“Maybe she wants to, but she won’t. And even if she still did, I won’t let her.”
He swore under his breath. “Do I have to tell you again that Natalie Berkshire isn’t wanted for anything other than questioning at this point? Or that you don’t have the authority to go after her, let alone arrest her, even if there was a warrant out for her? Worse, Natalie might not be the woman you have to fear. You could be with the real criminal right now. How do you know she wasn’t involved with Natalie Berkshire’s abduction?”
“She wasn’t. Which means that she isn’t the only one on this woman’s trail. We need to find her first. I was right about what happened at the hospital. Natalie did say something to her, just as I thought I heard. She said that Tricia, Mo’s sister, didn’t kill herself.”
“What?”
“Apparently there was more going on with that family than anyone—other than Natalie, who lived in the house—knew. If Tricia didn’t kill herself, if Natalie didn’t take that baby’s life, then who did?”
“Brick,” his father snapped. “What are you going to do with her if you find Natalie? Maybe more to the point, what is Mo going to do? Even if you find Natalie, you can’t restrain her in any way or you’ll find yourself behind bars for kidnapping. Clearly the woman was well enough to escape the hospital. Letting the cop who’s chasing her out of jail is just asking for trouble.”
“Maybe Natalie lied about all of it. But what if she didn’t?” Hud heard the music in the background change. Then his son said, “I think I see the motorcycle she stole. I have to go.”
He swore as Brick disconnected. He tried to call him back, but the phone went straight to voice mail. He debated putting a BOLO out on both his son and Mo. Natalie already had one out on her. Along with being wanted for questioning, she was wanted for tying up a nurse and stealing a motorcycle and a purse at the hospital. Also at this point, Hud had no doubt that the woman would be safer behind bars.
The marshal looked up to find a deputy standing in his doorway. “Anything more on the motor home?”
“So far I haven’t found any that have been returned in the past twenty-four hours that might have been damaged as if someone had broken out of it,” the deputy said, clearly unhappy with this assignment.
Hud waved him away, saying, “Keep trying.” As the deputy left, he wondered if it wasn’t a waste of manpower. Maybe whoever had rented the motor home would be smart enough not to turn it in anywhere nearby. That was if he was right and there’d been damage to it when Natalie had escaped.
HERBERT LEE REINER could feel sweat running down the middle of his back. He watched the two men in the glassed-in vacation rental vehicle office. Whatever they were discussing, it looked serious.
He thought about walking out. The car rental agency was just down the road. He could get there quickly enough. But it would mean leaving behind his reimbursement check. His deposit was a hefty amount—even after the repair bill had come out of it.
He glanced toward the motor home sitting where he’d parked it, then back at the men in the RV rental office. It was hot in here. He wanted to push back the sleeves on his shirt, but then the scratches would show. The clerk, a young man named Gil, had been suspicious enough when he’d seen the damage done to the door in the motor home’s one bedroom. Now Gil was in the office talking to his older boss.
His throat dry as dust, Herb spotted the drinking fountain off to the side and walked over nonchalantly, hoping he looked like a man without a care in the world. He turned it on and took a long drink even though the water wasn’t quite cold enough. It also had a funny taste. But at his age, everything was either tasteless or strange. Aging taste buds, though, were the least of his worries right now.
Glancing at his watch, he felt time running out. As he took another drink and straightened, Gil came out of the glass enclosure holding his paperwork. Herb felt his heart drop as he saw that the man’s boss was now on the phone.
“I really need to get going,” Herb said. “Is there a problem?”
“No,” the clerk said a little too quickly. “I’m just new at this and I want to do it right.”
He tried not to be impatient as he watched the clerk tap at his computer keys. Had Gil been told to stall Herb until the police arrived?
Glancing toward the outside door, he considered making a run for it. But his legs felt as if they’d turned to blocks of wood. He hadn’t run anywhere in years and there was his bad knee to consider. He shifted on his feet, looked down and frowned. There was a spot of blood on his right sneaker. The sight elevated his heart rate. He felt his chest tighten.
“I think I have it now,” Gil said. The printer began to grind out more paperwork. How much paperwork did it take to un-rent a motor home anyway?
Gil moved to the printer, pulled out the papers and began sorting through them. Through the glass window into the office, Herb saw that the boss was off the phone and looking in his direction.
But the man’s gaze dropped the moment it connected with Herb’s. His heart was pounding now, making breathing more difficult. If he didn’t get out of here—
Gil handed him a stack of papers. On the top was a check for both his deposit and his refund since he was turning the motor home in earlier than he planned. He signed where Gil pointed and picked everything up with trembling fingers.
“Thank you,” he said automatically and turned toward the door,
