Page 51 of Protecting Bree
But Smiley recognized the blouse Bree had been wearing.
It was one of her four outfits she’d brought with her from Vegas, and she’d told him it was a favorite because it had sunflowers all over it that made her smile when she wore it. How many times had he already folded that blouse after washing it?
Turning abruptly, Smiley managed just three steps away from the mound of clothing, doubled over, and threw up.
Seeing Bree’s clothes in a heap on the ground, in the dirt, hammered home that whatever had happened to her, whatever wasstillhappening, wasn’t good.
“That’s Fiona’s,” Cookie said, pointing out another shirt.
“You okay?” Blink asked quietly, putting a hand on Smiley’s back.
He stood and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. “No,” he said succinctly, turning back to the pile of clothing. He crouched next to it, not sure if he should touch anything or not. Leaning closer, he swore again.
“Cookie, tell me those aren’t the earrings your wife was wearing…the ones you told me have trackers in them?”
“Fuck. And her wedding rings. And those are the barrettes and earrings Hurt said Julie was wearing, also from Tex.”
Smiley nodded. “Bree was wearing that necklace. It was her favorite thing Tex had sent.” He looked over at Cookie, who was crouched on the opposite side of the discarded items. “They stripped them,” he whispered.
Cookie’s jaw was ticking in his cheek. He looked like Smiley felt. As if he was two seconds away from losing his shit. He stood and looked around. “They were here. A truck was probably backed into this spot. Their belongings were taken before they were loaded. So we know they’re in a truck.”
“But notwhichtruck, or where they’re going!” Smiley exclaimed, feeling extremely agitated. He began to pace back and forth, not able to look at Bree’s belongings thrown away like trash. He wasn’t sure what to do next.
“Blink here. Where’s Tex?”
Looking up, Smiley saw that Blink was holding his cell. He had the phone on speaker, so he and Cookie could hear his conversation, which Smiley appreciated. He would’ve probably done or said something he’d regret later if Blink had tried to keep any scrap of information from him. Even if what they heard was bad news, he needed to know.
“Hey, I’m Ryleigh,” a woman said on the other end of the line.
“Where’s Tex? I called his number,” Blink repeated.
“And I answered. It’s not a hard thing to do—at least not for me—you know, reroute phone calls from one number to another.”
“I don’t care if you’re the President of the United States or the Queen of England. I need to talk to Tex.Now,” Blink said in a harsh voice.
Any other time, Smiley would’ve been impressed. Blink wasn’t the kind of man who was terribly assertive. He let others be the bad guy, while he backed them up.
“He’s not available. You know how long it takes to search CCTV cameras in a city the size of Riverton? This isn’t like the TV shows, where it happens in the blink of an eye.”
“We found the trackers the women were wearing.”
“At the EZ On-and-Off Truck Stop east of Riverton. I know.”
“You fucking know? Why weren’t we told?! We’re wasting time and resources looking all over the fucking city, and youknow?” Blink asked in an outraged tone.
“The trackers had been disabled, but there was one, a ring, that wasn’t quite destroyed. It had a very faint signal. It took me a while to track it and by then, the women were long gone. I was still going to call to tell you the location but…you’re there now. And I figured you’d rather know where theyare, not where theyaren’t. So I’ve been busy trying to follow the truck that was parked where the three of you are now standing,” the woman, Ryleigh, said. “By scrolling through hours and hours of freaking security video.”
Looking around, Smiley didn’t see any cameras, but that obviously meant nothing. If Ryleigh knew there were three of them, she was obviously watching them right now.
“And?” Blink bit out.
“And it was a Perry Fried Chicken truck. It went east,which is a shame, because once it left the city limits it became much harder to track. But I know it went east on I-8, then headed south on State Route 94 toward Tecate.”
“Where is it now? Can we intercept before it crosses into Mexico?”
“Too late. I hacked into the cameras at the border crossing, and after a short wait in line, it went through without any issues over an hour ago.”
Smiley swore viciously.
