But the damage was done. Alyssa groaned inwardly, both at the disruption and Tony’s unfortunate word choice in hunt. Already Lorna was moving as if to leave. In an attempt to keep her there, Alyssa tried to reassure the woman that she was still safe, reminding her that the lives of three girls could be on the line. ‘Lorna, you could help me save the lives of these other girls, save them from the same fate as Meghan Jessup.’ She watched Lorna’s eyes follow her finger to the image of Meghan.

Despite that, as soon as Lorna got her breathing back under control, she shuffled to the door, hand hovering. ‘I’m sorry. That’s all I know. I’ve seen them at the hotel, and nothing else.’ Her mouth opened as if she wanted to say more, but then she snapped it closed and pulled open the door.

‘Lorna,’ Alyssa stopped her and waited for the young woman to turn back around. ‘What or who are you afraid of?’

Lorna sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and glanced behind her, as if she was afraid someone would see her take the business card Alyssa held out. When she turned back, her voice was hushed. ‘What if they find out I’ve come here? What if they know I’m calling?’

‘We’ll protect you. And even more, you could help us save these girls.’

‘I’m sorry. I don’t know anything else.’

Alyssa released a frustrated sigh and pushed her card into Lorna’s hand. ‘If you think of anything else, or if you see these individuals again, call me. It doesn’t matter what time, day or night. Please call me.’

Lorna tucked the card into her front pocket. ‘Okay.’ And then she was gone.

Chapter Thirty

Thursday, May 23

After Lorna left, Alyssa hurried to the conference room, all the while planning the speech she would need to convince Hammond of okaying the cost of setting up surveillance outside Hotel Camino. Not that she expected to have to try too hard because the captain wanted this case solved as much as her team did.

‘What did you find out?’ she asked as soon as she walked through the conference room door.

Instead of answering, Tony apologized. ‘Hal and Cord said you wanted to know as soon as Joe and I were back. I didn’t know I’d be spooking someone when I walked in. Sorry about that. Hope I didn’t mess things up.’

Hal projected something onto the wall across the room. ‘Here we go.’

‘Girl was easily spooked, and I’ll tell you what I found out as soon as I see this.’ She turned her attention to the black and white grainy footage projected onto the wall. As she watched, she spotted who she assumed was Naomi Kenney appear in the top right corner, moving briskly along the sidewalk, head jerking from side to side, clearly alert and on edge in her surroundings. ‘Why are we just now finding out about this security camera? Didn’t you ask the businesses around there when we discovered Meghan’s body?’