Julia
Most of Saturday passed in a blur as law enforcement ramped up their efforts to find Imogene. Detective Walker organized a search in the wooded area surrounding the school, and every single student and faculty member showed up to assist in the efforts. Lachlan and I were there, too, along with Wes, while Londyn stayed home with Eli, attempting to shield him from the news that his cousin was missing.
I suppose that was one good thing to come out of this. Londyn finally understood why Wes had kept the truth about Nick’s possible connection to a slew of recent deaths from her. It wasn’t for any reason but to protect her.
Regardless, I knew they wouldn't find anything during the search.
After all, when I found Imogene’s phone in the locker room, the screen showed a photo of her tied up and lying in what looked like a trunk.
While my confidence in Detective Walker actually doing what was necessary to find my daughter was somewhat lacking, I found comfort in the fact that Agent Curran was making progress in locating my ex-husband’s whereabouts, thanks to the courier who was hired to deliver the book at Christine Griffin’s memorial.
He claimed to be a rideshare driver who answered a request for a pickup at Brookhaven Park Friday afternoon. When he got there, a blond man wearing a suit approached. He paid him $5,000 to bring a book to a specific location and deliver it to a certain individual.
Agent Curran had put in a request for the surveillance footage from the cameras located around the park and was confident he’d receive the files sometime today. Once he did, he hoped to be able to run facial recognition software on whomever it was, bringing us one step closer to finding Nick. And Imogene.
In the meantime, he encouraged us to do the two things mentioned in the last line of Alexander Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, as ironic as that was. He told us to simply wait and hope.
So that was what I did. Waited and hoped.
And baked.
I didn’t know what else to do, feeling completely helpless. So I did what I could to take my mind off things, making all of Imogene’s favorite sweet treats so I could shower her with them when she came home.
And she would come home.
I refused to consider the alternative.
Just as I was about to zest a lemon for my lemon blueberry scones, the doorbell rang, my pulse increasing. Lachlan looked up from where he stood beside me, helping. It probably took his mind off things, too.
Despite my insistence, he refused to go to Tampa with the rest of the team for tonight’s game. While I hated the idea of him missing his team’s first playoff game, I liked having him here.
“It’s Curran,” Lachlan said to Nikko after checking the camera app on his phone. “Along with some woman.”
“Probably Agent Hawkins.” Nikko stood from the table. “She’s the GBI agent he’s been assisting to track down Nick.”
After wiping his hands on a towel, Lachlan made his way toward the front door, Nikko and I following closely behind. To say we’d been anxiously waiting for any sort of update would be putting it mildly.
“Mr. Hale,” Agent Curran said once Lachlan opened the door. “Ms. Prescott. May we come in?”
“Of course.” Lachlan stepped back, allowing Curran and the GBI agent to enter his home.
“This is Agent Hawkins with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. We’ve been working together on locating Nick.” He looked my way. “And now Imogene.”
The slender brunette held out her hand. “Ms. Prescott.”
“Thank you for your help,” I said as we shook.
“Of course, ma’am.” She looked at Lachlan, the two briefly shaking. “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hale. Although I wish it were under different circumstances.”
“Don’t we all.”
“And you remember Detective Kekoa,” Agent Curran stated.
“Yes. Good to see you again, Detective.”
“Did you find something on the surveillance footage?” I asked, cutting through the formalities.
“We did.” Agent Curran glanced at Agent Hawkins before returning his attention to me. “I wanted you all to hear it from me first.”