Code 3: Finding Safety by V.E. Avance Page B

duty, the dispatcher knew his location.
    He draws his weapon out front and begins to clear all the rooms downstairs.  He wants to race to their bedroom.  He wants to see Leanna there and safe but he has to stay calm and in full cop-mode.
    With the lower portion of the house cleared, he hears the sound of his fellow officers’ patrol cars racing down his dirt drive.  Gravel pings and the tires squeal to a halt.  He exhales a breath he didn’t realize he was holding when his front door flies open. 
    He’s face to face with his friend, Wyatt Jones.  “Hey, are you okay?”  He asks, his gun drawn in the same manner as James.
    “Patches…he’s dead,” he nods his head toward the kitchen.  “I haven’t found Leanna yet.”  Panic invades his voice.  He fears the worst has happened to her.  Of all the training and all the calls he’s been on, he’s never felt this scared in his entire life. 
    Wyatt looks over and see’s Patches lying in a puddle of his own blood—tongue hanging out and eyes wide open.  He shakes his head and turns back to James.  “Has the upstairs been secure?”
    James shakes his head, tears perforating his eyes.  “I just cleared the downstairs.”
    More officers file into his home.  “Go secure upstairs,” Wyatt motions the three uniform officers upstairs.
    Wyatt walks James outside as to not contaminate the scene.  “What’s going on here?”  Wyatt queries, feeling as if he may be missing something.  “Did you and Leanna have a fight or something?”
    James straightens up quickly with a look of confusion spreading across his face.  “What?  No!  We didn’t have a fight.  Our relationship was, is perfect.”
    “Is there any reason you can think of that she would’ve harmed Patches and then fled?”  Wyatt asks after he gets an ‘all clear’ from the officers upstairs.
    James hangs his head and drops his shoulders.  “She wouldn’t do anything to harm Patches and she wouldn’t’ve fled.”  James exhales and sits on the porch swing.  “She was fleeing her abusive husband.”
    Leanna was ashamed of her past and had asked that James keep it between them.  No one in Texas was aware of her past and he regrets that now.  All they knew was that she was out for a fresh start.  No one was aware that she was fleeing a domineering man.  Now they all think she was some sort of nut job that would kill his dog and flee town.
    Wyatt stares at James.  There were never any secrets kept between the two.  “She’s married?”  He stares at James as if there were a second head growing up from his shoulder.
    James sighs.  “She filed for divorce yesterday, after she made the six month residency mark for Texas.  She was ashamed of where she came from, Wy.  She didn’t want people to judge her or feel sorry for her.”
    Wyatt’s face fills with sympathy.  “I can only imagine how she felt.  You know my sister was married to a very violent man and it took her to the point she almost died before she told anyone.  Do you think he knew where she was?”
    “She talked to her friend, Maryanne, a few weeks ago and she said that he left town almost immediately after Leanna and no one had seen him since.  It’s the only logical answer.  He found her and took her!”  Fear washes over his face.  “I promised her I would protect her and I failed—miserably.” 
    “You didn’t fail her,” Wyatt gets firm.  “No one saw this coming, but we will find her.  That I can assure you.”  Wyatt pats his shoulder.
    ***
    Detectives in the missing persons’ unit arrived not long after the house was swept and cleared.  Detective Richard Stewart was lead on the case and took all the information that James could give him.  “Well, if you think this Mark character kidnapped her, then we are looking at a federal crime if you think he took her across state lines and back to Georgia.”
    “I don’t think he did, I know he did!  No one else would’ve done this to