“It’s Lizzy Choi. Rachel took Lucas! I called the police. I don’t know what else to do.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“The smoke alarm went off, and we were helping people get out of the apartment, and I went to catch this woman’s dog, and Lucas was just standing there. He was going to call you.”

“He did.”

“I don’t know what happened, he was right there, but I saw her and did a double take. She pushed him into her Jeep, just pushed him in! I ran after her, but she drove away, nearly hit me with her Jeep.”

“Did you get a license?”

“Partial. The smoke really burns and everything is blurry.” She rattled off three numbers. “I told the police, too. Why would she do that?”

Last night, Nicole Bergamo had come out of her coma but wasn’t communicative. Her doctor told Detective Hernandez that he could try to interview her this morning. While the hospital knew not to release the information to anyone, and Vicky was completely on board with keeping the information to herself, it wasn’t unreasonable to assume that Rachel had a way of finding out her status, maybe through another sorority sister. Even if she didn’t know for certain, Nicole wasn’t dead, and that meant Rachel’s time as a free woman—if Regan was right about everything—was limited.

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Stay with people.”

Regan made it in fourteen—relieved she didn’t get pulled over on the way. The fire trucks were there; she parked as close as she could. As soon as she got out of her truck, her eyes started to water. She saw no flames, only lots of smoke. Maybe the fire was already extinguished?

She found Lizzy standing with an older woman holding a black-and-white cat. “Regan,” Lizzy said, relieved. “You have to find him.”

“I will. What happened here?” If Rachel was here waiting to grab Lucas, it reasoned that she had started the fire in the first place.

“I don’t know. They haven’t said yet.”

Regan sought out a uniformed officer, introduced herself and Lizzy. “Lizzy called in a possible kidnapping. Lucas Vega.”

“I’m aware. We put out a BOLO on the Jeep and a description of the suspect and the victim.”

“The suspect is Rachel Wagner,” Regan said. “She’s currently under investigation by your department.”

The fire chief approached. “I need you all to move farther back.”

Regan asked, “What was this? It doesn’t look like a fire.”

“An unidentified chemical created toxic smoke. The hazmat unit is on its way. We need to neutralize it, but people have to move to a safe distance.”

“What about Lucas?” Lizzy demanded.

“I’ll find him,” Regan said.

“How?”