“I figured you’d want to go to the hotel and get settled in before I report.”
“Not on your life,” I said. “We’re going straight to the police station, together.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive.”
He smiled as he gunned the engine and merged back onto the interstate. “I’m not about to argue with you. Let’s go see what’s going on.”
WE WALKED INTO THE STATION TOGETHER, BUT I MIGHT as well have gone directly to the hotel after all. I’ve never seen so many people that happy to see my husband, and only a few of them even glanced my way as we walked in.
The exception, to my surprise, was Davis Rawles. Davis had been a little heavy during the years he’d worked under Zach, but he must have gone on an eating binge since my husband had left him with his responsibilities. Even at six feet tall, the weight on Davis made me doubt he could pass any police physical in the world. His hair, once thinning, had left him completely, and the lack of it made him look even rounder.
He extended a meaty hand to me, and as I took it, Davis said, “I’m sorry about this, Savannah. If there’d been any other way . . .”
“It’s fine, Davis,” I said as I kissed his cheek. “He wanted to come, and I wasn’t about to stop him, even if I could.”
I looked around the squad room expecting to see Grady Winslow. I knew the mayor had to be busy doing his job, but I was still a little disappointed that he hadn’t shown up.
“Where’s Grady?” I asked Davis.
He looked troubled by my question, and I didn’t think he was going to answer it, but after a few moments of silence, he finally said, “That’s the problem. Nobody’s seen him since last night, and he’s not answering his cell phone this morning.”
I knew things were more desperate than we’d been told on the phone. Grady was attached to that cell phone more than he had been to any woman he’d ever dated, and he never went anywhere without it.
If he wasn’t answering his calls, something serious was wrong indeed.
Chapter 2
“TELL ZACH,” I SAID. “HE NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT’S going on.”
“I wanted to give him a minute to say hello to everyone first,” Davis said.
I studied his frown for a second, and then I asked, “Is that the truth, or are you just stalling?”
“How can I tell him that I lost his best friend?” Davis asked, the pleading clear in his eyes.
“Trust me; the quicker you do it, the better.”
Davis nodded, and then made his way over to my husband. The smile on Zach’s face vanished as he learned the news, and he hurried over to me.
“Did you hear?”
“Davis just told me,” I said. “What are you going to do?”
“What do you think? I’m going to find him,” my husband said.
Zach started conferring with Davis about tracking down Grady when I had a thought. “Have you tried checking the location of his phone?”
“They’ve been calling him all morning, Savannah.”
“That’s not what I mean, Zach. You told me you could use some kind of tracing technology to find a cell phone wherever it is, whether it’s turned on or not. Why don’t you ping his phone? I can’t imagine him going anywhere without it.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Davis said.
“You haven’t tried it yet?” Zach asked him.
“Cut me some slack. I just figured out that the man was missing two minutes ago.”
“Being missing and not answering his telephone are two different things,” I said. “There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation about where he is, and why he’s not answering his phone.”
“I’d rather overreact than assume everything’s all right, given the threats he’s been getting lately,” Zach said.
“I wasn’t suggesting otherwise,” I answered. “Let’s just make sure something’s really wrong before we get the whole city in an uproar.” I looked at Davis. “Did anyone go by his house to check on him?”
“I dispatched a car there right before I told you,” Davis admitted.
My husband answered, “I’m not waiting around to hear what happens. Ping his phone.”
Davis nodded, then stepped away from us to give the order.
While he was gone, my husband said, “I know he’s probably fine, but we can’t take any chances.”
“I’m as worried about Grady as you are.” I shivered slightly as I said it.
“He’s at home,” Davis said when he rejoined us. “At least his phone is.”
“Well, that’s good news, isn’t it?”
