But he couldn’t shake the guilt. He should have stayed with her. Now…oh, God, now…

“Son of a bitch,” he bit out, driving like a madman, ignoring the speed limit, hitting the gas whenever a light turned amber. Bruno, unperturbed, stared out the window as Jay’s headlights cut through the night.

He’d left three messages for Rick Bentz, too, none of which had been returned, but then Bentz himself was up to his eyeballs in this case, the press, and the resulting chaos. As Jay understood it, the New Orleans Police Department, as well as the Baton Rouge PD, had issued statements to the press and general public that there was a serial killer on the loose. The university had been contacted, so hopefully a warning had already been issued to the students to stay indoors or in groups, and a curfew had been imposed.

Jay had finally connected again to Portia Laurent, who had given him all the information she had over the phone. The upshot was that Dominic Grotto had access to a navy blue van, one he borrowed from his brother-in-law upon occasion. Jay was convinced the vampire-loving professor was their man; Portia Laurent was reserving judgment. She was still doing background checks and Grotto, so far, was clean. She had another couple of leads she was following up, something that was bothering her, but before she could explain, another call had interrupted her and she cut him off, saying she’d phone him later.

So far, she hadn’t.

Jay was nearing Baton Rouge when his cell phone rang. He picked up before the second beep, his hand gripping the damned thing as if it were a lifeline. He hoped to God that Kristi was on the other end of the wireless call, that she was safe, that his worst fears were unfounded.

“McKnight,” he answered.

“Bentz. You called.” Rick Bentz’s voice. Tight. Hard. Seething with fury—and maybe repressed fear.

“Yeah. I’m on my way to Baton Rouge, but I haven’t been able to reach Kristi. I was hoping you had.”

“No.” The single, damning word echoed through Jay’s head and until that moment he hadn’t realized how much he’d hoped that Kristi had been in contact with her father. “I thought she might be with you,” Bentz went on. “She’s not picking up her goddamned phone and I’m on my way up there right now.”

“Me, too. I should be there in about forty minutes.”

“Good. I know the Baton Rouge PD is stretched to the limit, FBI’s been called in. The public’s being made aware, police working with the press to get the word out. I’m surprised you got out of the lab.”