The room was surprisingly neat. Books were arranged alphabetically on a bookshelf, model cars lined a mantel above the computer desk, and pens and pencils were arranged by color in neat little cups. On the walls were various posters of half-nude girls and sports stars. Above the bed was a giant neon marijuana leaf, currently unplugged, the cord draped over the headboard.

Her eyes swept the room, and then she turned to Cord who shook his head, telling her he saw nothing that would warrant a further search. In other words, all they had was Rachel’s phone, but they were no closer to locating her or the others.

It was more than they’d had, she reminded herself a few minutes later as she and Cord climbed back into her Tahoe and headed back to the precinct.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Thursday, May 23

As soon as Alyssa and Cord passed the front desk, Hal rolled out of the conference room and waved them over. ‘You’ll never believe who I discovered lives in the same vicinity as Jersey Andrews and Katelyn Phillipson.’

Still frustrated that they hadn’t been able to speak to Beau Cambridge, Alyssa did something she rarely did; she lashed out at one of her favorite people. ‘Three girls’ lives are hanging in the balance, Hal; we don’t really have time for guessing games, so why don’t you just tell me?’

If he was taken aback by her attitude, he didn’t show it. ‘I was searching through the records for registered sex offenders like you asked, as well as checking property records to see if any sex offenders – past or current – popped up, and I came across the name Abraham Flandreau who lives on San Diego. Mr. Flandreau happens to be Mr. Jessup’s stepfather, Meghan Jessup’s step-grandfather. And not only that, but Meghan apparently spends every spring break with him. That would’ve been mid-March.’

A surge of adrenaline raced through Alyssa’s veins. If Hal’s information was accurate, then it was completely conceivable that Beau Cambridge had seen both Meghan and Katelyn at various times while visiting Jersey. Her gaze swung to Cord. His back was ramrod straight.

But then something else Hal said sank in. ‘Wait, he’s a sex offender, and the Jessups allow their daughter to spend spring break with him?’ Horror didn’t even come close to the neighborhood of how she felt about that. They didn’t seem like the type who would even allow their daughter to be around someone like that, much less encourage lengthy stay-over visits.

Hal corrected the misunderstanding. ‘No, no. I should’ve been clearer. His name came up in the property search, not on the sex offender registry. The deed is registered to Abraham Dreschel Flandreau and Martha Jessup Flandreau – now deceased. A quick cross-check showed that Martha was married to Mr. Jessup’s father until his death in eighty-five. She chose to hyphenate the name when she remarried.’

Alyssa was ready to head back out the door to bring Beau in for questioning when Ruby once again appeared in the doorway. ‘Detective.’