“Worried.”
“Yeah.” Lucky nodded. “But sitting around whining about it isn’t going to do Ellie any good, so…” He pulled himself up to his desk and got to work.
Twenty very long, very nerve-wracking minutes later, and he’d not only accessed the footage from the CCTV cameras and the parking garage’s security feed, but he’d watched the abduction from every angle possible.
Many, many times.
And if he thought he was ready to kill the bastard who’d taken her before…
I want to rip out his fucking heart with my bare hands and shove it down the asshole’s throat.
Lucky had heard of being heartsick before, but until today, he’d never experienced it himself. But that was exactly how he felt. His heart was sick. Aching. Filled with so much fear for what Ellie may be going through, that he’d actually stopped and physically rubbed his chest several times in hopes of easing the pain.
It didn’t work. Nothing worked. And he knew the only thing that could possibly make him feel whole again was seeing her beautiful, smiling face, and knowing she was okay.
Lucky also knew the only way that would ever happen was if he and the others could get to her…before it was too late.
Please, baby. Please be okay.
His fingers flew across the keyboard once again.
“What are you searching for?” Chase asked from the seat to Lucky’s right.
“I hacked into Ellie’s server and accessed her client files. Both past and present. Now I’m cross-referencing those names with any recent illegal activity within the SPD’s database. Specifically, a stolen panel van belonging to a satellitecompany.” He shrugged. “The logo could be fake, but I figured it was as good a place to start as any.”
“That’s smart.”
“Only if it works.”
Minutes later, his computer notified him of a match.
“Does that mean what I think it does?” Van asked.
“Don’t get too excited just yet.” Lucky clicked on the highlighted name. “All this means is that the name matches one in the system, and it has a connection to one of Ellie’s cases. Could just mean the guy’s a new client, or his case simply hasn’t cleared the system.”
Lucky read the information on the screen. Then he clicked a few more keys, and read some more.
The longer more keys he pressed, the more hopeful he became. And after several more minutes and even more silent prayers, Lucky’s fingers froze and his eyes widened with surprise.
“Holy shit.”
“What”
“I think I found her. Or, at least the son of a bitch who took her.” He enlarged the image on the screen.
“Who the hell is that?” Van frowned.
“Larry Knowles,” Lucky said the man’s name aloud. “Guy’s got a rap sheet a mile long. Mostly petty drug charges, but he did a couple decent stints upstate in the past few years.”
“How’s he connected to Ellie?”
Lucky turned to Chase and shook his head. “He’s not. Not directly, anyway. But his brother is.” He pulled up another image. It was a mugshot, and the man staring back at the camera looked like the piece of shit Lucky now knew him to be. “This is Leonard Knowles,” he explained. “Meth dealer extraordinaire,but he’s also in gun sales, prostitution…you name it, he’s in it. Or at least, he was until a few weeks ago.”
“What happened a few weeks ago?” Chase asked.
“He was convicted on a slew of charges surrounding the meth lab he was running from inside his home. A home where the wife he beat and the man’s young son still lived, by the way.”
“I still don’t get how this helps us.”