“Kade, it’s Zoe. You said Ellie was missing. What’s going on?” Kade filled her in. “Oh, my God. Richard Egan is the guy at Mountain Ore who owns a Hummer. I should have gotten back to her sooner, but I was working on a child-abduction case.”

“Not your fault.”

“The plate number is QXA 555.”

“Thanks, Zoe.”

“If you need anything—anything at all—let me know.”

“I will, thanks again.” He turned to the two sheriffs and rattled off Egan’s plate number.

Carver frowned. “How’d you come up with that? Only law enforcement can access DMV owners’ information.” At the hard set of Kade’s jaw, he shook his head. “Never mind. I’ll tell them the suspect should be considered armed and dangerous.”

Kade just nodded. “One more thing. Ellie’s been working the theory that the guy who killed Keller and Dunstan is the same guy who murdered Heather and Barbara Meeks.”

Fischer’s head came up. “That’s a helluva stretch.”

“You think she could be right?” Carver asked.

“She’s good at what she does, Glen.”

“I’ll have the department pull up everything they’ve got on the sonofabitch.” Carver got back on the phone, and Fischer continued his call.

Kade thought of Ellie and forced himself to stay calm. Egan was out there. Kade just had to figure out where.

Maria appeared in the doorway. “Señor Kade, come quick!”

Kade raced after her, following her down the hall to Ellie’s bedroom. Billy lay on the bed, his face as pale as the bandage around his head. Worried blue eyes fixed on Kade’s face as he strode through the door.

“Y-You have to find her, K-kade. H-he . . . hit her. H-he hurt her. You h-have to f-find her.”

Kade gripped the boy’s shoulder. “I’m going to find her, Billy, I promise you. Do you know where he was taking her? Did he say anything? Try to remember.”

Billy moistened his lips. He was still shaking from the cold, barely able to force out the words. “I h-heard some of what h-he said. H-he told her h-he had a place all fixed up for h-her.”

“Where, Billy? Did he say where he was going?”

“H-he said the place was over an h-hour away.”

“Anything else?”

“H-he said she should be able to f-figure out where it was.” Exhausted from the effort, Billy lay back against the pillow.

Kade took the boy’s cold hand and gave it a final squeeze. “Help’s on the way, son. You just take it easy. In the meantime, I’m going after Ellie.”

Billy looked up at him with eyes full of hope; then he drifted off again. Kade turned to find Maria hovering in the doorway.

“He’s got a concussion. Don’t let him go to sleep for more than fifteen minutes at a time.”

“Sí, Señor Kade. I’ll take care of him.”