Alyssa’s spine stiffened. ‘Did you see them with someone else, or were they alone?’

Lorna’s head bobbed up and down, and she swallowed once, twice, three times.

Whatever or whomever Lorna Price had seen, one thing remained clear: she was spooked. It wasn’t a question of whether she had seen something, but what she had seen. Alyssa needed to know what that was. She inched her chair over to the phone sitting on the corner of the table. ‘I’d like you to look at some pictures so I know for sure which girls you say you saw, okay?’ Alyssa waited for Lorna to nod, and then she dialed Ruby’s extension. ‘Could you please bring me two waters and my files from the conference room?’ she asked as soon as Ruby picked up.

Shortly after Alyssa requested the items, a knock came on the door, and then Ruby walked in carting two water bottles and a stack of folders, setting everything down at the end of the table and leaving without uttering a word.

Alyssa stretched one arm out and pulled the items to her, nudging one of the bottles in front of Lorna. Then she dragged the folders in front of her, flipping them open, and pulling out a picture of Katelyn Phillipson, one of Meghan Jessup that Sergeant Boudreaux had given her, and adding images of Jersey Andrews and Rachel Otis. ‘Ms. Price, for the record, could you please point to the images of the girls you say you recognized?’

Lorna glanced down for only a split second before her face paled. Somewhat confused, she whispered, ‘All of them.’ And then her gaze shot away as she stared at the door.

Alyssa’s nerves felt like two hot wires touching each other. ‘Are you absolutely certain you’ve seen all of them?’

Lorna gnawed at her bottom lip as her head bobbed emphatically.

‘At Hotel Camino where you work?’ Alyssa clarified for the record.

‘Yeah, but not like all at the same time or anything.’

‘When did you see them?’

‘I don’t really remember what days they were. Except for that one.’ Her finger pointed to Katelyn’s photo. ‘I saw her Tuesday night, and she stood out because she was so young, and the man she left with was so much older, and he was such a big guy compared to her petite size.’

Blood pulsed in Alyssa’s ears. ‘Describe this big guy for me.’

‘Um, he was built, you know, kind of like a weightlifter. He had brown hair and big bushy eyebrows.’

‘How tall was this man?’

‘About my brother’s height, so probably about five-eleven maybe?’

Because she was expecting to hear something over six feet, it took Alyssa a second to realize Lorna wasn’t describing Beau Cambridge. Nor did the description fit Chance Williams, Griffin Parker, or Calvin McDougal. She resisted the urge to sag into the chair. This was still valuable information. ‘What time was this, and when Katelyn left, did she go willingly, or did she seem frightened?’