere in the area?

He sent the text, grateful he hadn’t hit anybody texting and driving, and upped his speed, searching frantically for a black Navigator. His phone was beeping like crazy. He hit a red light and cussed his bad luck but searched the text thread.

From Mark: Phone not moving. Just south of the hospital. I’ll send someone to check it, but he probably dumped her purse.

From Carlsen: Everyone’s searching for the Navigator. No lights or sirens.

From Dad: Headed to the Lillywhites’. Not answering their phones.

From Aiden: Closest bomb squad is Kalispell. They are mobilizing. 70 mikes out.

From Dad: I’ve got some experience defusing bombs from time with Green Berets. Bennett can help me.

“Did you know you can go rafting on the Flathead River?” Lily asked, her voice shaky. “Not at this spot obviously—it’s too calm—but it’s a lot of fun, the rafting.”

The light turned green. Clint needed more help. This was a nightmare not being able to just call. He turned on the CB radio and set it to channel 9. “This is Sheriff Clint Coleville from Coleville, Montana. I’m following a wanted murderer, Landon Trupp, possibly known as Jacob Wildman. He has kidnapped Lily Lillywhite. They were headed east on Highway 2, something about going to a cabin. She just mentioned passing the Flathead River. Any idea where they’re headed?”

Other law enforcement started talking over each other—everyone was searching for the black Navigator, and they agreed that if they’d just passed the river, they’d still be heading east but on Highway 35.

Clint listened to the chatter and tried to respond. He reminded them not to use lights or sirens and to stay back if they did see the Navigator. Even if Lily’s parents were out of their house, he’d rather have somebody tailing Jacob rather than a high-speed chase that could end with Lily getting hurt.

If that monster had a chance to hunker down in a cabin, could they get her out without her getting hurt even worse?