“Mills.” Tara’s thoughts were interrupted. His voice was tinged with urgency, and it caught Tara off-guard. She wasn’t expecting it. Does he already know I went off on my own? she worried. “I was just about to call you,” he added. “Another girl went missing.”
“What?” The turn of conversation shook her, and she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her instincts were right, and at that thought, Tara’s blood ran cold. “When?”
“This morning. I just got a call.” His voice was rushed, and she could hear him moving about as if he were heading out the door. “She’s a waitress, never came home last night. Her roommate called it in.” Tara heard the closing of a door behind him. “I’m already headed to the restaurant now. Where are you? Are you driving?”
He could hear the hum of the motor, the distance of her voice on speaker. She knew she just had to say it, and knowing another girl went missing, she now felt more confident with her choices. “I am,” she said. “I’m near Dewey Beach.” She paused a moment, but Warren waited for her to continue. “I was having doubts last night about Ben. I came out here to ask around the coffee shop again. I think I may have a lead, but I’m not sure.”
“What’s the lead?” Warren didn’t even sound angry. His thoughts were fully on the case, and he wanted all the information she had.
“There’s a crime reporter from a local station. He’s been at every scene, usually the first one there. I knew he looked familiar. But he apparently goes into the coffee shop a lot, he knew Reese. Apparently she had a crush on him.”
“And he’s the type of person someone would take a ride from.” Warren finished her sentence.
“Exactly, and he would know a thing or two about how to conceal evidence. He’s also someone who would possibly have a camera.”
“Where are you headed now? I’ll meet you there,” Warren said, sounding rushed.
“To his house. I called him. He gave me an address. I told him I knew he was following the story and wanted to see what he knew.”
“Mills,” Warren sighed. Tara could hear the concern in his words. “You need to wait until I get there. It could be a trap.”
“I know,” she said abruptly. She was now realizing more than ever how dangerous of a situation she was entering. But she also knew she had no time to wait. And it could take Warren close to an hour to get there.
“I can’t wait for you,” she replied. “But I’ll call Sheriff Patel.” She knew that he could send backup, which would protect her during the time Warren took to get there. “If that girl could still be alive, we might still have a shot at saving her. If we wait…” Her voice trailed off; she couldn’t finish her sentence, but she didn’t have to.
Warren sighed again. It was clear he understood. They both knew she couldn’t wait for him. She wasn’t going to let another girl get murdered. “What’s the address?” Tara read it off to him as he entered it into his GPS. “It’ll be forty-five minutes,” he sighed. “Please just do me a favor and don’t go in there before backup gets there.”
She agreed that she would wait, and after hanging up, she immediately called Sheriff Patel. He picked up instantly.
“Patel, I need backup,” she said without a second to spare.
Patel didn’t skip a beat. “Whereabouts?”
She gave him the address before explaining whose home it was and why she was heading there. “There’s a strong possibility this could be a killer. I need backup there immediately, but no sirens. This could be a potential hostage situation if he still has a victim. I don’t want to raise his suspicion.”
Patel understood. “My guys are all out on scenes right now, but I’ll rally them up and send them over. Give me ten minutes and someone will be there. You’ll see an unmarked vehicle across the street. You’ll know it’s us.”
They quickly hung up.
Tara stared out at the road, her fingers clenched tightly around the wheel. She was almost there, and as the car sped closer, an unwanted memory sprang into her head. It was the previous case she worked on––her reckless decision putting her in an almost fatal position. It surged into her mind like a warning, but Tara shook it off. This was different. Warren knew where she was, and backup was on its way. At that thought, she buried every trace of the voice telling her to wait for Warren.
Chapter Thirty
Tara stood on the doorstep of a split-level home at the end of dead-end street. She did one circle around the block before arriving, hoping to buy backup some more time, but it was all the time she was willing to give. She looked behind her—still no unmarked car where Sheriff Patel said it would be. She looked at the clock on her phone. It was now five minutes past when he said they would be there, and she knew any moment they would pull up. She didn’t want to waste another minute. She had waited long enough.
She knocked on a large wooden door with three square window cutouts on the top that were too high for her to see through. She waited a moment. There was no car in the driveway, Tara noted, but she could see a light on, assuming that any car was in the garage.
Within moments, she could hear someone moving toward the door. It swung open to reveal Dan Asher with a smile from ear to ear. He was wearing suit pants, a button-down shirt, and tie. He had just finished his shift, Tara remembered, but his clothes were perfectly unwrinkled, as if he had only worn them for a short while.
“Agent Mills,” he said as he put out his hand.
