At the Lewises, she chatted a few minutes with Trevor’s parents and cooed over his new baby brother, Ryan. It made her arms ache to hold her own babies again. And as soon as that thought whipped through her head, she knew it was time to go. Despite the embarrassment to her son, she kissed the top of his head, told him to have a great time, and climbed back into her car, where she found herself checking the mirror until the Lewis’ house was no longer in sight.

And then she pushed all her insecurities about Isaac’s camping trip aside and focused her concentration where it needed to be in this moment – finding Meghan Jessup’s killer and locating Rachel, Jersey, and Katelyn before they met the same fate as Meghan.

When Alyssa arrived at the precinct later that morning, she headed straight to the conference room where printouts of the call and text logs for Rachel, Jersey, Katelyn, and Meghan spanning back to March waited for her. Immediately, she began poring over each page, hoping to find one common number amongst the four girls. And if she was being really honest, she knew she was hoping it would belong to Beau Cambridge, cementing the theory that he was somehow involved in all this.

So far, however, all she’d succeeded in doing was giving herself a throbbing headache and blurry vision. All she needed was one thread to pull. Just one. Was that asking too much of the universe? Because she didn’t think so.

She was rubbing circles into her temple when Ruby appeared in the doorway. ‘Detective, there’s someone here who says it’s urgent he speak to you right now.’

‘Who is it?’

‘Nick Otis.’

Forgetting her burgeoning headache, Alyssa shoved back from the table and hurried to the front where Rachel’s twin rapped the counter with his knuckles, drawing attention from irritated officers.

‘Nick?’

He swung around, causing his hair to droop into his eyes. Absently, he brushed it off his forehead only to have it lapse right back to where it had been when he rushed over, meeting her part-way.

‘Someone answered Rachel’s phone.’ His words spilled out in a fountain of energy, and it took several seconds for Alyssa’s mind to make sense of what he was saying. When it did, she latched onto his arm and guided him toward the conference room before changing her mind and ushering him to the office she shared with Cord instead.

Once inside, she demanded an explanation. ‘Talk. What do you mean, someone answered Rachel’s phone? When was this?’

Nick tunneled his fingers into his hair, tugging lightly at the ends. ‘So, I’ve been calling Rach’s phone ever since I found out she was missing because’ – he swallowed – ‘because I was hoping…’

Because he was hoping she’d answer, or if someone else did, that they’d tell him where his sister was. Alyssa understood, and she waved her hand in the air for him to continue.

‘Like I told you Monday at my parents’ house, the first day, her phone went straight to voicemail every time I called. The next day was more of the same.’ As he spoke, he barely took a breath, his words firing rapidly. ‘I knew it was probably useless to keep calling, but I couldn’t stop. I had to try.’ Pressing his hand to his chest, he rocked back and forth on his heels. ‘If you pull her phone records, my number will be the one that looks like she’s got a stalker.’ He swung his gaze down to meet hers, unapologetic. ‘I called once an hour Monday and Tuesday, and then every few hours yesterday and today. This morning at 8:42 exactly, some guy answered.’