Were they okay?
Those texts he’d received slammed into her mind. She didn’t know where the thoughts were coming from.
But she still hadn’t asked him what they were about. He still hadn’t told her why he might be talking to Celeste.
He’d been madly in love with the woman at one time. Had those feelings sprung up again?
She swallowed hard. She didn’t want to think that was a possibility.
Duke was faithful. Even when Celeste had gone missing for more than a year, he’d refused to date. He was that kind of guy.
She usually didn’t question his integrity—and she wasn’t necessarily doing that now. But she hated the fact he was keeping secrets.
Then she saw them.
Two shapes emerged from the shadows—solid, familiar. Duke first, his stride controlled but urgent. Ranger just behind him.
Relief hit her so hard her knees nearly gave out.
Duke crossed the distance quickly. “He’s gone. We chased him, but he knew the terrain. Led us toward a ravine and disappeared.”
So close.
Too close.
“He wanted us to see him,” Andi murmured.
Duke nodded once. “That’s my read.”
The team slowly regrouped, tension buzzing between them. No one spoke for a moment, as if saying the wrong thing might pull the shadow back out of the dark.
Mariella broke the silence, lowering her phone. “I just got a text from a guy I know. I asked him to check out Colin’s alibi during the other disappearance during our tour.”
“And?” Andi asked.
“Colin has a verified alibi for the Portland window.” She hesitated. “Work records. Witnesses. Digital trail. It’s solid.”
Andi exhaled slowly.
They’d been circling Colin for days. Building theories. Following threads that now unraveled in their hands.
“If it’s not Colin,” Simmy said, “then who?”
That question settled heavily over them.
Andi’s mind churned, moving backward instead of forward now. What had they missed?
“What if it’s not about Gina?” Andi said, the thought forming even as it left her mouth. “Not originally.”
Duke turned toward her. “What are you thinking?”
“What if whoever this is didn’t start with Gina?” Andi said. “What if he started earlier—with one of our cases? Someone we talked about. Someone we dismissed. Someone who disappeared and was written off.”
The implication rippled through the group.
Mariella went still. Her color drained so fast Andi noticed it immediately.
“No,” Mariella whispered.
