Page 41 of Two Favors Repaid
He stopped the patrol car on the curb right outside the station and locked the car doors, glancing up at the nearby houses, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Not that he expected Ford to have picked up a sniper rifle on his way out of prison. That wasn’t his style. But still, he wasn’t going to take any chances when it came to Emma’s life.
He knocked five times in the pre-agreed pattern, and Susan came to open the front door.
“We have the mayor’s okay to issue a warning,” he said.
Alma laughed. “I’m not sure that’s going to be necessary. The town’s been talking about nothing else all day!”
“Good. That’s good. Get on it, Alma, please, and make sure people are taking this seriously. Ford’s only targeted young women in the past, but we don’t know what he’s currently thinking. I think everybody in Sharp’s Cove needs to be on alert.”
“I’ll get right on that,” Alma nodded. She looked glad to have something to do.
Emma sat on a couch in his office. There was a book on her lap, but her eyes looked unfocused. He didn’t think she was absorbing much.
“How is she?” he asked in a low voice.
“Scared. But coping well. She wants to talk to you and the FBI special agents. She’s got it in her mind that she could act as bait to catch him again.”
Rob swallowed a bitter response. He realized what he was feeling wasn’t anger, it was pure panic. The thought of Emma in danger, the thought that she would voluntarily place herself in danger, was more than he could stomach.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said. He strove to keep his tone neutral.
“I told her you wouldn’t agree to this,” Susan said. She lowered her voice to just above a whisper. “But the idea isn’t bad, and it may come to that, Rob.”
“We’ll find another way,” Rob insisted determinedly. His hand went unconsciously to the top of his gun. “He’s probably at the Mexican border by now. Or Alaska, for all we know. He’d be a fool to come back here.”
Over the next half hour, the only constant was Alma’s voice as she spoke to anyone and everyone in Sharp’s Cove and organized announcements, emails, and even a town meeting.
“I’ve organized a town meeting at the school gym at seven p.m.,” she told him. “Just to be safe.”
He looked at his watch. It was almost six p.m.
“Thanks, Alma. You’re a wizard.”
“More like an expert busybody,” Alma laughed as she sauntered happily back to her desk.
Rob knocked on the open office door.
“How are you holding up, Emma?”
“I’m okay.” Her luminous eyes looked up at him. “Or maybe not so okay. I understand this is different for you and Susan, you’ve been trained to think this kind of thing might happen someday, even in a place like Sharp’s Cove, but I’m … I’m scared, Rob.”
He covered the distance between them in two large steps.
“Come here,” he said. “I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. And it’s not just me. Susan, Alma, the entire FBI are working to find Ford. Ninety-five percent of escaped convicts are brought back within the first forty-eight hours, Emma.” He lifted her chin very gently so she was looking right into his eyes. “Okay?”
“I believe the statistic, Rob. I know you will do everything you can do keep me safe. But, as I said, this isn’t just about me. This is about all the other young women who are at risk. It could be someone who gives him a ride or just someone he bumps into on the street. Nobody’s safe while Ford is out there. We need to bring him back.”
“And we will. But keeping you safe is our—it’s my—top priority. As long as you understand that.”
She melted into his arms.
“Come with me to the school. We’ve organized a town meeting.”
Chapter 12
Emma
At the town meeting, Rob asked that she and Susan sit on the first row. Feeling like a freak, Emma had chosen the seats at the far edge—the same seat chosen by parents of young children throughout the ages or by those who knew they might have to make a quick getaway at some point. Not that Emma was planning on moving, she just didn’t want to be stared at all evening by friends, acquaintances, and parents of kids she taught.
