His carefully controlled voice trailed off, and again Alyssa couldn’t help but wonder what her partner was thinking. He was always so calm and collected that his reaction to the situation went beyond merely unnatural. She decided to be direct. ‘Want to tell me what you’re thinking?’

‘I’m thinking we need to locate this Beau Cambridge and find out what he knows.’

Alyssa noted his choice of words: Find out what he knows, not if he knows anything.

Chapter Eight

Monday, May 20

While Alyssa drove in the general direction of the university, Cord called Hal and asked if he could track down Chance Williams’s address.

‘This is what I’m thinking. Pay a visit to this Chance fellow, and then we’ll—’ She was interrupted by the ringing of her phone. ‘I seem to be popular today.’ She didn’t recognize the number that popped up on her screen. ‘Alyssa Wyatt speaking.’

A woman’s hoarse, wobbly voice came on the line. ‘Detective Alyssa Wyatt?’

‘Yes. Who is this?’

‘My name is Natalia Andrews. I’m Jersey’s mom. I understand Holly already told you we fear my daughter may be missing?’

‘Yes, she did. Has Jersey come home?’

‘No, I’m afraid not. I, um, just wasn’t certain if I needed to call you and officially ask for a missing person’s report to be filed.’ A choked sound escaped as if Jersey’s mom was fighting back tears. ‘This isn’t the first time my daughter’s taken off, but it is the first time she hasn’t let me know she’s okay, and after everything that happened recently with that serial killer…’ She cleared her throat. ‘Her father is out of the country for the time being, but I have left a message for him to contact me.’

‘When’s the last time you spoke to your daughter, Mrs. Andrews?’

‘Yesterday afternoon. I was enjoying a pampering day. You know, spa, nails, massage.’ Alyssa didn’t know, but she listened as Mrs. Andrews continued. ‘I’d invited Jersey to come along, make it a girls’ day, but she said she’d already made plans with Holly, Sophie, and Leigh Ann.’

‘Was her boyfriend there at the time?’

‘No, ma’am. He showed up sometime after I left. In fact, if Holly hadn’t told me about their fight, I would never have known he’d been at the house. Jersey knows I’m not his biggest fan. As it is, I tried contacting him, several times in fact, but he never answered my calls.’ This time her voice was brittle, angry. ‘Holly told me what he said. It’s probably my fault Jersey stays with him at all. After all, she’s learned from a pro how to stay with someone who’s toxic to be around. I should’ve left her father ages ago, but I thought staying together for Jersey’s sake was better, healthier somehow. I realize now that was a mistake.’

Unfortunately, Alyssa saw that same reasoning time and time again during her investigations involving domestic clashes. ‘When did you notice Jersey wasn’t home, Mrs. Andrews?’

‘This morning around nine. I knocked on her bedroom door to ask how her evening went and see if she wanted to go to breakfast. When she didn’t answer, I opened her door and found her bed unslept in. My first thought was that the girls had been having so much fun they must’ve slept at one of their houses. I admit I was a little upset she hadn’t let me know. And then she didn’t answer her phone when I called, so I thought I’d try Sophie. But then Sophie told me she hadn’t seen her since dinner last night, and offered to ask Holly and Leigh Ann. When she called back, she said none of them knew where she was, so I thought maybe she’d spent the night with Beau.’ The way his name came out strangled, it sounded more like a curse word.