Her Silent Cry (Detective Josie Quinn #6)- Lisa Regan Page 0,107

anything else. But maybe you or the FBI could access the records of his arrest and conviction?”

“Yes,” Josie said. “I’ll call Special Agent Oaks. Trinity, thank you for this. That exclusive is yours.”

Josie hung up and called Oaks, briefing him on everything Trinity had discovered. He promised to find out everything he could about Martin Lendhardt’s child endangerment conviction. Josie dropped her phone into her pocket and tried to slow her breathing. It felt like a break in the case. She hoped that by the time she brought Colin back to the command tent, Oaks would have a lot more information.

She took a glance around the messy kitchen and started cleaning up. Several half-finished mugs of coffee sat on the kitchen table. Someone had kept the Rosses’ coffeemaker full and hot while the FBI and Denton PD were stationed at the house. Josie emptied them into the sink and rinsed them out. The real stink came from the trash bin, which was full of half-finished takeout, also from the myriad law enforcement officers who had been staying there around the clock. Neither Amy nor Colin had been able to eat much since Lucy went missing. She tied up the bag and wrestled it out of the bin. Turning toward the back door, something on the shiny tile floor caught her eye.

A muddy footprint. Then another partial print. From someone walking into the kitchen from the back door. From the look of the treads, Josie guessed the person who left them had been wearing boots. Her mind worked backward to every agent and officer who had been at the Ross home in the past week. None of them had been wearing boots. Besides that, it hadn’t rained, and there was no mud in the backyard. Josie set the trash bag softly onto the floor. She took out her phone, fired off a text to Noah—he would respond the quickest—and then she drew her service weapon.

Sixty-Five

As she raced up the stairs, she heard the sound of water running in the bathroom. At the top of the steps, she made a sharp right and began checking the rooms, her Glock held out in front of her. First Colin’s home office, then Lucy’s room. The bathroom was next. She placed one hand on the doorknob. “Mr. Ross?” she called.

No answer. He could be in the shower. Maybe she was imagining things. Even if the kidnapper had come to the Ross home after shooting Josie on the mountain behind Denton East, he had probably already left. What would he have come here for? Maybe he thought they’d brought the money back to the house and planned to swipe it while no one was around.

“Mr. Ross?”

No answer. She turned the knob. It twisted easily in her hand. She kept her gun at the ready and pushed the door open. There stood the kidnapper, pressing Colin up against the wall. He held a forearm against Colin’s throat and a large knife in the little hollow where Colin’s solar plexus was located. Both heads turned toward her. Josie aimed at the kidnapper. He was taller than she expected. Everything had happened so quickly on the mountain, she’d barely had a chance to register anything about him before he shot her. Now she took a good look at him. His shaggy brown hair looked greasy and unwashed. Mud streaked his face and clothes. His brown eyes widened when he saw her.

“I shot you,” he said.

“Put the knife down and step away from Mr. Ross,” Josie said.

Colin’s voice came out strangled and raspy. “Let him kill me. He can have the money. Just get my Lucy back. Bring her home.”

Josie aimed at his ribs, but she knew she didn’t have a clean shot. Not with the kidnapper pressed so close against Colin. Still, she didn’t waver. “I said, drop the knife and let Mr. Ross go. Now. You’re under arrest for the kidnapping of Lucy Ross and three murders.”

He smiled at her. “Three murders?”

“Jaclyn Underwood, Wendy Kaplan, and Natalie Oliver.”

His smile failed. His mouth moved but nothing came out.

“That’s right,” Josie said. “We ID’d your girlfriend, and we know you shot her. This ends now. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt, including you, so just put the knife down and step away from Mr. Ross.”

Colin’s hands were trapped between his own body and the man’s forearm, keeping just enough room between the two for him to breathe and speak. “Please,” he said. “I don’t care if he kills