“Not yet. I’m working on it, though. How’d it go with the Iveys?”

“I’m not overly optimistic they’ll recant like they should,” she replied. “But I left them with a few things to think about.”

Seth jiggled his knee in an attempt to relieve some of his agitation as Cal drove him home. Cal was an old cattle rancher, a true cowboy, who took excellent care of Aiyana. Seth would’ve liked him for that reason alone, but he was good to everyone else, too.

“Sorry about all of this,” he’d said as soon as Seth climbed in the truck with him. “It’s not fair to you.”

“It’ll be okay,” Seth had assured him. He was angry, of course, but he believed any good lawyer should be able to get him out of such a bogus battery charge. If nothing else, Maxi’s security system would prove he didn’t leave last night. He’d tried to tell the police that Maxi probably had a way to check it, but they wouldn’t listen. They couldn’t believe longtime residents like the Iveys would ever lie. Apparently, no one on the force had heard about Graham’s gambling problem. But there might even be cameras at The Blue Suede Shoe that could prove Seth hadn’t been there—if they covered the parking lot. Kouretas was just messing with him, trying to use a little leverage to get Tia to agree to let him take her picture.

But she wasn’t going to agree. At least, Seth hoped not. He hadn’t spoken to Tia since he’d left the house earlier. Crocker had been waiting for him at the gate when he returned home, had barely let him park his car in its usual place before hauling him over to the police station, where they’d taken away his personal possessions, including his cell phone, when they booked him. He’d tried to reach her numerous times since being released, but she wasn’t picking up.

Cal glanced over as they reached Maxi’s property. “Still nothing from Tia?”

Seth shoved his phone back in his pocket. “No.” He tried to spot her car as Cal punched in the code, but it wasn’t until they’d rolled through the gate and wound down the drive that he could see she was gone.

“Damn it!” Seth jumped out the moment Cal came to a stop and then rushed into the house. Tia’s things were still in her room, so she hadn’t left permanently. But he was afraid of where she might’ve gone. He hoped she hadn’t agreed to meet Kouretas in exchange for dropping the battery charge.

The security system announced activity at the front door, so he came to the banister to look down at Cal.

“She here?” Cal asked.

“No.”

“Where could she have gone?”