just inside the barn. She moved in closer, and closer, until she saw the make of the car, and then zoomed in to get the tag.
She turned back to her other computer, hacked into the DMV and checked the registration, then grinned.
“To quote Charlie...hot damn.”
It was registered to Burch. She began saving images of everything she’d seen to send to Detective Floyd, and when she was finished, she was pulling back on the satellite view when she saw a door open on the front porch, and then a man came out.
The skin on the back of her neck suddenly crawled. It was Burch. She recognized him from his picture on file at the DMV and immediately saved the image. And then she went back to the active screen and zoomed in on his face.
He looked so ordinary. Midforties, a nose that might have been broken once or twice, a chin people would have referred to as weak, pale eyes and blondish/graying hair.
It was horrifying to know that this man had tried to kidnap her. He’d had his hands all over her, and she could have passed him on the street and never known who he was.
This was the man who kidnapped Rachel and the other women. And if it hadn’t been for Charlie, she would have been the fifth. A bitter taste was suddenly in the back of her throat, as if she might vomit. She leaned closer to the screen until they were digitally face-to-face.
“I’m taking you down, you sorry bastard, and I’m doing it for free.”
Then she heard Charlie coming up the hall at a fast pace and guessed he’d heard from Floyd.
She dragged all of the photos into the desktop folder she’d made for the deeds and land records and sent in the whole thing as an attachment to Floyd’s email just as Charlie came into the office.
“We have to go,” Charlie said.
“Call Floyd,” she said.
“But we’ll see him at—”
“Please. Just call him now.”
Charlie pulled up the number and called.
Floyd answered promptly. “Did you get my text?”
“Yes, just now, but Wyrick needs to tell you something. She’s on speaker.”
“Hey, lady. What magic have you conjured up now?”
“Sonny Burch inherited his paternal grandparents’ farm east of Dallas. It’s north off Highway 80...between the towns of Elmo and Edgewood. He’s there...now.”
“How in the world do you know that?” Floyd asked.
“Check your email. I just sent you satellite photos of a car parked inside a barn on the property, and the GPS location. I also got the make, model and license plate number of the car. It belongs to Burch. And I have satellite photos of him coming outside and standing on the porch.”
“Okay... I’m not even asking you how you have access to a satellite you can manipulate to suit yourself. We’ll contact the Dallas County Sheriff’s office, and ask them to pick him up for questioning. But we’re already on the way to Detter House. Are you coming?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Charlie said.
“Then we’ll see you there. And once more, thank you, Wyrick. If you ever want a job with—”
“Everybody always asks, but she’s mine, so no poaching,” Charlie said.
Floyd was still laughing when Charlie ended the call.
Then Wyrick stood up, and Charlie’s gaze went from her face to the dragon’s eyes staring at him, and then back to her face again. He pointed at the visible dragon beneath her shirt.
“He glared at me. Tell it I’m on your side,” Charlie said.
“Don’t be so touchy. She already knows that, and I’m ready when you are.”
Charlie felt as if the ground had just gone out from beneath his feet. Ready when I am? Am I ready for you?
“Uh...ready to...?”
“To leave,” Wyrick said. “Do you want me to drive?”
Charlie hit the earth with an emotional thump.
“We’ve already had this conversation,” he said. “Let’s hustle.”
Minutes later they were in his Jeep and leaving the property. Wyrick set the security alarm as the gate swung shut behind them, and then they were gone.
* * *
While Charlie and Wyrick were on their way to meet the detectives, Floyd had already sent a request to the Dallas County Sheriff to pick J.J. Burch up for questioning in the abduction of Rachel Dean, and the attempted abduction of Jade Wyrick. He readily agreed and sent two officers to the farm.
Sonny was spending his last hours as a free man and didn’t know it. Part of him knew the possibility was inevitable, but he had yet to accept it.
He’d spent the night on a dusty bare mattress