“When it’s the right woman, you know.” Douglas patted Nick on the shoulder. “We’ll get her back, son.”
Nick took his phone back and scrolled to another pic and handed it to Rafe. “This is Jesse Norville. Chances are good he’s helping Cassandra. You’ll need to keep a watch out for both of them.
Rafe jumped when Nick’s phone rang and he handed it to him. He glanced at the caller ID and his body stiffened. “I don’t know this number.”
“Put it on speaker.”
“Hello.” Nick’s voice almost broke with the single word.
“Hello, Nick.”
“Cassandra.”
“Oh, good,” she practically purred. “You know who I am. That makes things a bit easier. I’m going to assume you’re with the sheriff and he’s listening in. Hello, Sheriff Boudreau.”
“Miss Bishop.” Rafe’s tone was terse, giving nothing away.
“What do you want, Cassandra?”
“I want you, Nick. A simple exchange. You for Ms. Medeiros. You meet with us, and we’ll let her go unharmed.”
“I want to speak with Gracie first.”
“I figured you would. Here you go, darling. Here’s your lady love.”
There was a harsh intake of breath before Gracie’s voice on the other end. “Nick?”
“Gracie, are you okay? Have they hurt you?”
Rafe’s gut tightened at the look of fear on Nick’s face, the emotion in the air thick enough he could almost taste it. His friend was in agony, thinking the woman he loved was in danger, and there wasn’t anything he could do.
“I’m okay. Nick, don’t do—” Her voice cut out and left Nick staring at the phone.
“Still there, darling? Keep your phone handy, I’ll call back, and we’ll make plans for the exchange. Ta-ta.”
The call was disconnected before Rafe could say anything.
Ridge’s fingers flew across the keyboard on his phone for several seconds before he looked at Rafe. “Shiloh says he got footage from the traffic cameras at the corner of Main Street and Connors. Looks like a black SUV pulled out from the alley onto Main and headed south. He couldn’t see how many people were in the car, but the driver was a white male. Couldn’t get the plates. Sorry.”
“A black SUV isn’t going to be much help.”
“Shiloh’s coordinating with Destiny. She’s going to see if she can follow the traffic cams in town as far as they run, but once they hit the outskirts, we’ll lose any visuals we have. We might get lucky if she can get a clearer picture.”
“We already know who has her.” Nick spoke for the first time since the call ended. “Cassandra Bishop is taunting me. She has to be working with her uncle. And the best part—Uncle Simon was moved from the prison infirmary to RMH Trauma Center. He was supposedly in a coma, yet Calvin called me about an hour and a half ago and said Norville is gone.”
“Gone? Hang on a second, didn’t you tell us he was paralyzed? In a wheelchair. Blames you because of his disability. How in blazes did he manage that?”
“Good question, Rafe. Calvin’s trying to get answers. He’s on scene at the hospital and RMH is on lockdown until they find him. He was in intensive care, hooked up to monitors. They found the prison guard who was manning the door stuffed in a bathroom. Calvin’s hoping he hasn’t managed to get out of the building, but it’s a pretty big facility. Even with the best security, if he’s got help—which I’m assuming he does because there’s a third person in the picture I haven’t mentioned yet—”
“This situation’s getting crazier by the minute,” muttered Ridge, still staring at his phone.
The front door of the sheriff’s station swung open and Ms. Patti raced through, running up to Douglas, who put his arm around her shoulders. “I heard something happened to Gracie.”
Rafe knew it would happen, word just spread faster than he’d anticipated. Shiloh Springs, small town living at its finest, had the biggest, and usually most accurate, gossip line in the state. He glanced at Alice, who raised her hands.
“I didn’t do it.”
“What happened?”
