Free Fatal Storm by Lee Driver

impossible to see
anything. If she left with someone else or was abducted, we have no
way of knowing. Her old man hasn’t received a ransom call
either.
    The hawk landed on one of the roof
turrets. It cocked its head and studied the figure beneath its
talons. Ugh. Who puts gargoyles on a house
anymore?
    Must be a pretty old building. Those were
used decades ago to ward off evil spirits.
    Well, if anything weird
happened in this house last night, the gargoyle wasn’t doing its
job .
     
     
- 16 -
     
    The next morning Padre sat at his desk, head
in his hands. Chief John Wozniak was seated across from him. “You
look like hell,” John said.
    “Feel like it, too. I got about four hours of
sleep last night. Leyton Monroe is going to drive me to an early
grave.”
    “He's just like any father with a missing
child.”
    “No, not like any father. Not every father
tries to pull strings to have the FBI brought in, calls in favors
from senators to dispatch fifty National Guard to walk a grid
through the surrounding forest, nor call the NSA to have them check
their satellite feed.”
    “Has any of it been successful?”
    “Satellite photos show zip. Too much storm
clutter. The FBI said unless Sheila is on the terrorist watch list,
don’t bother them. The National Guard would only dispatch ten
troops and a pooch or two to do a walk-through sometime this
morning. One saving grace is that the state police have cordoned
off a five square mile area around the mansion which keeps all the
press out of the area.”
    John balanced a football-sized mug of coffee
on his knee. Remnants of a sugar donut could be seen on the
knuckles of one hand. “Has Leyton received any calls for a ransom?”
He set the mug down and brushed the sugar off of his hand.
    “Nothing yet, or at least nothing he has
admitted to. Knowing Monroe, if he’s ordered not to bring in the
police, he won’t. Fat chance getting him to take our advice.”
    “He already broke one cardinal rule. I just
heard on the radio that Leyton is offering a hundred thousand
dollar reward for information leading to the whereabouts of his
daughter.”
    “Oh, shit.” Padre washed his hands over his
face. “That will have every idiot calling him with erroneous
information, not to mention calls demanding a ransom when they
don't have anything whatsoever to do with Sheila's
disappearance.”
    Padre's intercom buzzed prompting
a what now? expression on his
face. He pressed the speaker phone. “Martinez.”
    “I have a Chase Dagger to see you.”
    Padre winced. “Damn, I forgot to call him
back. Yeah, send him on up.”
     
    All work stopped when Sara and Dagger entered
the room. Fingers paused on keyboards, phone calls were suspended,
voices gradually diminished. Dagger had to fight hard to keep from
giving the death ray stares to the men in the room. They paused
outside Padre's office. Dagger jammed his hands in the pockets of
his cargo pants to keep from pulling his gun. Sometimes it seemed
as though Sara was completely oblivious to the effect she had on
men. It was as though she looked in the mirror every morning and
found flaws where everyone else found perfection.
    Padre gave a wave through the glass to come
in. John had a big smile for Sara as he assessed her walk, every
curve of her body. He knew early on he wouldn't last through the
seminary. Three wives later and he was still an outrageous
flirt.
    “Miss Sara, how nice to see you.” John pulled
a chair over for her.
    “Good morning, Chief, Padre.” Sara took a
seat, placing her notepad in her lap. They had kept Skizzy's
reports at home to avoid explaining to Padre how they obtained the
confidential information on Rick Jensen. Sara had Kara’s letter and
Dagger pretty much memorized what details he felt were
important.
    John sat on the couch and motioned for Dagger
to take the other chair. “I'd ask you if it was okay for me to stay
but I'm too plum tired to leave so you'll have to put up with
me.”
    “How is the