“Not a one.”
“Okay. Here’s what I learned. Chelsea Selkirk no longer works for San Juan Search and Rescue.” Reece sat in stunned silence. “You there, buddy?”
Reece’s thoughts scattered in a million different directions, racing through as many possibilities.Stay sharp, dumbass. “Yeah, I’m here.”
“She up and quit over a week ago.”
“How did you not know this?” Reece barked.
“Because they didn’t announce it to the team until late yesterday. I wasn’t pulling a shift, so I wasn’t there to hear about it,” Shane fired back.
Realization slammed into Reece.Chelsea’s had all kinds of time to stalk Neve.“Does anyone know where she is?”
“As a matter of fact, yeah. She accepted a job in Portland, Oregon, and flew up there early this morning.”
Reece swerved to avoid a chunk of highway that had broken off. “How did you find out?”
“You know Reuben Keyes, right?” Who in San Juan Countydidn’tknow Reuben Keyes? He was a well-respected former superior who was now way up the state’s food chain. “Well, it turns out she was shopping with his wife yesterday afternoon, then spent last night with both of them. They went out and ate and talked until almost midnight—sort of a farewell dinner—and she spent the night in their guest room. Reuben took her to DIA himself first thing this morning. Turns out she has a husband in Portland who’s a member of one of their hotshot crews, and she moved out there to be with him. Who knew, huh? Guess the guys who were trying to make time with her here look like complete idiots.”
Reece held back a choke;shehad come on tohim. He hadn’t put up much resistance, but she had definitely initiated. Not that any of that mattered now.
Shane’s tone grew more serious. “Not sure what made you think she could have been involved in Neve’s disappearance, but no way could she have been in both places at the same time.”
“You’re right,” Reece agreed. “Thanks for checking on that.” If Chelsea wasn’t responsible for taking Neve, then who the fuck was?
“So where are you?”
“Heading toward Silver Summit. Thought I’d stop in and find out if anyone’s seen Neve there.” Maybe Cantrell was acting the scorned lover and was behind all of this.
“Don’t waste your time at Silver Summit. A deputy from La Plata happened to be there just now and heard our BOLO, so he asked around. Nobody’s seen Neve.”
A BOLO. Reece was so consumed with finding Neve that he hadn’t realized until right then that San Juan County had alerted surrounding counties to be on the lookout for her. Of course they had. It was standard practice in the small mountain communities, and he drew a measure of comfort knowing the BOLO was out there. More eyes upped their chances of finding her.
“Cantrell hasn’t seen her?”
“Nope. Cantrell’s not even there. His private jet took him to the East Coast four days ago for some business thing.”
“He could have flown back …”
“No, he didn’t. You’re a dog going after the wrong bone.”
“Then which fucking bone should I be going after?” Reece shouted.
Shane seemed unfazed by Reece’s sharp tongue. “I do have one more piece of information, but I’m not sure if it’s relevant. I wanted to follow up on Dr. Bunting’s whereabouts, so I contacted her office. They confirmed what the cat lady said.”
“Okay?”So what?
“They didn’t elaborate on what the unexpected something was that pulled her away because they didn’t know, but it sounds like they’re scrambling. Obviously, her being gone caught them totally off guard. They said it’s not like her.”
“And they’ve tried reaching her?”
“Multiple times, every fifteen minutes since her no-show.”
“Twovets missing. Do you think they’re related?”
“I don’t know.”
Reece’s head was on a swivel, looking for any speck of anything out of the ordinary, his frustration mounting. He pulled off on a turnout and idled. As soon as he hung up with Shane, he’d turn his truck around and return to Fall River. Where else could he go without any leads?
