She shoved the hair that had fallen loose out of her face. Apparently she’d done some tossing and turning during that short dream. The images haunted her. Penny and Cherry lying beside her. Adeline shuddered.
In the kitchen, she poured a glass of orange juice and downed it.
Better.
Her cell vibrated. She stared down at her waist. Damn, she hadn’t even taken off her utility belt. No wonder she felt achy. Even five minutes of sleep wearing all that gear poking and digging into her muscles was bad.
She pulled out her phone. A text message. She smiled. The only person who ever sent her text messages was Braddock. It would be a relief to hear from him. She frowned at the unknown number. Did he have a new cell number?
She opened the message.
She stopped breathing.
It’s time, princess. Meet me
at the command post. Come alone
or they die.
For about two seconds Adeline considered walking in there and dragging Wyatt out of the shower. But if he came and this bastard spotted him, the vics would die.
Was it possible they were even still alive?
She read the screen again.
Going alone was her only option. That Wyatt would go apeshit sent anger buzzing along her nerve endings. He didn’t trust her to handle herself. Didn’t have any faith in her ability. She was a good cop. It was way past time for him to notice.
Still, she wasn’t stupid enough to do this alone. As much as she wanted to assure the safety of those two ... going without backup would be the quickest way to get dead.
No problem. She would arrange backup. All she needed was a ten-minute head start. As long as Jamison thought she was alone, when reinforcements showed up, what could he do?
Die, because she was going to kill his sorry ass.
She checked her weapon, grabbed her jacket and the keys to her Bronco, as well as to Wyatt’s SUV, and slipped out the front door. Wyatt would be pissed but he’d get over it. He needed to learn to trust her.
With a quick survey of the dark yard, she hurried to her Bronco. Hit the unlock button, hopped in, and locked the doors. She backed out of the driveway without turning on the headlights.
Maybe even a ten-minute head start was foolhardy, but if there was any chance at all those women and that child were alive, she had to go for it.
Half a block from Wyatt’s house, she turned on the headlights and put through a call to Deputy Womack.
“Yeah.” From the sound of his voice, she’d gotten him out of bed.
“I got another message,” she blurted. Her nerves were vibrating with anticipation. This could be it.
“Addy? Where the hell are you? Where’s Wyatt?”
“Just listen to me, Womack. Come to Wyatt’s house and get him. I took his keys. By the time you get here I’ll be at the rendezvous point. I’ll forward you the location by text in five minutes. So get up, buddy, it’s going down.”
“Addy, listen to me.”
She hung up before he could attempt to talk her out of her decision. Focus was what she needed right now. Extreme focus.
A shiver rattled her bones as Nichols’s last words echoed in her brain.Stay away from your kin, Detective.
Her kin, right. The bastard was nothing to her. Except a dead man. He wasn’t getting away with what he’d done to her mother.
The farther out of town she got, the more her tension ratcheted up. She braked as she reached the turnoff to the dirt road leading to the command post they’d used today. As promised, she forwarded the text message to Womack’s cell as well as Wyatt’s.