“Dad,” Jasper called, Layne took a chance and turned his back on scary, pissed off Ryker to see Jasper was jogging up to him.

“Tiffany’s not answering her phone,” Jasper told him when he got close.

Fuck!

“I got her number after the last thing and I’ve been callin’ her. Know someone who’s got some of her friends’ numbers and her home number and they called. She’s not at home, parents said she was goin’ to hang with some of her girls. None of her friends have heard from her and they didn’t have plans.”

“I’m on that,” Colt muttered, pulling out his phone.

“Dad,” Jasper called his attention.

“What, Bud?”

Jasper looked funny and Layne knew that look. He hadn’t seen it from Jas in years. It was hesitant, unsure, like Tripp looked when he had to say something he thought might sound stupid.

Jasper sucked it up and said softly, “Okay, Dad, stick with me, yeah?”

“I’m with you,” Layne spoke softly back as he felt Ryker getting off his bike and Tripp, Devin and Merry got close.

“I know we don’t have a lotta time but will you let me talk this out?” Jasper asked and Layne nodded.

“Okay,” Jasper whispered then took a big breath. “I’ve been thinkin’ about all this stuff and somethin’ never sat right with me ‘cause that Youth Group guy has been around for ages, like, months, right?”

“Right,” Layne agreed.

“So, I don’t know how they think or how they work but to work three girls, it doesn’t seem like it would be worth that investment, takin’ that long to do it,” Jasper went on and Layne’s eyes moved to Devin whose jaw was tight.

His eyes went back to his son. “Go on,” Layne prompted.

“So, it just seemed funny to me but I don’t know how they work so I didn’t think about it much until you told us to go to Giselle’s folks’ house and get the list of her friends. We worked our way through that and none of her friends had much but one of the names on it was Tara Murdoch. I thought that was weird ‘cause Giselle doesn’t hang with Tara, no one hangs with Tara. She’s weird, a goth, loads of piercings, black lipstick, total attitude and not the good kind. She’s fourteen, Dad, and she’s got tattoos.”

Fuck.

Layne looked at Tripp. “Tara Murdoch a goth last year?”

Tripp shook his head.

“She tight with Giselle last year?” Layne continued.

“Yeah, Dad,” Tripp whispered. “They were best friends.”

Fuck!

“Giselle tell you why she’s not Tara’s friend anymore?” Layne went on.

“We never talked about it but Tara went goth, that’s not Giselle’s scene. That kinda thing happens with girls all the time. One day they’re tight, the next day they’re not,” Tripp replied.

“You guys talk to her when you were doin’ the rounds?” Layne asked Jasper.

“No, we went to her house and…” he shook his head, “she was there, standin’ in the front window, watchin’ us with this weird look on her face. Just standin’ there watchin’ us. We rang the bell and knocked but she didn’t move. Just stood there watchin’ us. I thought it was some goth shit and I knew she wasn’t tight with Giselle so I figured she didn’t have anything for us so we walked away.”

Layne nodded at Jasper. “You got anything else?”

Jasper nodded, sucked in breath and replied, “Summer Collins and Hannah Blair. Mitch had clocked both of them at a party, end of school last year. Giselle, Tara, Summer and Hannah were known to be the talent comin’ up from junior high. All the guys knew about them. Giselle was shy. Tara turned goth. Summer is more shy than Giselle, she doesn’t go to games, doesn’t go out for pizza, she just goes to school, doesn’t have any friends that I know of, and she goes home. Sometimes she also doesn’t wash her hair. Just kinda tries to fade, you know?” Jasper asked but didn’t wait for a response, he continued. “But it’s Hannah. Hannah disappeared.”

Layne turned to Merry. “You get a report on Hannah Blair goin’ missin’?”

Merry shook his head but Tripp spoke. “She’s in the hospital Dad. Everyone knows about it, she wigged out this summer. Word is, she’s, like, catatonic. Doesn’t talk to anyone. Not her parents, her friends quit visiting her. She’s just like, gone.”

Fuck, fuck, fucking hell. Devin was right. They’d missed something. Nicolette Towers had already thrown a party.

“They all go to Youth Group?” Layne asked Tripp.

“Don’t know for sure but I think so. I know Tara did,” Tripp answered.

“Brunette, blonde, redhead?” Layne asked.

“Tara was blonde, but now her hair’s black,” Tripp answered. “But yeah, Summer’s got red hair and Hannah was dark.”

Layne looked at Merry but he was already pulling out his phone, muttering, “Got it.”

“I take it, it wasn’t stupid,” Jasper mumbled and Layne’s eyes went to his boy to see he was not looking good. He was looking sick. He thought he fucked up.

“Jasper, shake that off. You couldn’t save them but now they may be able to save Alexis and Tiffany. Focus on that. Yeah?”

“I should have said something.” He was still mumbling but he was doing it looking sicker.

“Shake that off Jasper, I need you to think,” his eyes cut to Tripp, “I need you both to think. Any other girls? A trio. Blonde, brunette, redhead. They were normal girls last year, attractive girls, and did an about face over the summer. They could be Freshman or Sophomores, they went to Youth Group but they don’t go now.”

Tripp shook his head. Jasper was thinking.

“Jas,” Layne prompted.

“No,” he replied. “But to be sure, I’d need my yearbooks.”

“Where are they, our place or your Mom’s?”

“Mom’s,” Jasper answered.

“You think of someone, you call Merry right away, not me, Merry. Yeah?” Jasper nodded and Layne looked at Devin. “Take the boys to their Mom’s.” Devin nodded, moving to the Calais and Layne looked at Tripp. “You too, Pal. Seventh and eighth grade last year, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Tripp muttered and jogged after Jasper and Devin.

Merry and Sully came up to Ryker and Layne.

“Tennessee needs a call, Sul, they need to yank Goulding,” Layne told him. “He held out on us. He delivered at least three girls to a party, maybe more. If he didn’t deliver them, he primed them. We need to find out everything he knows. We need to know if there are more girls. We need him broken.”

Sully nodded and again stepped away, flipping open his phone.

Merry said, “I gotta get to the Station.”

“Right,” Layne replied but Merry was already on the move.

“What’re you thinkin’ you can get from these girls?” Ryker asked low from Layne’s side and Layne looked at him.

“Maybe a location, though I doubt she’ll double up. Definitely cause for a warrant,” Layne answered.

“Obviously none of them talked,” Ryker noted.

“Probably too scared,” Layne replied.

“So maybe they won’t talk now,” Ryker observed, his face and body tight. He was a man who liked to be on the move, in the thick of things, with Alexis on the line, this was killing him.

“Marissa Gibbons was hard as nails, Ryker, and she talked because she didn’t want another girl to face what happened to her. They’ll talk.”

“It’ll take time, they’ll –” Ryker started.

“Patience, brother,” Layne whispered and Ryker got scary again.

“Your girl isn’t right now keepin’ company with sheer evil, bro,” he whispered back.

Layne held his gaze. “Stick with me, big man.”

Ryker held his eyes and a muscle danced in his cheek. Then he looked to the house and muttered, “Gotta check on my babe.”

Then he walked to the house.

Layne looked at his shoes, thinking, fuck, we fucking missed something.

Then he looked up when Joe Callahan slid his truck to a halt in front of the house, Vi’s Mustang sliding in behind him. He watched Vi get out, she pushed back her seat to get to Angela’s baby seat in the back. Cal jumped down and walked to Layne, his face intense.

He just made it to Layne when February Colton’s VW Beetle slid up behind the Mustang.

That was the women of the ‘burg. Trouble comes, they close ranks.

Cal stopped at him.

“Talk to me,” he ordered.

Layne locked eyes with him then he talked.

Vi with Angela at her hip and Feb with her son Jack at hers rushed into the house.

* * *

When Layne could take no more, he tore his eyes from Tara Murdoch, her weeping mother, her stony-faced father, the softly-speaking Patrick Sullivan and the watchful child psychologist and he walked out of the observation room.

Cal moved with him.

Layne pulled his phone out of his jacket, flipped it open, scrolled down and hit go while he walked to the buzzing bullpen.

“What?” Ryker barked in his ear.

“Meet me at Towers’s apartment at The Brendel,” Layne ordered.

“I’ll be there yesterday,” Ryker replied and then dead air.

“Tanner,” Cal murmured and Layne stopped and turned to him.

“You can stay here or follow,” Layne stated.

“I’m with you,” Cal replied instantly.

“Tanner!” Sean O’Leary jogged up to him and Layne checked his movement and looked to Sean.

“Yeah?”

“Bad news and kind of good news,” Sean said and when Layne did nothing but stare impatiently, Sean went on. “Rutledge didn’t lead us to the location but he did lead us straight to four of her army. The cop on his tail called backup. They came in quick but cool and were there when Rutledge either pushed too hard or got impatient. Whatever reason, shots were fired, the boys moved in.”