Part 33 (1/2)
”I didn't realize you knew how to do that.”
”I do. I run Yancey's canine search-and-rescue unit.”
”Kayden mentioned that. I just didn't realize you did the training too.”
”I've been doing it for years, along with my dad, until my parents moved away.” Dogs were so much more faithful than people, at least in her experience.
”Interesting,” he said with a smile.
She s.h.i.+fted to study him better. Reef McKenna found something she did to be interesting? Well, that was a first.
For the rest of the drive to the Imperial Garden, she tried to keep her mind focused on the task of finding Kayden and not on how very handsome Reef McKenna was sitting beside her-tall, sculpted body, curly blond hair, deep blue eyes. The man was breathtaking. Just like William.
Agony p.r.i.c.ked her afresh. It'd been weeks since she'd thought about . . . since her last nightmare. More than a year had pa.s.sed, and she still had nightmares. When would they stop?
After Reef notified the owners, Kirra led Rex through the front of the Imperial Garden, had him smell Kayden's sweats.h.i.+rt. He immediately picked up her scent and followed her path from the front table to the ladies' room and on to the back door. Kirra opened it, and they stepped outside, the alley nearly dark. Rex sniffed, signaling east.
”She left from here, heading east in a vehicle.”
”He can tell that?”
”Yes.”
”What's your best guess of their destination?”
”The docks.”
Jake hung up, trying not to chuck his phone against the wall. The ferry. He should have known, but how did Angela get Kayden on the ferry and keep her subdued during transport?
No doubt she'd knocked Kayden unconscious or drugged her, and what . . . ? Hid her in her truck? Kirra had said it had a hard-sh.e.l.l cover over the bed. Angela had clearly put a lot of thought into her plans. It was downright frightening, and he feared what else she had in store before their nightmare was over.
His stomach clenched. If Kayden had been at full strength, there was no way Angela could have overcome her. But being nearly immobile, Kayden . . .
He had to focus. The ferry. From Yancey there were only two direct options-Imnek and Kodiak. That helped narrow their scope, but only if Angela remained on one of those islands. If she took another ferry from there . . . He rushed to the ferry station. Reef had said he would call everyone else.
During the summer, the ferry ran every three hours. The ride to Imnek only took an hour and a half. The ride to Kodiak took about three hours. Jake looked at his watch. ”Call the ferry stations. Have them watch for Angela arriving,” he said to Landon. He prayed she was headed for Kodiak and they'd still have time to intercept-but she was probably too smart to give them that much time to figure out she had taken the ferry. And if she'd gone directly to Imnek, they were probably too late.
Once Landon was on his cell with the ferry station in Imnek and Gage on the phone with the Kodiak station, Jake stepped inside Yancey's terminal office. ”Hey, Cal,” he greeted the man working the desk, ”any chance you remember this lady buying a ticket in the last three hours?” He held out Angela's photo.
Cal studied the photo. ”Can't say that I do, but the boys were working the line.” During tourist season, the guys stood outside by the vehicle line and sold tickets directly to the drivers, helping avoid a backup.
”Are they still on s.h.i.+ft?”
Cal raised an eyebrow. ”Yeah. I'll call them.”
Jed and Russ met Jake by the pier. Jed was young, early twenties, with light blond hair; Russ was older, midthirties, with the weathered skin of a mariner.
Jake showed them Angela's picture. Both inspected it, and Jed tapped the photograph. ”That looks a lot like Carol. I've seen her plenty of times, but not today.”
”Oh?”
”Yeah, a real hottie for an older lady.”
Jake supposed a woman in her midforties would look older to a twenty-year-old.
”Why do you remember her?” There had to be some reason she stuck in his mind.
Jed shrugged with a smile. ”Because she was nice. We chatted during her trips. Maybe even flirted a little.”
”Trips?”
”Yeah she made weekly trips to Imnek and back.”
”For how long?”
”Past couple months.”
So she'd been preparing for this all along. ”What did you two chat about?”
”I don't know.” Jed leaned against the rail. ”Nothing in particular.”
”Did she say why she was going to Imnek so frequently?”
”Nah. I think I asked once, but she just changed the subject. You know how folks around here are about their privacy.”
”Yeah.” People in Yancey, in most of Alaska, prided themselves on the privacy that living in such a rugged land, away from crowded cities and the need to always be in your neighbor's business, afforded them.
”And you're positive you haven't seen her tonight?”
”Positive . . . but I saw her truck. Some dude was driving it.”
”A man?”
”Yeah.”
”And you're sure it was her truck?” He pointed to Angela's picture.
”I'm sure. Had the cool Brembo calipers that kick-started our first conversation. Thought it was pretty cool a chick like her was driving a truck with red Brembo brake calipers.”
”Which ferry did the man with her truck take? Imnek or Kodiak?”
Jed thought a moment. ”Imnek.”
”Has it docked there already?” Unfortunately, Jake already knew the answer. He just wished it were different.
Jed looked at his watch. ”Twenty minutes ago.”
Jake exhaled, frustration searing through him.
”Can you describe the man?” Landon asked, coming up behind him.