Unless she found a way out of here, she would be responsible for her best friend’s murder. Ignoring the fact that her shirt was ripping, ignoring the blistering pain of splintered wood slashing against her arms and back, Addis tugged against the binding rope, sweat pouring off her in rivulets. She screeched and kicked out when one of the bugs crawling around on the floor skated over her legs. It took no time before she was zapped of energy.

Extending her legs flat out in front of her, she arched one foot, wiggling her toes until they touched the tips of Emerson’s. With a catch in her throat, Addis admitted what scared her the most. ‘Em, I can’t watch him kill you.’ Her head swung back and forth. ‘I just can’t.’

‘I can’t watch you—either.’ Emerson’s toes tapped the top of Addis’s foot, the pedestrian version of squeezing one’s fingers. ‘So, let’s make a pact that we’ll get out of this. Together. Pinky-toe swear?’

‘Pinky-toe swear.’ They tapped their little toes together, and with a conviction she didn’t really feel, Addis said, ‘Aunt Grace will know how to find us.’

Chapter Nine

Friday, October 4

‘Is it me, or is there a lingering chill in the air?’ Cord asked as he watched Grace and Mack exit the precinct, doing their best to pointedly ignore the other.

‘It does seem a bit nippy, all right,’ Alyssa agreed before switching mental gears. ‘While we’re waiting for that search warrant, let’s head over to speak to Jill and Jeffrey Childress. And if there’s still time, we can try the Kensington neighborhood again. Maybe someone will have remembered seeing or hearing something they didn’t think important last night.’

Alyssa’s mind wandered to the wealthy subdivision. Most of the houses in the area were situated on three to five acres and surrounded by massive privacy walls that shielded them from passersby. A rock band could be playing inside one of the homes, and the neighbors would be none the wiser, so she didn’t truly hold out much hope that they’d get much more than the officers who’d canvassed the area less than twelve hours ago. But she also knew they had to try.

‘It’s worth a shot anyway,’ Cord said, echoing her thoughts. ‘If we get the same results, then we’re no worse off.’

An hour later, Alyssa and Cord said goodbye to the Childresses and climbed back into her Tahoe. As she pulled away from the curb, she darted a quick glance at her partner. ‘You’re awfully quiet all of a sudden. What are you thinking?’