Chapter 3 - The Highway Diner
Back at the station, Sarah felt her blood run cold at Miller’s radio transmission. She looked at the clock on the wall. It was 1:45 AM. They had less than an hour and a half before whoever was buying Maya showed up at the diner.
"Keep the perimeter tight, Miller. I'm heading to the diner. Don't call state police yet," Sarah replied over the radio.
"Jenkins, are you crazy? This is out of our league," the dispatcher warned.
"If we call the state, the chatter will go over the scanners. These guys have scanners. If they hear us coming, they'll bolt, and we lose our only lead on where Leo's mother is," Sarah said, strapping on her tactical vest. "Lock this station down. Nobody gets in to see these kids."
Sarah drove her cruiser through the torrential rain, parking a quarter-mile away from the Rusty Spoon Diner. She hiked through the muddy brush, keeping entirely out of sight. As she approached the neon sign, she saw it: an unmarked, heavy-duty moving truck idling near the dumpsters in the back alley.
She drew her weapon and crept closer. The rain masked her footsteps. Through the diner's foggy rear window, she saw a man in a black trench coat arguing with the cook. No, not arguing. He had a gun pressed to the cook's head.
"Where is the boy? He was supposed to be here with the package!" the man in the coat yelled.
Sarah didn't wait for backup. She kicked the back door open, leveling her Glock at the man. "Oak Creek Sheriff! Drop the weapon!"
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The man spun around, firing wildly. Sarah dove behind a steel prep table as bullets shattered the fryers, sending hot oil and glass everywhere. She returned fire, clipping the man in the shoulder. He cursed, dropped a burner phone on the tile floor, and scrambled out the front door, jumping into the moving truck and peeling out into the rainy night.
Sarah grabbed the burner phone. The screen was cracked, but it was glowing with a single received text message: Cargo is at the old lumber mill. Bring the kids when you find them.
