“But you don’t know if she went willingly,” Vince said.
“Is there a reason to believe she wouldn’t go willingly?” Sharpe asked.
“Yes.” Ryan stared at the photo of Dex’s truck for a long moment. “They didn’t break up on good terms.”
Sharpe pressed his lips into a firm line and took the phone back before tapping out a message. Then he looked up at Ryan. “We have an agent with the Spatz family. Agent Scofield. I just confirmed the information with him, and he’s going to question Nicole Dexter and her husband, provided her husband is there. I’m not sure if he’s been with the family through all this.” Sharpe then pulled a notebook out of his pocket and wrote down some information. When he looked back up, he said, “Expect to see this new information airing on the news in an hour or so. Depending on how Scofield’s questioning goes with Nicole Dexter, we’ll release the information to the press and ask for more. Hopefully, someone has seen them together in the truck.”
Ryan stared at him for a long moment, not totally sure he liked where this was leading. “Sir, are you seriously investigating this as if Bailey left with Dex of her own free will?”
“What else is there to suspect?”
“You said yourself there wasn’t any proof she left willingly,” Vince said.
Ryan felt heat rise in his face. “I just told you, she wouldn’t have left with Dex willingly, and if she did, you have to remember—she didn’t know about her family, and he did! Isn’t it obvious that he’d do something to shut her up?”
“I said we couldn’t confirm she went willingly, but we also can’t confirm she didn’t. I’m just trying to tell you, it’s a possibility she chose to leave with him.”
“You’re a mother fucking idiot!” Ryan shouted. He snatched the note with the address where Bailey was last seen and tipped his chair over as he stood and turned toward Lucas, who was heading up the boots-on-the-ground searchers.
Before he had a chance to say anything to Lucas, Sharpe approached him from behind and said, “Ryan.”
“No. I made it perfectly clear to you—nobody knew Dex was married when Bailey was seeing him. We. Didn’t. Know.” He pointed to Sharpe. “Has it occurred to you maybe he snatched her off the street to keep her from talking to you? He couldn’t have known Bailey’s DNA had a match.” He shook his head, the realization settling in. “Jesus Christ! He thought she was submitting her DNA today. That’s what we told him last week. Fuck! He was trying to get her out of the way before she had a chance.”
“Ryan, take a deep breath, okay?” Sharpe held out a calming hand. “All of this has occurred to us. That’s why Agent Scofield’s speaking with the family. We haven’t given up on Bailey, but we have to look at all possibilities.”
Ryan pointed to his chest and said, “Any possibilities that don’t involve Bailey being taken against her will are a waste of fucking time.”
Vince grabbed Ryan’s arm. “Ryan, you need to calm down, son.”
Sharpe nodded at them. “It’s fine. I understand why you’re upset. I really do.”
Ryan stepped back and was met by Lucas’ hand on his shoulder. He took a deep breath and shook it off as best he could. Finally, he said, “I get that you’re doing your job, but Bailey’s in danger, and unlike you, we don’t have the luxury of being objective about it. While you question her motives, I already know she’s in danger.”
“Ryan, nothing’s changed. We’re also concerned, and we haven’t changed the focus of our search. I assure you, Bailey’s safety is very important to us.”
“Thank you,” Vince said. “We hope you’ll continue to update us as you learn more.”
Sharpe nodded and took the hand Vince extended to him. “Of course. I’ll do what I can to keep you informed.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
It was nearing nine p.m. on the fourth day of Bailey’s disappearance, and they were all exhausted. Ryan spied his dad at a corner table, head resting on his folded arms, sound asleep. Many of the searchers had called it a day. Some lingered, mainly to offer support. He looked around the room, taking in all the friends who had remained. He was so thankful, but it was hard. Hard to do anything but think about Bailey and what she could be going through. Worry consumed him, and he wasn’t sure what to do next. The Lake Tahoe area was so large, and they couldn’t even be sure Dex hadn’t taken her out of the area.
When his phone rang, he pulled it out and saw Agent Sharpe’s number on the screen. Ryan hit the answer button. “Hello?”
“Ryan, we have some news.”
“Shoot,” he said, anxious to hear it all. Lucas had just exited the kitchen when the phone rang, so he walked over to join Ryan.
“Nicole Dexter hasn’t heard from her husband since he left for work on Friday morning. She’s been trying to make contact with him, but he won’t return her calls, and he hasn’t been home since then.” Ryan heard paperwork shuffle in the background, then Sharpe said, “And she was completely unaware her husband was having an affair.”
Ryan almost rolled his eyes. No shit. He didn’t need the FBI to tell him that. “There’s more, I assume.”
“Yes. We’ve had hundreds of tips since we released the information about Dexter’s truck. It seems a lot of people noticed it
