It was nearing four-fifteen, and Alyssa was bone-weary and frustrated that in the nearly five hours that they’d been fine-tooth combing through Gabriel Kensington’s records, they’d accomplished little more than reaching dead end after dead end. Going back over the call log, her last hail-Mary attempt was to try phoning the numbers again where no one had answered, even though she’d left a message on each one. A throbbing in her temples warned of a bitter headache, and she knew if Cord had been here, he would’ve harangued her for not eating when the others had.

On the other end of the line, a female with a warm, husky voice answered. ‘Hello?’

Wiping one palm over her tired eyes, Alyssa said, ‘Hello. This is Detective Alyssa Wyatt with the Albuquerque Police Department. We’re investigating the deaths of Gabriel and Lydia Kensington. To whom am I speaking?’

‘Elizabeth Monroe.’

‘Ms. Monroe, were you a client of Mr. Kensington’s?’

A gruff, humorless laugh hit Alyssa’s ears before the woman answered. ‘Yes. I asked him to look into the disappearance of my high school boyfriend and the father of my child.’

Recalling Grace’s visit and her fear that Gabriel had discovered something that might’ve gotten him killed, Alyssa’s adrenaline kicked back up a notch. ‘Ms. Monroe, I need to ask you a few questions about that case. Would now be a good time for you to come by the precinct?’ She purposely didn’t pose her question as optional.

An audible sigh sounded over the line. ‘Detective Wyatt, you said?’

‘Yes.’

‘I have a young son I’d rather not take to the station, so is it possible for us to meet at my home instead?’

Alyssa was already gathering her things. ‘Tell me when.’

‘Is quarter to five too soon?’

‘Not at all.’ After getting Elizabeth’s address, Alyssa turned to Sandra. ‘Unless you’ve latched onto something that will lead us to Addis and Emerson, why don’t you come with me?’

Comically, Sandra’s thumb jabbed her own chest as her mouth dropped open. ‘Me?’ The rest of the team chuckled as she scampered to her feet.

Chapter Eleven

Friday, October 4

Enough light trickled in from the hole high above their heads that Addis could just make out the large roach-like bugs that scuttled about in the cramped space. When one decided to take up residence on her exposed leg, its antennae tickling at her skin, she kicked out, trying to dislodge it, whimpering when it didn’t move. The thunderstorm seemed to have driven them in by the dozens.

She tilted her head up with her mouth open when a drip from above splattered onto her arm. The hole wasn’t large enough to have allowed the torrential downpour inside, but it had provided the girls much needed moisture for their dry mouths.