4

Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run

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Chapter 405 Reward

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Scarlett quickly put on her make-up, clipped her fair hair back in a messy updo and slid her feet into her shoes that looked like sneakers from the front with the back open like slide. While getting ready, she was trying to come up with a way to aid the search for Louise. The answer turned out to be easy. Throw money at it.

She drove the van to the police department. Since her father had given her the van, she rarely drove the Corvette. Even healthy, the car was hard to get in and out of. She needed to sell it, but it wasn't a priority.

At the counter, she identified herself and asked to speak to David Hale confidentially. A few minutes later, a blonde officer with "Eglee" on her name badge opened the door and lead her back to an open area where officers were making calls. Some worked in cubicles while most worked at desks in an open sort of bull pit area.

Hale was looking at a large map of the city pinned to a wall next to a large white board with a tray full of makers. The board appeared to contain lists of sights that had been searched and areas that still needed searching.

"I really need to talk to you somewhere private. Just a minute or two of your time," Scarlett said.

He led her into his office. Unser was the only other person in the department who had his own office.

"What's up?" he said as he shut the door.

"Are you looking for Louise?"

"We are. Do you know anything?"

"No. I wish I did. I want to help find her." Scarlett reached into her bag and pulled out a check. "This is a reward for the safe return of Louise." She handed him the check.

He looked at the amount.

"That's very generous."

"There's one condition. I don't want my name attached to this in any way. It's anonymous. You can keep it that way."

"We're a police department. We keep a lot of things secret," he said with a tired smile. "Why don't you want anyone to know about this? It's a very kind thing you're doing."

"I'm new to town and about to open a business in a month or so. I don't want anyone to think I'm doing this for publicity. I'm hoping this reward will get more people out looking for her. That's all that matters to me."

"I'll call the local TV station KSee. We should be able to get the reward announcement on the late morning news. Thank you, Scarlett. This will help a lot."

"I just hope you find her alive. Is there anything else I can do to help? I still can't walk very well so I can't search, but I can make phone calls maybe free up an officer or someone else who can search."

Hale thought that through for several moments.

"We can use all the help we can get. I'll have Eglee train you to make phone calls. She's the blonde officer that brought you back."

"Thanks."

"Just one question. Why does it matter to you that Louise is missing?"

"I'm a woman," Scarlett said. "This kind of thing happens too often to us."

David introduced her to Candy Eglee. She had been calling every building in town that rented rooms or apartments to ask that they check any vacant units. It was possible that Louise could be being held in one of these places.

Scarlett made notes, listened as Candy made a few calls and then made a couple of calls on her own. She was smart, caught on quickly and had a way of making people feel important so they wanted to help in the search.

"Perfect," Candy said. "Now, I can go help search. Thanks for volunteering."

"I don't want to say anytime because I hope this never happens again."

"Me too. I have a bad feeling about this," Candy confided.

"Me too."

Scarlett picked up the phone and continued the phone calls. It was slow, tedious work, but she didn't mind. Anything to find Louise. She tried not to think about when Violet went missing. By the time she and her father knew Violet was missing, she'd already been found dead.

She'd always wondered if they had searched for Violet sooner if they could have found her alive, rescued her before she was murdered. Violet could have been kept alive for a few days. She hoped this was the case with Louise and they would find her alive.

Sex trafficking was also another possibility. The only good thing about that was that it meant she was alive and needed to be rescued.

She continued making the calls wondering when she was going to hear from Jax. She hoped the MC would help look for Louise. It didn't matter what they did; she was going to finish her assignment and keep helping at the Police department until they didn't have any work for her to do.

The officers left their desks briefly to go outside where David was about to do the interview. Scarlett left her desk to watch for a few minutes. That's when she realized the officers were behind David to show that they were all looking for Louise.

David talked with practiced ease as he announced the reward, holding up a flyer with the pretty girl on it. He told them that they could help with the search by looking at their own properties and outbuildings. Charming had large rural areas with barns, sheds and other structures on them. He asked them to call the police department after checking their properties so they could be marked off the list.

Scarlett found a new level of respect for David Hale as he spoke with the reporter. He was a commanding calming figure. She just hoped Louise was still alive.

Scarlett was standing outside off to one side carefully out of range of the cameras. On the other side of the building, she suddenly noticed Jax sitting on his bike watching Hale's announcement. As their eyes met, she had a feeling she might be in trouble with him.

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Author's Note: Jax & the Romance Writer has permanently move to the "M" listings. If you've ever wanted to know what it's like to REALLY sleep with Jax check out the story or at least Chapter 11 Fumble on the Play.