Page 140 of Blue Moon

“What?”

“The on-ramp for I-15. And you know where that goes? North to I-70.” And I-70 went east toward Minnesota. “Echo, what happened to his mom’s home? Did we find out yet?”

“Candice Hebert didn’t own any property. She drew disability and rented a basement apartment. Oh, and…it looks as if she worked part-time at the local Spend and Save.”

“Hmmm…” Dan mused. “Hebert paid cash for the Tahoe. How much does a security guard at the Nile Palace earn?”

“Not enough,” Tulsa gritted out.

Sin came back with a better answer. “He’d have to save his entire salary for a year and a half to buy that Tahoe.”

Plus he had a second place. How many people in regular jobs could afford that?

“Hot herps aren’t cheap to keep either,” Dice added, picking up on the theme. “Vivs, heating, lighting, food…”

Dan asked the question on everyone’s mind. “If he didn’t get an inheritance from his mom, and he didn’t make bank at the hotel, then how is he funding this?”

“I didn’t find any other bank accounts,” Echo said.

“Look again,” Priest told her. “And don’t forget he used cash for the vehicle. We know he’s happy to break the law, so let’s consider an illegal side hustle. Drugs, wet work, trafficking. How much do king cobras go for on the black market?”

Dice answered, “A couple thousand. The venom goes for big bucks, but milking snakes is hella risky.”

“We can’t rule out any possibilities at the moment. Not Minnesota, not a reptile connection.”

Emmy sucked in a breath. “Better get the jet warmed up.”

More than twenty-four hours had passed since Luna disappeared. They had a “who,” a “how,” and a “why,” but not a “where,” and meanwhile, Luna could be halfway across the country.

With Neve, Ryder had felt a different kind of agony. A yawning pit of loss. Her father hadn’t even had the decency to tell Ryder of her death himself. No, the news that she hadn’t made it had been broken by one of Neve’s school friends, who’d rushed to the hospital as soon as she heard that Neve had been loaded into an ambulance. The girl had been sobbing so hard she could barely get the words out. Ryder had gone from happy to devastated in a heartbeat. His Navy teammates had been sympathetic, but he’d never felt so alone.

Only Ryder’s sister had been truly supportive. Phoebe had dropped everything to be by his side. His parents had liked Neve well enough, but his dad thought she was highly strung, and his mom had always said Neve would break his heart in the end. Well, his mom had been right, hadn’t she? No amount of condolences could change that. Captain Metcalfe, as he was then, had threatened to ram an aircraft carrier up Henry Fontaine’s Nimitz-class asshole, which was something, at least.

But this…this was different.

Now Ryder had his chosen family, and they offered support in spades. And Luna wasn’t dead; he had to believe that. Schrödinger’s girlfriend. But the nausea swimming in his gut made it hard to function, and they were still no closer to finding her. Neither were the cops. Earlier, the Blackwood team had discussed handing over Nola Jiminez, but if they did that, there was a risk the LVMPD might focus on the kidnapping itself and not on the search. Prosecuting Nola would be an easy win. She’d only had her green card for two years, so she’d probably get deported, and Kobie would end up suffering for her mistake.

“Hey, you want to hear something weird?” Echo said from the basement. Apparently, she preferred it down there.

“Spill,” Tulsa told her.

“A silver SUV was spotted near the scene of another disappearance recently, and the cops think it was a late-model Tahoe. A woman named Kacie Bachman vanished from the parking lot of the Slam Dunk Saloon nearly a month ago. Could be something, could be nothing.”

“Where did you find that out?” Emmy asked. “About the Tahoe, I mean. I saw the disappearance on the news.”

“From the”—cough—“LVMPD’s evidence management system.”

Priest sighed. “Dusk?”

“I’ll look into it.”

“If the Choir can handle Vegas, Blackwood can take Minnesota,” Emmy said.

“We can handle Vegas.”

And for Luna’s sake, Ryder had to handle his emotions and play his part.

39

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