“No.” He was reluctant to admit to the FBI agent that he’d spent the night on a chair outside Letty’s door. “I’ll call my mom. Maybe she sent Letty out on an errand or something. But in the meantime, I just had a call from a sheriff’s deputy in Collier County. That’s south of here, down by the Everglades. Chuck Sheppard’s body was found in a stolen Jeep. Somebody set it up to look like the Jeep had crashed and burned, but the medical examiner found a bullet in his brain.”

“When was this?”

“Some hunters found the remains four days ago, but they think it had been there a few days. They identified the body from fingerprints they recovered from the Jeep.”

“How did they know to call you?”

“Same way you did. They researched his criminal history, saw that we had warrants out up here for him, and for Declan Rooney.”

Vikki Hill let out a long breath. “That’s some coincidence. Sheppard’s killed, and then Rooney turns up—how far away is this Immokalee?”

“Not sure. I think it’s in central South Florida. Maybe two and a half hours from here? Okay, we can talk about this, after I find Letty.”

“Keep me posted,” the FBI agent said.

“Hey Mom, have you seen Letty and Maya this morning?”

Ava was sweeping sand from the office floor when her son called. “No. Why?”

“Vikki and I need to talk to her. She’s not in her unit and doesn’t answer her phone. We thought maybe you’d sent her out on an errand or something.”

“I didn’t send her for anything. You sound kind of worried, son. Is something going on that I should know about? It’s not Rooney, is it?”

For a moment he debated not telling her about her ex-boyfriend’s fate. But she had a right to know, didn’t she? And given that Declan Rooney might actually be lurking in the vicinity, they all needed to be on high alert.

“I promise, I’ll fill you in later,” Joe said. “But in the meantime, can you and Isabelle kind of scout around and see if anybody’s seen Letty?”

“Sure thing.”

His apartment was only five minutes from the motel, but he covered the distance in record time. He slowed and checked the parking lot for the silver Kia, but it wasn’t there. He drove past, headed south, and scanned the parking lot of every business he passed, hoping to glimpse the Kia. He tried calling her, but each time he was sent directly to voice mail.

When he reached St. Pete Beach, he turned around and headed back north, slowing as he passed through Treasure Island, Madeira Beach, Redington, Redington Shores, and Indian Rocks Beach.