Tom shook the very happy father’s hand. “Nice to meet you. Have a great day.”

When he got back to the SUV, Croft was rolling her eyes. “Does this happen often?”

“Not really. As time passes it’ll be even less frequent.” He settled into his seat and started the engine but didn’t drive away.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked.

“DJ Belmont’s houses,” Tom said. “If this was where he slept when he came down from Eden, where will he sleep now? He has to know that he can’t come back here.”

“He did clean his place out,” Croft agreed. “We can send his photo to hotels and B and Bs around Sacramento. He might also be staying at the rehab center with Pastor.”

“Which is why I want eyes and ears inside the place. If he’s there with Pastor and they talk, we need to know what they’re saying.”

“I agree and so does Raeburn. He’s working on that. So why are you still frowning?”

“He has to know that we’re looking for him. He might not know that we got his photo from the security cameras from yesterday’s office building, but he has to know that we have his description from Mercy, Gideon, and Amos. If I were him, I wouldn’t stay at a hotel.”

Her smile was encouraging. “Where would you stay, Tom?”

“Somewhere I trusted. Where I’d be safe.”

“Friends, maybe? I’d say family, but he doesn’t have any. His father’s dead.”

That was what had been bothering him. “But his father’s family isn’t.” Tom searched the files on his phone for the folder on Eden. “We checked out Waylon Belmont’s family weeks ago. He was from Benicia and his mother and his brother still live there. The brother, Merle, was the one who filed the missing-person report on DJ Belmont when he disappeared when he was a little boy.”

“When he was taken to Eden.”

Tom nodded. “I believe so. The timeline matches up, anyway. He disappeared with his mother when he was four years old, a few months after Eden was started. I called Waylon’s brother, but he hadn’t heard from DJ and had no idea where he’d be. He and his wife thought DJ had to be dead after so much time. At the time I hoped he was dead.”

“Maybe we should pay them a visit now that we know he’s not dead, if for no other reason than to warn them.”

“I think so too, but first . . .” He found the paragraph in his Eden file and passed his phone to Croft. “The Belmonts own a house that they rent out, also in Benicia. It’s a long shot, but . . .” He shrugged. “It’s only an hour away, so not too much time lost if it’s a bust.”

Croft tapped her finger against her chin as she considered it. “It is a long shot. I think it’s more likely that he’d stay with a gang member around here. Let’s check with the local PD and see if they can tell us where Chicos members hang out. If we come up dry, we’ll drive out to Benicia. And if we come up dry there, we can cross it off as where he isn’t. Sound good?”