Page 109 of Betrayed

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Shotgun in hand, Logan inched down the hallway of the old Enzweiler Insane Asylum, which was slated to be demolished next month. As dangerous as it had been when they were teens, it was doubly so now.

And it wasn’t worth having a place where evil men could take their victims.

Where had Miles taken AJ? Had he hurt her? Would she be able to get away and signal for help?

Logan and his team reached the end of the hallway. It was clear. No one was there.

All the teams met out front. Having ten people sweep the building had only taken ten minutes. No one was there.

“It was worth checking,” someone said. Logan wasn’t sure who. He was too busy trying to think of any other place Miles would go. But he didn’t know Miles well enough to even guess.

He checked the time on his watch. It was almost ten o’clock. She’d been gone for three hours. What if he’d left town with her? They could be in a completely different state by now.

Logan’s knees gave out, and he leaned on the trunk of the nearest squad car, then sank onto the bumper. The weight of possible loss was unbearable. God, sustain me. Keep AJ safe. Bring her back to me.

Will came and sat beside Logan. “Will Stutely and Little John are not going to let the Sheriff of Nottingham keep Robin Hood prisoner.”

Logan chuckled, a little bit of tension releasing from his muscles. “We have to find her.”

Will nodded. Logan followed his friend’s attention to Zara, who was struggling to keep her tough police exterior. She hugged herself. She and AJ had become such close friends over the last month or so.

Will said, “We’ll find her if it’s the last thing we do.”

Zara joined them, and Will put his arm around his girlfriend.

The officers began dispersing, and Adam walked over to the three friends. “I got word that Miles’s rental car has been spotted across town.”

Logan jumped to his feet. “Let’s go.”

“I figured you’d say that.” Adam motioned for him to follow.

Will said, “We’re coming too.”

Adam gave a thumbs up, and they all left.

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at a rural park with a gravel lot between empty ball fields and a walking path. The officer on the scene nodded to them. “I looked around, but nothing stood out to me. This parking lot doesn’t have any cameras.”

Logan kicked at the gravel. “Miles wasn’t the dumb kid in class. He thought this all through. It’s possible he took her somewhere on foot from here.”

Will pointed at the vehicle. “That car is backed in. I wonder if he had another car parked here and switched it up in case we figured out it was him and looked for his car.”

Adam nodded. “Likely. The car being backward also helped delay identifying it since we couldn’t see the license plate.”

Logan agreed. “Now what?”

Adam said, “We search the area and the car. Logan, you and I are on the car. Everyone else spread out and look for any clues showing they walked rather than drove away from here.”

Adam handed Logan a set of gloves, and they walked to the vehicle.

“Are you sure I’m not compromising evidence by being her husband? Conflict of interests?”

“Doesn’t matter. You will know what is your wife’s. If she left a clue, you’re more likely to recognize it.”

Logan studied the gravel as he approached the passenger side of the sedan.

“Adam, check out the gravel over here. Is it me or does that look more disturbed than it should?”