Not to mention that the surveillance team outside Hotel Camino had reported nothing but the usual one-hour comings and goings of the clientele they were known for. No young girls had been brought in and stolen out, drugged or otherwise.

Her expression thunderous, Alyssa’s path to the conference room was clear as Cord followed in her wake. She was disappointed the door was already open because she really wanted to slam it against something. Instead, she settled for tossing her phone onto the table, feeling both better and worse when it slid off and landed on the floor.

Hal had something projected on the screen, and before Alyssa could ask, he told her what it was. ‘Here’s that list of missing persons ranging from thirteen to twenty-one you asked for earlier. There were 183 females reported missing in New Mexico this year. Roughly one-third of those were under the age of fifteen and taken by a parent; approximately two-thirds of those left are runaways. Of the remaining individuals on the list, more than half fell outside the age limit parameters you requested or were already located, leaving the number that we’re going to need to look into at around fourteen.’

‘God, why can’t Liz be back now? We could use all the help we can get.’

‘Well,’ Hal said, ‘I can’t help with that, but what I have done is divide the fourteen girls into sections of the state from where they went missing, and I’ve already started cross-referencing data from this list to that of Meghan Jessup, Rachel Otis, Jersey Andrews, and Katelyn Phillipson.’

‘Any luck so far?’

‘Not yet.’

‘There has to be something. We need to find it.’ She was interrupted by her phone ringing, and it took her a second to realize it was still on the floor. Cord bent over and retrieved it, passing it her way before going back to help Hal.

Alyssa glanced down and saw Leigh Ann’s name flashing on her screen. Why would her daughter’s friend be calling her? All the blood rushed from her face as the thought that something had happened to Holly filled her head.

‘Leigh Ann? What’s going on? Has something happened with Holly?’

Cord’s head snapped in her direction, his eyes boring into hers as he waited.

‘Holly? No, not that I know of. Why?’

A rush of air escaped Alyssa’s lungs, and as the fear lifted, she felt almost weightless. ‘What can I help you with then?’ The tension visibly fell away when Cord heard that Holly – who he knew had a very well-known ‘secret’ crush on him – wasn’t in danger.

A nervous titter escaped Leigh Ann. ‘Um, I have something important to tell you, and I think I’m going to be in trouble, and I don’t want to go to jail…’

Alyssa waited… and waited some more. Then biting back her frustration, she employed her mom-detective voice. ‘Leigh Ann, I can’t help you unless you tell me.’

‘I didn’t do… do… anything. Well, I kind of did. But.’ Alyssa heard Leigh Ann suck in a deep breath before blurting out her purpose for calling. ‘I was at the same frat party where that girl went missing? Rachel Otis?’