One More Time (Red Hook 1)

She felt like a wet noodle and plopped down on top of him. The climax had robbed her of all thoughts.

He held her tightly to his chest as if he had no intention of letting her go. She was okay with that.

* * * *

Noah met with his men the next morning. They sat in the conference room of the station.

They had found prints on the envelope, which surprised Noah. He was glad this guy was sloppy. That gave them a good chance to find him. Noah was not going to stop until this guy was behind bars. He would not have Alana living in constant fear.

“This guy, Jeremy Slate, is a drug addict. His last known address is Austin. What he is doing here, I have no idea.” Noah showed his men the picture. The man in the picture looked like an average young man, short brown hair, brown eyes, but nothing dangerous was apparent. His tattoo, which was exactly as Alana described, was also shown in a different picture.

Helen had already passed out copies to post the pictures all over town. “He has been convicted of petty theft before but doesn’t have a history of violence or following his victims like this. I’m not sure what is going on with him. Maybe his drug usage is bigger.”

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Drake frowned. “Why single out Alana to change his MO?”

“Maybe he’s just out of his mind with drugs. Longtime drug use messes with your brain.” Sam spoke up. He was a little older than Noah and had once worked in Dallas. He had moved out here for the small-town life for his wife and kids. He gave Noah a lot of advice of things he’d learned on the force.

Greg nodded. At twenty-five he was the youngest of them and still single. “My cousin in Austin was killed during a carjacking even though he gave the car up easily. The guy was hallucinating. He thought my cousin was a demon that wanted to kill him.”

“We just need to find him ASAP,” Noah said, feeling concerned with all the thoughts circling in his head. “I was wrong in letting my guard down. I thought he was long gone.”

“We all thought that,” Drake told him. “He was quiet. Then all of a sudden, he starts up again. Makes no sense.”

“I need some volunteers searching the outskirts of the city limits. I have Tony and Matt Smith helping us out, too,” Noah informed them. Sam and Greg left to help with the ongoing searches.

“I like those Smith brothers. They helped me break up that fight at the bar a few weeks back.” Drake chuckled. “Pete Lewis’s eyes got big, and he sat back down so quick he almost knocked the chair over. They speak, and people listen.”

Noah laughed. “I’d like to hire them. The mayor is looking over their application. Red Hook is growing, and I’d like to keep it a safe place to raise a family.”

“How is Alana holding up?” Drake asked seriously.

Alana was with her family, but Noah couldn’t help but worry.

Adam was there hanging out at the restaurant today since he was off work. Noah was grateful for his brothers. They had been just as outraged by this bastard’s nerve. They were willing to back him up. He felt better knowing Alana was surrounded by people. She had cried some in her sleep, but he had soothed her each time she did. He was determined to give her peace of mind.

“She is doing her best to be strong, but I know she is scared. It just pisses me off. She doesn’t need this.”

Helen buzzed in. “Sheriff, you have a call from Austin on line one. ”Drake left Noah alone to answer his phone. Noah had called the police department in Austin to see if they could give him any useful information on Jeremy Slate.

“Sheriff Blake,” he answered.

“This is Detective Ramos with Austin PD,” said the deep voice. “I understand Jeremy Slate has committed a crime in your town.”

“Yes. He robbed a restaurant and assaulted the female employee. She was seriously injured,” Noah informed him. “Now he is following her. According to his file, he has no history of violence. I can’t figure out why he is doing this when he had gotten away with the robbery. Why stick around like this? It makes no sense to me, Detective.”

“That is true,” Detective Ramos agreed. “He has been quiet this last year. Usually we arrest him often, but he hasn’t been heard from. I was hoping that meant he got help. We set him up with a rehab center in Morehead. He seemed determined to stay clean. It’s a little disappointing to hear he didn’t.”

“Morehead is about twenty-five miles from my town,” Noah said. Another clue meant being one step closer to finding Jeremy.

“I know he registered. I got the confirmation from the clinic that he was there and settled in. I can give you the name and number. They might know more about him.”

Noah wrote the information down.

“Thanks for your time, Detective,” Noah said, feeling hopeful. “I want this guy off the streets before he tries again.”

“Good luck.”

He stood up and looked out the window. The sun was shining, and the scenery looked peaceful. The green trees swayed in the breeze, and the sky was blue. It was hard to imagine a violent drug addict was running loose. They had to catch him before he hurt Alana or someone else.