How had they gotten him? She had no choice but to go, and without backup. Her phone chimed with another text, and, God, she didn’t want to open it. But she had to.
“Oh, no. No. No. No.”
The photo was of her and Everly having their picnic that morning. Someone had been watching them, and her stomach took a sickening roll at the thought of those bastards involving Everly in this.
“Please God, tell me what to do.” Fuzz got up from his bed and came to her. He put his paw on her leg and whined. “We have to sneak out of here.” She couldn’t have Johnny involved in this. If she showed up with him, with anyone, they’d shoot Tristan.
She collected supplies: an extra box of ammo, a Taser, the tactical knife Dustin had given her. He had one like it, and she’d admired it once, so he’d gifted one to her for her birthday one year. The knife went in her boot, the ammo and Taser in a pocket of her pants. She turned off her police radio.
“Let’s go, Fuzz. Hope you’re good at being sneaky.” She clipped the leash to his collar. Fortunately, her office was at the back of the building, near the rear door. She peeked out, and seeing no one in the hallway, she stepped out, then closed her office door. Hopefully, her people would think she was in there but didn’t want to be disturbed.
Fuzz, seeming to pick up on her tension stayed close to her leg, and they slipped outside unnoticed and were able to get around the building and to her car without being seen. As soon as she was out of the parking lot, she turned her radio back on.
She had three hours to come up with a plan. But first she had to call Parker. Above all else, Everly had to be protected.
“Hey, Skylar. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Is Everly at school?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Don’t panic, but I need you to go get her. Don’t go home. Go...” Where? Think, Skye. Where would they be safe? “Um, take her to the firehouse. Both of you stay there.”
“What’s going on? Is something wrong with Everly?”
“Just go right now. I’ll meet you there. And don’t say anything to anyone, okay?”
“I won’t, but only because I trust you. If it involves my daughter, I want to know what’s going on.”
“Get her so I know she’s safe, then we’ll talk.”
Was anyone following her? She kept her eyes on the rearview mirror as she headed to town. So far, she hadn’t seen anyone suspicious, but she wasn’t taking any chances. Her first instinct had been to figure out how to rescue Tristan by herself, but that would be a reckless thing to do. She didn’t know how many men she’d be facing, and she doubted Grant had any intention of letting her or Tristan go.
Parker deserved to know his brother was being held hostage by a drug dealer. She wouldn’t let Parker involve himself in the rescue. His job was to keep his daughter safe. But like his brothers, he was smart, and she valued his input. Grant or Drake or someone she didn’t know about could be watching her, so she went straight to the bank, parked her car in their lot, then she and Fuzz went inside. If she was being followed, let whoever it was think she was getting Grant’s money.
The two tellers had customers and weren’t paying attention to her. So far, so good. The loan officer was in his office on the phone, and she waved as she passed by. He smiled and waved back. Annie, the bank manager, was in her office by herself.
Skye stopped at her open door. “Annie, I need you to let me out the back.”
“The back door?”
“Yes.” She would have preferred to pass through the bank unnoticed, but the rear door was alarmed. “It’s official police business. I’ll also need you to let me back in in a little while.”
“Can I ask what this is about? Is the bank going to be robbed?”
“No and no. I can’t tell you now, but I promise when the situation is taken care of, I’ll tell you. There’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“Okay.” She opened her drawer and took out a ring of keys. “You really have me curious.” She frowned at Fuzz. “Why do you have the chief’s dog? Those two are never apart.”
“Fuzz is on loan to me for the day. I don’t know how long I’ll be, but I’ll call you when I need you to let me back in. Do you have a direct line?”
“No, but call my cell phone.”
Annie gave her the number, and Skye put it in her phone. When they reached the door, Annie put the key in the exit alarm mounted on the wall. “Okay, you’re good to go.”
“Thanks. And keep this between us, okay? It’s more important than you can imagine.”
“I will.”