Page 8 of Chill’s Chance

“Interesting road name.” Sterling pushes.

“One of our members caught cheating.” Puma explains. “Made him a prospect to show him the error of his ways.”

“Right. Hopefully, he learns his lesson. Owns up for his mistakes.” He glances around the room. “This is where we found her.” Sterling says, pointing to a space between the front door and what looks to be a boy’s room. “The kid’s door was open, as was the window.”

Hunter tenses, but before he can ask a question, I send him a glare. “So you think the kid escaped through the window?” Puma asks.

“I hope so.” Sterling says.

“Did you check with the neighbors?” Puma asks.

“Of course. There was a lady down the hall who sometimes babysat for Ms. Bryson. In fact, she’s the one that called the police. She came over to get Slade and found Nicole’s body.”

Sterling reaches into his pocket and pulls out a USB drive. “I have everything on here. In case your man hasn’t had time to find it on his own.” Sterling says with a smirk.

“No cameras in the building or outside?” Puma asks.

Sterling shakes his head. “Not a one.”

“Thanks.” Puma says pocketing it. “We’ll pack everything up and get it out of here.”

“If you find anything, let me know. I’ll leave you to it.”

Once Sterling is gone, Hunter turns to me. “Cheats?”

I shrug. “Look around and see if you can find anything that helps locate your son. Max, start clearing the kitchen.”

We spend a good twenty minutes boxing stuff up when Hunter comes out of Slade’s room. “His duffel bag is missing.”

“What duffel bag?” I ask him.

“Whenever I’d come visit, I always had my duffel bag. I’d live out of that bag. He asked me about it and I told him I keep it packed with everything I need, in case I get called back unexpectedly. He told me he wanted one, so I bought him one like mine. Nicole said he always keeps it packed with a change of clothes, a few games, and granola bars. Just in case.” Hunter says, his voice cracking at the end. “It’s not here.”

“You think he might have grabbed it on his way out the window?” Puma asks, and Hunter shrugs.

“Maybe. Hopefully.”

“Let’s finish up and get back to the clubhouse.” Puma suggests. He pulls out his phone while the rest of us finish packing.

While Hunter and Max load up the SUV, I join Puma by our bikes. “I asked Spark to reach out to Maestro in San Diego. See if he can search camera feed for a kid carrying a duffle bag. It isn’t much, but it might give us something to work with.”

I nod. It’s a long shot, but they don’t call him Maestro because he loves music. It’s because he can make computers do things you couldn’t imagine.

“Cheats?” Puma asks me with a smirk.

I shrug.

When we get back to the clubhouse, Puma heads to Spark’s office, with Hunter and me following behind him.

“Sterling gave us this. It’s everything he has on the murder of Nicole Bryson and the disappearance of her son.” He says, handing over the USB drive.

“I probably have all the info already, but I’ll look.” Spark says, taking the drive before turning his attention to Hunter. “I looked into her finances. She was in a financial mess.”

Hunter runs his hands down his face in frustration. “I don’t understand it. She never said she was having financial problems. I deposited my paycheck and just kept a few hundred for myself. She has access to my savings. There should have been plenty in there for them.”

“It’s all gone.” Spark says. “I found the savings account. She kept just enough in there to keep it open with the minimum amount so they wouldn’t charge bank fees. She had several credit cards, all maxed out. I think she had a gambling problem. I’ve discovered several casinos who banned her.”

“I don’t understand.” Hunter repeats. “How could I not know what was going on?”

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