Fractured Memories (Badge of Honor #1)

Chapter 21

TWENTY-ONE

“We’re going to find her.”

Felicity pressed harder on the gas pedal, pushing Noah’s vehicle to the maximum. Trees whipped by in a blur. Rain tapped against the windshield, but darker clouds in the distance promised a coming storm. The county was under a tornado watch. She gripped the steering wheel harder as wind pushed against the Tahoe. In the passenger seat beside her, Noah was silent. His gaze was locked on the road, the muscles in his body and jaw so tight, it was a wonder he didn’t snap in two.

She spared a glance in his direction. Fear, worry, and responsibility swirled inside her with the force of a hurricane. Harper wasn’t her daughter. She loved the little girl, but Felicity didn’t dare dream an ounce of what she was feeling compared to what Noah was currently going through. He’d lost so many people in his life. And this was his daughter. His daughter .

She tapped the brake to make a turn onto Main Street. “Lord, please keep Harper safe. Give us the wisdom and ability to find her quickly. Guide our movements that we may be smart, capable, and clearheaded.”

“Amen.” Noah sucked in a shuddering breath. “How did I miss this, Fee?” He pounded against the dash. “I should’ve had someone protecting them.”

“It’s not your fault. There was no indication your family was in danger.”

The killer was after Felicity. Taking Harper was a distraction. Or a lure. Felicity wasn’t sure which yet, but she was going to do everything in her power to bring that little girl home to her daddy.

The church loomed as Felicity skated through several red lights. She barely hit the brakes again while turning into the parking lot. The Tahoe screeched to a stop near the front door. Several Knoxville Police Department cruisers were already on site. Noah sprang from the vehicle and raced inside. Felicity quickly followed.

Grady met them in the entranceway. The Texas Ranger had set up a small command center at the front desk. A map of the church along with one of the town had been hastily taped to the wall. His cowboy hat had been thrown to the side and Grady’s hair was mussed as if he’d been running his hands through it.

“Harper was in the playroom with the other kids but asked to use the bathroom.” Grady’s tone was clipped, but his eyes held sympathy. Felicity understood it. Her colleague was a father. He had an adopted little girl and a three-month-old baby. Every lawman she’d ever met feared the job would someday touch their family. “A teacher took her. They were ambushed in the ladies' room by an unknown assailant. He knocked out the teacher and took Harper.”

“Cameras?” Noah barked out.

“The church has a few over the front doors and the parking lot, but the kidnapper used an interfering device to scramble the feed. There aren’t any cameras inside the offices or children’s play area. Officers are gathering video from every store on Main Street in the hopes that we’ll get a lead on the vehicle the kidnapper was driving. More officers are combing the alley behind the church, searching for any evidence that may lead us to Harper.”

The kidnapping had been planned. Carefully. Was Daniel behind it? As the leader of Triple 6 and Brooke’s killer, it seemed likely. But Felicity couldn’t understand why he’d go to such lengths to nab Noah’s daughter. It didn’t make sense.

“I want to talk to the teacher.” Noah’s expression was stone hard. “Is she here?”

“Yes. She’s with your aunt in a classroom down the hall.”

Felicity touched Noah’s arm briefly. “I’m going to view the security feed from the last few days. The killer scrambled the video today, but whoever is behind this had to stake out the church beforehand.”

Grady pointed to a small room near the entrance. “In there.”

Felicity nodded. The electronics room was small, but ruthlessly organized. A security guard watched a live video feed of the parking lot. He glanced up as she came in and she flashed her badge. “I’d like to review the video from the last several days.”

Fifteen minutes later, she was scrolling through footage from an hour before the kidnapping. The security guard requested to get a cup of coffee and disappeared from the room. Felicity barely heard the door click behind him. Her gaze was locked on the screen, watching parishioners arrive for church service.

She spotted Imogene in a pantsuit with Amber. The teen had pulled her hair back in a braid. Harper was nestled between them, cute as a button in a frilly white dress and Mary Jane shoes. Felicity’s chest tightened, but she shuttered the emotions. No good would come by falling apart.

She kept moving the tape forward. About fifteen minutes before the kidnapping, the screen became static. That must’ve been when the kidnapper started scrambling the feed. But no one had recently arrived in the parking lot.

The kidnapper had already been in the building.

Felicity rolled the tape back and, this time, watched every single parishioner as they walked through the parking lot. Her heart skipped a beat as a familiar individual stepped out of an old Chevy truck parked close to the alley.

No. It couldn’t be.

Her cell phone rang. The number on screen wasn’t familiar. Still, Felicity answered while searching for a way to zoom in on the individual in the footage. She had to be sure before telling Grady and Noah. Sending them down a rabbit hole could cost Harper her life. “Ranger Capshaw.”

“You’ve got two minutes to do exactly as I say, or the little girl dies.”

Felicity’s muscles froze. The voice on the phone was muffled and distinctly male. “Daniel?”

“Who I am doesn’t matter. Your actions do. We’re down to one minute, thirty seconds.”

She whirled out of the chair and went to the door. Stuck her head out. No one was in the hallway or at the temporary command center. “How do I know you have Harper?”

Her phone dinged with a text message. A video. Felicity quickly pulled it up. Harper lay on a beige carpet. She was unconscious, but her chest was moving. Alive. Relief was short-lived though. She pressed the phone to her ear. Anger colored her words. A deep-seated rage Felicity hadn’t known she was capable of. “Don’t you dare hurt Harper.”

“Don’t make me. There’s a truck at the edge of the church parking lot. Keys are in the cup holder, instructions taped to the visor. Leave your cell phone and slip away without anyone noticing.” His tone was hostile and chilling. “Be careful, Felicity. If I suspect you’ve disobeyed my orders, I will slice this little girl’s throat.”

The threat was real. Felicity felt it in her bones.

“Thirty seconds. I’ve tapped into the church security feed and I’ll know if you try to trick me.”

She had no way of knowing if that claim was true. Felicity couldn't draw in a full breath. “If you do anything to Harper, I will hunt you to the end of the earth.”

“You control her fate. If I were you, I’d get a move on.”

Her phone dinged with another message. A photo. Harper was still sleeping on the same beige carpet, but a hunting knife pressed against the smooth column of her sweet throat. Felicity literally saw red. She clenched her teeth. “I’ll do as you say.”

“Hurry up. Twenty seconds.”