Alyssa dug in. ‘Invite them. Tell Dad I said he could spring for pizza. Or Chinese. I’m sure he’d love to see all of you – and he’d grow fewer gray hairs if he could see for himself that you were safe with him.’

A soft chuckle tinkered into the air. ‘Liar. He wouldn’t be excited to see Nick at all. Isaac, now, that’s another story.’

‘Your dad’s still getting used to seeing another guy monopolize his little girl’s time. He’ll adjust.’ It didn’t do her a bit of good to deny that ‘excited’ might not exactly be the opposite of how Brock felt about Nick, but it was pretty close.

‘Nick wants to keep me as safe as you and Dad. Maybe he’d like my boyfriend better if he knew that.’ Holly turned serious. ‘And I know you’re right, that Dad would feel better if I was under the same roof as him. But, Mom, I just hate the idea of disrupting my life and giving this person more power.’

God, why did her daughter have to be so much like her? ‘First, your dad likes Nick just fine. But even dads can be a little green with envy when they’re replaced by another guy. And what better way to show him that Nick wants to keep you safe than by all of you hanging out with Dad tonight?’

Alyssa knew the decision was made when Holly brightened. ‘Hey, do you think he’d make lasagna if I called now and asked?’

‘Sweetheart, he’d try to wrangle the moon out of the sky if you asked him to, so, yeah, I’m sure it’s a pretty safe bet that he’ll say yes. And Holly, until you get there, will you check in throughout the day, just so I won’t be more worried than I already am?’

‘Sure,’ Holly said.

‘Thank you.’

Now, in the conference room surrounded by mounds of evidence, Tony’s absence was felt like a throbbing thumb.

Alyssa was jostled out of her thoughts when Sandra raced into the room, eyes shimmering with barely constrained excitement. ‘I know where he took the girls. Adam Campbell. I figured it out! At least, I think I did!’ Their newest teammate’s announcement may have come out of the blue, but it succeeded in grabbing everyone’s attention.

‘Adam’s grandfather was Jeremiah Campbell. He died in 2004. But before his death, he’d applied for a slew of permits to build a hunting cabin up in the Pecos. There’s no address on any of the permits, but there is a location: Unit One, Block Twenty-seven, Lot One in San Miguel County. I typed that information into Google Maps and was able to zero in on the cabin. It’s barely standing, and one stiff wind could end its life for good, but it is still erect.’