find Melissa, and that’s exactly what Victoria and I are going to do.” He knew Gabe would back him up on this one. There was no way that his best friend would pull him off this case, especially not with the chance Melissa was still alive.
Oh, hell, no, there would be no backing down. And the more manpower they had on the search, the better.
He intended to see Jim Porter ASAP. The guy needed to be brought up to speed on all the tangled shit that was happening with this case. But first . . . “You aren’t going to charge Branson with anything.”
“What the hell can I charge him with? My captain wants an arrest, but I’m not taking in an innocent man.” Dace jerked a hand through his already disheveled hair. “We’re going to interview him. We’re going to collect any evidence that the killer might have left in the house, but no, I’m not about to put Lucas Branson under arrest.”
Wade’s focus shifted back to the house. “Lucas and Connie need to be put up in a safe house, just for the next few days.”
Dace’s laugh was bitter. “No way will the captain go for that. Our budget is stretched enough as it is.”
“LOST will foot the bill.” Again, he had no doubt that Gabe would back him up. “But if the killer has been watching them,” and Wade was sure he had, “they need a safe place. They need to get off his radar while we figure out what the SOB’s next move is.”
Victoria was heading toward them.
“His next move,” Dace told him, voice only carrying to Wade’s ears, “could be her.”
“The hell it will be.” His instant response. But . . . Wade was afraid the detective might be right, though it made no sense for the killer to contact Victoria. She should have barely been on his radar. They’d just arrived in town, but something had made the perp connect with her.
It was a connection Wade wanted to end.
Someone called out for Dace and the detective gave Wade a curt nod. “Look, I’ll keep you updated and you do the same for me, got it? After all, we both have the same end goal here.”
Bringing in the missing girl alive.
Stopping the killer.
“Will do,” Wade said, and he watched as Dace hurried away.
Victoria eased closer to him. Her shoulder brushed against his arm. “I think the killer is playing with us.”
He did, too.
“The killer—he wanted the cops to come storming up here. Calling me, staying on the line long enough for the cops to follow the signal from his phone . . . that wasn’t a mistake.”
“No.” Wade agreed with her on that.
Her head tilted back as she studied him. “Why me?”
His back teeth ground together as he thought about just why the killer wanted her. Then he forced himself to say, “You were probably just convenient.” Don’t scare her. “You won’t hear from him again.”
She looked down at the ground. “I would have thought . . .” Her voice came slowly. “. . . that after everything else, all that I’d been through with LOST, you wouldn’t try to hide the truth from me.”
Dammit.
“I don’t think there are any coincidences or any conveniences with this guy,” she added.
Wade swallowed. “Then you tell me, baby. Why did he call you?”
Her lips parted. She was still looking at the ground, not him, and it took her a moment to say, “He told me that he knew things about me. Secrets.”
Wade wanted to know her secrets.
“I think we should get to Jekyll Island,” she said suddenly, as her gaze lifted. “He mentioned that place for a reason.”
“Or he mentioned it to throw us off track. To send us running in the wrong direction.” Just the mention of Jekyll Island made him tense. Shit, he knew that place—and he didn’t exactly have fond memories of the island. He’d grown up in Atlanta, but a few times he’d come with his mother and his brother to Jekyll on holiday.
An image of his brother Adam flashed in his mind, and the pain hit him hard—just like the stab of a knife. He hadn’t been back to Jekyll, not since that fucking day. What a cruel bitch fate was, to send this shit his way now.
Victoria gestured to the house. “This is the wrong direction. He said he wanted to trade. He said to go to Jekyll Island.” She straightened her spine. “That’s what I’m doing.”
Then she turned away from him