But would it be soon enough? That question pinballed around in my brain. With each cycle through, horrible images appeared, each one worse than the one before. Was she cold? Was she terrified? Was she still breathing?
She had to be. If someone had wanted to kill her, they could’ve done that already. There would’ve been no point in taking her. But some things were worse than death.
I shoved that thought from my head and focused back on Hayes. “What about August Ernst? Have you located him yet?”
Kenny Chambers was still locked up, so it couldn’t have been him. Even with everything Shiloh had been through these past few weeks, the possibilities were limited.
Hayes shook his head. “I talked to his parole officer. August isn’t supposed to check in until tomorrow. He’s made every other appointment. But he did call in sick from work today.”
“Did someone go by his house?”
Ruiz let out a grunt as if to say, “Do you think I’m an idiot?”
Hayes sent him a sidelong look. “He wasn’t home.”
My gut gave a vicious twist. I knew August was off. I could tell it simply from looking at his mugshot. And Shiloh had gotten it right. There was a deadness in his eyes.
“You’ve got an A.P.B. out on him, too, right?”
“Of course, we do,” Ruiz snapped. “But now, we’re wasting time explaining things to you instead of making progress.”
“Ruiz—”
“It’s the truth.”
“Guys,” the computer tech called. “I’ve got something.”
We all turned and hurried over to her screen.
She tapped on a few keys. “I’ve been searching all the cameras for the five minutes before they cut the power. I got two people on video. I don’t think they knew the camera’s angle could get them here.”
The tech pulled a frozen image up onto the screen—two men, both in baseball caps, one closer to the camera. I recognized him instantly. August Ernst. I let loose a stream of curses.
“Get a warrant for Ernst,” Hayes barked to Ruiz and then turned back to the screen. “Can you zoom in on the second guy?”
The tech nodded. “It gets a little pixelated, but I can try to clean it up.”
Her hands flew over the keyboard, and she moved the mouse in tiny, expert motions. As she worked, a face came into focus.
All of us went dead-still behind her.
“It’s not possible. He’s dead,” Ruiz muttered.
But there was Howard Kemper, standing right in the middle of the damn screen.
Everything in me went wired. There wasn’t anything that would terrify Shiloh more than being faced with that man. The one who had written her every week for nine years. God only knew what plans he had for her. Revenge? Something more twisted?
Ruiz pulled out his phone and began dialing. I was able to make out snatches of conversation as he ordered warrants for August and Howard. Just hearing Howard’s name again made me shake, and fury pulsed through me. It was almost too much for my body to handle.
Hayes spoke in quick, demanding sentences to someone on the phone. It took me a few minutes to realize it was the prison warden. As his voice rose, I knew heads would roll. “You findhim, and you stick a guard on him. He doesn’t make one damn phone call until my officers have picked him up for questioning.”
Hayes paused for a moment, and then his expression hardened. “Save your damn apology. Just do what I asked.” He ended the call without another word.
“What?” I growled.
“Howard Kemper was a model prisoner. And with that, he got privileges—like his choice of work-detail assignments.”
“Where did he work?” I prodded. I knew Hayes was leading to the how, but he wasn’t getting there quickly enough.