Once on the road, she was tempted to call Sawyer. Tell him what was going on. But she didn’t know how solid a lead it was. They were acting on a hunch. Since this was an ongoing investigation, it would have been another breach of protocol. In addition, as much as she wanted to lift Sawyer’s spirits, it would be far more harmful to raise his hopes if nothing panned out.
Shannon saw the SDPD and FBI vehicles parked in front of the apartment block as she pulled up. She left her Explorer by the curb, too. When she’d let Darwin out of the back, they jogged to the entrance of the building, where Bigelow and Leary were waiting.
“We’ve spoken to the building manager again,” Bigelow said. “Are you ready to go in?”
Shannon nodded and had Darwin sniff Dylan’s shirt, while Bigelow punched in a four-digit code on the keypad by the door.
“Yeah?” was the gruff answer.
“It’s Bigelow with the SDPD. Can you let us in now and meet us at the elevators?”
“Okay.”
She heard the buzzing noise and the door unlatching. They strode over to the bank of elevators. With the building manager accompanying them, they took one up to the twelfth floor. She didn’t have to search for apartment 1208. Darwin led them straight to it and expressed moderate interest in the smells around the door.
“That’s promising,” Leary observed.
“It is,” Shannon agreed. “Based on Darwin’s accuracy rate, I’d say it gives us probable cause to enter.”
Bigelow nodded, waited for the warrant to come through then signaled for the manager to unlock the door.
Once inside, Shannon instructed Darwin to begin his search, and prayed he’d hit on something so they’d know that Dylan had been there. It wouldn’t tell them where Dylan was now, but it would be a solid lead, strongly suggesting that he was with Elaine Brant.
Shannon watched Darwin move around the room in his own predetermined pattern. He’d pause. Retrace his steps. When he’d finished the living room, there was no conclusive indication that he’d smelled Dylan. She led him to the master bedroom. With a sinking heart, she watched him execute the same behavior he had in the living room.
When he finished, she wanted to groan in frustration. If Dylan had been in those rooms, sufficient time had passed that his scent had dissipated.
As they moved toward the bathroom, Darwin perked up. Shannon saw a towel and a boy’s sock on the floor in one corner. Darwin made a beeline toward them. There was no mistaking his behavior now. “He’s been here,” Shannon shouted. “Dylan was in this apartment!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
SHANNON RECEIVED A text from Sawyer asking if it would be okay if he stopped by to see her once she got home. Asked might not have been the most accurate word, since the message didn’t give her much wiggle room. Even if it had, she couldn’t have said no. She missed him. And what was most disconcerting, she still loved him. As much as she wished there could be more between them, it was an impossible situation.
Sawyer was barely inside her door when he posed his first question. “Where’s Dylan and why would Elaine Brant do this?”
She’d anticipated it, but unfortunately had no answer.
Shannon led Sawyer to the living room. Darwin, sensing the tension, was more subdued than usual. After a cursory greeting for Sawyer, he curled up on his bed.
Without bothering to ask, Shannon poured Sawyer a glass of Coke. She handed it to him and sat on the sofa beside him. “I expect Bigelow told you all of this already. Elaine Brant and Dylan’s whereabouts are unknown at present. So is the motive for the abduction. I’m sorry I don’t know more,” she added.
Sawyer set his glass on the table and surged to his feet.
“If it was to avenge her fiancé, why wait three years?” he asked, pacing restlessly. “And why do it to begin with? All indications—based on what I’ve been told—are that she’d moved on and her marriage was, at least for a time, a positive one.” He stopped and faced her. “How does this help, then? What are Bigelow and Leary doing with this information?”
Shannon rose, too, and took two steps to stand in front of him. She touched his forearm. “On the strength of the evidence Darwin provided, it’s almost certain that Dylan was in Elaine Brant’s apartment. We can dig deeper now, look into her background and search for potential evidence of her whereabouts. This is significant. We’ll find her and then, hopefully, Dylan, too.”
“Okay. Okay,” he murmured. Then he simply rested his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry I’ve been hard on you. I’ve just been trying to...survive.”
Shannon felt the stirring of love. She told herself she should step away. Instead, she slid her arms around him and found herself burrowing her head in the hollow of his shoulder. This wasn’t about a relationship between them, she tried to convince herself. It was about giving and taking comfort.
And support.
She had to believe that they’d find Dylan. If she couldn’t believe it, how could Sawyer?
* * *
“HEY, CLEMENS, YOU want to join us?” Bigelow asked as he, Leary and Wilson entered the K-9 Unit squad room.
She scrutinized their faces and was reasonably satisfied that it wouldn’t be bad news. “Sure.” She followed them into the conference room, as did a number of other SDPD officers and FBI agents. Logan signaled to Cal to join them, too.
“We think we’ve located Brant,” Leary stated without preamble.
He had everyone’s attention. There wasn’t a sound in the room.
“We tracked her to Santa Ysabel through the use of her credit card and a bank machine. We found a recent charge for a cabin rental on her credit card statement. It’s located in a relatively isolated RV and cabin rental resort just outside Santa Ysabel. The timing of the rental corresponds with Dylan’s disappearance.”
“Why would she be foolish enough to use her credit card and bank machine card?” Shannon asked.
Leary shrugged. “My guess is complacency. We didn’t catch her the first time around. She probably thinks we aren’t looking at her.”
“We’re going to move on it as soon as we finish here.” Bigelow resumed the briefing. “We’ve got a warrant, and the local authorities have been alerted. They’ll set up surveillance until we get there. If they see the boy and have reason to suspect he might be in danger, they’ll take appropriate action. Otherwise, they’ll wait for us. No one wants this bungled. Without motive, we have no way of knowing what her intentions are or what she’ll do if confronted. Our theory is that she’s acting on her own. But we could be wrong about that, and we don’t want to take any chances. Assuming Dylan’s fine now, we want to keep him that way.”
Leary turned to Logan. “You’d offered resources before. I’d like to take you up on that. We’d like officers Palmer and Clemens with us. Both Scout and Darwin have been invaluable in our investigation. I know that’ll leave you with no search-and-rescue capability for as long as it takes us—”
Logan raised a hand. “No issue. They’re yours as long as you need them. If you require anything else, let me know.”
“All right. Let’s go.”
Shannon got water for herself and for Darwin. Santa Ysabel was over an hour northeast of San Diego, and she had no intention of stopping along the way. There was a small convoy of vehicles heading out of the division parking lot and she was part of it.
With rush hour just ending, the time of day worked to their advantage. They pulled into the park grounds before eleven. A park employee escorted them to the cabin in question, which had a late-model van parked in front. One of the uniformed officers ran the plates. They had confirmation that it belonged to Brant.
Bigelow knocked twice, announcing himself each time.
For Shannon, the short wait stretched out like an eternity.
When there was no answer,
Bigelow gave the signal that they were going in. He used the key he’d obtained from the park office and unlocked the door.
Shannon wasn’t among the first to enter, but she could see the living room of the cabin from where she stood. Bigelow called her and Cal once they’d ascertained there wasn’t anyone inside. She gave Darwin the scent and led him in. Then she noticed the brown stuffed bear sitting on the sofa, and a child’s puzzle, half-assembled on the coffee table.
Almost immediately, Darwin indicated that Dylan had been inside. Cal’s dog, Scout, verified it. Still, they took the dogs through each room. The bedroom also showed evidence of a child—a boy—staying there. On a small cot in the corner of the room sat two more stuffed toys, and there was a kid’s T-shirt, plus two pairs of socks neatly folded on the dresser. Small sneakers peeked out from under the cot. Darwin and Scout both confirmed that the items had Dylan’s scent on them.
There appeared to be only two people staying in the cabin, Dylan and a woman, presumed to be Brant. Although they still didn’t know the motive, the child was being well cared for.
“It doesn’t look like she’s vacated or plans to do so anytime soon,” Leary noted. “Unless she does have a coconspirator, which is unlikely, it’s reasonable to conclude that she and Dylan are somewhere within walking distance, since her car is here. We’re assuming—once again—that the boy hasn’t tried to escape because of an emotional attachment associated with Stockholm syndrome.”
“We either wait here until she returns or we go looking for her,” Bigelow said, and turned to Shannon and Cal. “Can you and your dogs find them?”
Shannon glanced at Cal. He gave a nearly imperceptible signal to say that she should take the lead. Uncertainty coursed through her, but it was gone as fast as it had surfaced. She laid one hand on Darwin’s head. “Yes, I believe so.”
Bigelow nodded. “Good. Let’s find the boy. Miller, Baldwin,” he called out to two of the SDPD cops who’d accompanied them. “First, get the police vehicles away from the cabin and then you two stay here. Keep out of sight in case she comes back before we find her. Clemens, lead the way.”
Clipping on Darwin’s lead, Shannon wiped her damp palm on her pant leg and reentered the living room. She snagged the bear from the sofa and let Darwin scent it. She was positive it was Dylan’s, and it was a fresher, stronger scent than anything she had. She gave Darwin the command to “find.”
Darwin headed out at a fast pace and Shannon jogged behind him. He ran into the forest but stayed on well-traveled paths that dipped and turned. She could hear Cal and Scout close behind them, and farther back, Bigelow and Leary huffing as they tried to keep up. K-9 handlers had to stay fit for a reason.
When Darwin lunged forward, Shannon went on full alert. From the intensity of the light ahead, she knew they were approaching a clearing. She tugged on the lead and signaled Darwin to ease up. She also raised a hand to alert Cal, Bigelow and Leary, then pointed to where the trail opened onto a grassy area.
With Darwin now at her side, they moved silently forward to the mouth of the trail.
The long grass of the clearing, dotted with white daisies, swayed gracefully in the gentle breeze. The sun gilded the grass and trees with an ethereal wash of gold and made the scene feel almost dreamlike. Crouched in the middle of the field was a woman in shorts and a T-shirt, long brown hair piled on top of her head. Shannon had seen pictures of Elaine Brant. It was her.
Dylan was standing next to her, and she had an arm around his shoulders. He held a daisy in one hand and seemed to be counting as he pulled off its petals. Dylan had a small stuffed kangaroo under one arm, not quite Joey but a close enough facsimile to make Shannon think the woman had tried to replace the boy’s favorite toy.
If Shannon hadn’t known better, she would’ve thought she was watching mother and son. She leaned toward Bigelow. “Let me get Dylan, please,” she whispered. “He knows me and won’t be as afraid.”
Bigelow nodded and ordered the others to circle around and stay alert, in case Brant made a run for it.
The element of surprise was on their side.
The instant Brant noticed their presence, she tensed, wrapped her arms around Dylan and stood there, cradling the boy against her. Her eyes darted around. Seeing the law enforcement personnel, she buried her face in the boy’s hair, and the tension seemed to leave her body.
On Bigelow’s signal, Shannon moved in.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
SHANNON HAD DYLAN and he was safe. That was all that mattered. Everything around her was a blur of activity. Bigelow and Leary took Brant into custody, read her her rights, cuffed her and hauled her away.
Shannon lowered Dylan to the ground and squatted down in front of him. “Hey, Dylan, are you okay?” she asked.
Dylan hugged the stuffed animal tight. “Uh-huh,” he replied, but his eyes were glistening with tears.
“I’m going to take you to your dad. And to Rufus,” she added when she saw his bottom lip quiver and he looked toward Darwin.
That statement elicited a watery smile. “’Kay.”
“Rufus has been worried about you and he’ll be so happy to see you. He’s missed you terribly. Would you like to walk or have me carry you?”
“Can I walk with Darwin?”
“Okay.” She gave him a hug, then stood up. “Will you take my hand?”
He nodded.
Shannon presumed that one of the others had called Sawyer so he’d know they had Dylan, and he was, at least physically, unharmed.
She had one of the other SDPD officers drive her vehicle back for her, so she could sit with Dylan, as she had on the previous occasion. But this time, Dylan snuggled close to her side, his little hand still in hers. As the resort’s management office came into view, she immediately noticed Sawyer pacing back and forth in front of the building. She was surprised to see him there, but obviously someone had called to tell him he should meet them at the park.
Sawyer must have recognized her vehicle pulling into the lot. He ran straight to it, looking momently confused when he realized she wasn’t driving. Shannon fumbled with the seat belts—hers and Dylan’s—wanting to get him out of the SUV and into his father’s arms as quickly as possible.
“Go,” she told him when his seat belt was unclasped. Sawyer already had the door open, lifted his son into his arms and held him tight. Shannon could see that his eyes were squeezed shut, but tears trickled out from the corners as he pressed his lips to the top of Dylan’s head.
She wondered how Dylan could breathe, Sawyer was holding him so tightly, but the little boy didn’t seem to mind. He had his arms wound around his father’s neck.
Shannon thought she should get them both inside her Explorer and drive them home. One of the other cops could take Sawyer’s car. As she took a couple of hesitant steps toward Sawyer, his eyes flew open. He closed the gap between them and with Dylan still held tight against him, flung his other arm around Shannon’s shoulders.
“We have her,” she whispered. “It’s over.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much,” he murmured in her ear before pressing a kiss to her temple.
Shannon stood rigidly in his embrace. He must have been swept up in the emotion of the moment once again, she decided.
Dylan was back, safe and sound, and in his father’s arms. But that didn’t mean they’d have smooth sailing ahead. Sawyer still had a lot to contend with. Ensuring that Dylan received the care he needed. Sorting things out with his wife. Shannon could have gone on and on.
But it felt so darn good to be in his arms, she’d worry about what it all meant later. She’d take this moment for herself.
She wrapped one arm around Sawyer’s waist and draped the other over Dylan’s shoulders, and let the feelings of love and longing take hold.
* * *
AS IT T
URNED OUT, another SDPD officer drove Sawyer and Dylan home. Shannon was required to attend a debrief at the division. There was another meeting the next morning. When the meeting ended, Logan asked Shannon to stay behind.
“Since Leary and Bigelow’s interrogation of Brant gave us some answers,” he said, “I thought I’d ask if you wanted to let Sawyer know what we’ve learned.”
Shannon was about to object, not sure if she wanted to put herself in such an emotional situation with Sawyer, but she’d been neck-deep in the investigation from the start. She might as well finish it off. “Thanks, Jagger,” she said with a nod. “I’ll take care of it.”
Shannon texted Sawyer rather than calling him. She wanted to keep this as impersonal as possible. Their relationship had been entirely professional since the day he’d sought her out at the swimming pool.
She wanted—needed—this closure, even if it meant the end for them. Even if her heart would remain broken.
He responded almost instantly. He’d had to go into his office for a few hours to brief a colleague who’d be filling in for a couple of weeks. He’d decided to take more time off to be with Dylan. The rest of the summer semester, in fact.
He said it was fine for her to meet him at the school. Apparently, he wanted to keep things impersonal, too.
And Shannon’s heart ached again at the thought of not being able to see Dylan to say goodbye.
She stayed in uniform and left Darwin in his kennel at the division. She’d go back after her meeting with Sawyer to get him.
“Hello, Shannon!” Miranda, Sawyer’s assistant, rose and skirted the reception counter to give her an impulsive hug. “I’m sorry,” she said, flustered. “But it’s so wonderful that Sawyer has Dylan back and you caught the person responsible.”
“Yes, it is.” Shannon didn’t know what else to say. It was hard enough trying to stay calm for her discussion with Sawyer.
“Oh, well... Sawyer’s free, so let me take you right in.”
Shannon followed Miranda to Sawyer’s office, and did her best to contain all the emotions churning inside her.