‘Something like that. He never said anything. I just stopped getting invited to the parties.’ One shoulder lifted and dropped. ‘No biggie. They weren’t really my scene anyway. I know as a college student, I’m supposed to be all about the parties, getting drunk and all, but like I said, I can’t afford to lose my scholarship, so…’

‘Chance Williams,’ Cord wrote as he spoke. ‘Any idea how to contact him?’

Angela nodded even as her phone magically appeared in her hand. ‘Yep. I’ve got his number right here.’ A few seconds later, she held her phone out for Cord so he could write it down.

‘How about an address? I don’t suppose you have one of those for him, do you?’

‘Not really. But once, at a different party, I heard him telling a group of girls his family lives around the university area. Maybe around Ridgecrest? He could’ve just been lying, so who knows if that’s really true anyway?’

‘Since you’ve got your phone out, would you mind showing us a picture of Rachel?’

‘Sure. I can even send you a screenshot, if you’d like.’

‘That would be great, thanks.’ Alyssa pulled a business card out of her pocket and handed it over, as did Cord, and then she stood. ‘If you think of anything else, even if you don’t think it’s important, please call. It doesn’t matter what time it is.’

As they stepped outside, Angela placed a hand on Alyssa’s arm. ‘You’ll let me know if…’ She swallowed and tried again. ‘You’ll be able to let me know if she’s okay… or not, right? Like, I know I’m not family or anything, but…’

Alyssa patted the young girl’s hand. ‘I’ll tell you what I can when we find something out. In the meantime, please remember to call if you think of anything else, or if you hear from Rachel.’

‘I will, and thanks.’ Angela closed the door behind them, shutting off all those amazing smells coming from the kitchen.

‘I want Casa Benavidez for lunch,’ Cord said as soon as he slid into the passenger seat.

‘Took the words right out of my mouth.’

‘It was all I could do not to salivate all over myself.’

Alyssa laughed because it really had smelled that good.

As they pulled out of the apartment complex, Alyssa realized it had been a while since she’d felt like this – in her element, doing her job. She was glad Indiana was behind her so she could concentrate on what was in front of her. And right now, that entailed tracking down a bunch of college-aged kids to try to convince them they needed to talk to the police about a frat party where a missing girl was last seen.

Chapter Three

Sunday, May 19

Beau Cambridge and Jersey Andrews leaned against the living room wall, kissing – the sloppy kind – as Holly Wyatt, Sophie Quill, her best friend since sixth grade, and Leigh Ann Wolfe counted cracks in the wooden beams on the ceiling, studied pedicures, examined split ends, or pretty much anything else to avoid seeing what they could unfortunately hear. The sickening sound of smacking lips and groans from the two lovebirds – at least ‘lovebirds’ for the past fifteen minutes; give it twenty, and they’d likely be back at each other’s throats – was almost enough for Holly to lose her appetite… and everything else she’d consumed that day.