CHAPTER 26
It was after midnight,but everyone’s wheels were still turning. They’d managed to eat…well, some of them had. Spencer noted that all Tabitha had been able to do was pick before they’d sat down to discuss strategies.
Spencer’s family, after having helped mobilize the Atlanta policeandcall an Atlanta area Uber driver who was willing to help them out—for a healthy fee, of course—had continued to rally around like champs. Unfortunately, the word from the City of Trees they’d received a few minutes ago hadn’t been good. Nobody had seen Sheila get off the bus, and she hadn’t taken the free-phone bait.
Another low note? A subsequent search of the station and surrounding area hadn’t turned up any sign of Sheila, either.
Which meant she was still in the wind.
To distract Tabitha, Spencer and his family had all finally agreed on Tabitha’s strategy, and were currently helping her draft a social media post that would catch the public’s attention. They’d been fiercely debating, however, on whether or not to include Tabitha’s phone number as well as the Bangor and Orono police departments’.
Tabitha was being adamant that her contact information be inserted, but Spencer and his law enforcement brothers were attempting to caution her against it; that putting the local police number out there would be a safer bet.
Sarge had been listening in on speaker for the entire, long-winded debate, and had eventually asked to converse with Spencer.
Spencer instantly picked up the phone and switched to a private conversation. “What are you thinking, Sarge?”
The man didn’t hesitate. “I think Tex can help you with your phone number problem,” Sarge told him. “It seems to be the last sticking point on that post, and he has some mad skills that I think will mitigate everyone’s concerns. I’m going to give him your contact info so he can call you directly instead of working through me, if that’s okay.”
“Anything and everything is okay at this juncture,” Spencer assured him, keeping an eye on Tabitha while he talked. It looked like his family was doing a very good job keeping her engaged, so he felt free to walk a few feet away to contemplate this new approach, whatever it was going to be.
“Good. Stand by. I’m sure he’ll be in touch momentarily.”
Spencer disconnected from Sarge, and sure enough, less than a minute later his phone rang with an unknown number.
“Tex?” Spencer asked, picking up immediately.
“That’s me. It’s nice to talk to you Spencer,” a man with a slight drawl responded. “I’m just sorry it’s under these circumstances.”
“You and me, both,” Spencer sighed. “Sarge says you can help with the post Tabitha is composing?”
“Yeah. Sarge has been keeping me in the loop, and I agree with your brothers that putting Tabitha’s personal phone number out there isn’t a good thing. She’ll be up all night fieldingcalls from every wierdo and wanna-be-detective who’s out there wanting to make a name for themselves.”
“You have a better idea?” Spencer asked. “Because she’s pretty set on being directly in the loop.”
“I do,” Tex told him without missing a beat. “I have a bank of burner numbers at my disposal for just such circumstances. I’ll generate a phone number for her that will connect tomyhub first, where I’ll screen anything incoming. Then I’ll route any calls that sound promising to her phone. Do you think she’ll go for that?”
Spencer felt some of his anxiety lift. “I don’t see why not. She knows how much you’ve been helping already, and she already trusts you since you come with high marks from people we know. Let me run it by her. I’ll put you on speaker.”
Spencer hit the appropriate button, then walked back to the group to address the person whose opinion most mattered. “Tabbi.” Spencer leaned down and spoke gently, knowing how close her nerves where to the edge. “Tex thinks itisa good idea for people to be able to get in touch with you…”
Relief swept over her face.
She must have been up against some serious pushback while he’d stepped away.
“…but with one safeguard,” he finished, hoping the caveat didn’t scare her off.
The smidgeon of hope he’d seen in her demeanor, didn’t diminish.
She nodded. “Okay. What is it?”
Tabitha still looked like she was about to collapse, even while speaking of this latest strategy, so once the post was up and running—no argument—he was taking her upstairs to his old bedroom so she could at least get off her feet.
“Tex is going to give you a number to put in your notifications that won’t be yours?—”
She scowled and cut him off. “But I?—"
Spencer stoppedhermid-sentence, holding up his hand. “But itwillconnect to your number. It will just route through him, first. That way you won’t have to deal with the cranks and trolls. He’ll screen things, then send along anything that might sound promising.”
