The last traces of sleep evaporate from my mind. “What do you mean, missing?”
“Family filed a report three days ago. She didn’t come home, didn’t call, nothing. Her roommate said she went out for a job and never came back, that was months ago.”
I stand up, suddenly unable to sit still. “And you think Eli had something to do with it?”
“I’m not saying that. Not exactly.” Dillian sighs, and I can picture him at his desk, phone pressed to his ear, making sure no one else at the station can hear him. “But there’s a witness who saw a woman matching her description talking to a man on a street corner the night she disappeared. Said the guy grabbed her by the arm and practically dragged her into a car. Witness couldn’t get a good look at the man or the vehicle.”
“Fuck.” I pace to the window, looking out at the bay. The water is calm today, deceptively peaceful. “Do you have any leads?”
“That’s the thing. Since you asked me to look into everyone connected to Eli, I’ve had one of our guys keeping tabs on him when possible. Not officially, of course. Just as a favor to me.”
“And?”
“And your boy is paranoid as hell. He knows he’s being watched.”
Something cold settles in my chest. “How can you tell?”
“The way he moves. He’s careful. Too careful. He parks that red BMW of his in this row of garages off Route 1. The garages are owned by shell companies. It took some digging to figure that out. He goes in, waits a while, then comes out and gets into a rented sedan. Different one each time.”
“He’s switching cars to throw off tails,” I mutter, more to myself than to Dillian.
“Exactly. And he’s good at it. My guy lost him three times in the last month alone.”
I’d been so focused on where he was going that I hadn’t paid enough attention to how he was getting there. Amateur mistake.
“What about the other night? When he left town?” I ask, thinking of Lila at the club, in my arms, her lips on mine while her husband was supposedly away on business.
“That’s another thing. He did the car switch, then drove to Baltimore. Checked into a hotel under a fake name, but my guy recognized him. Then Eli spotted him in the lobby and lost him. Stared right at him, smiled, and walked out. My guy followed, but Eli had vanished. Just... gone.”
“Shit.” I run a hand through my hair, tugging at the ends in frustration. “So we have no idea where he went after that?”
“None. And here’s the kicker—he hasn’t used his credit cards, his phone is off, and his car is still in that garage. It’s like he’s deliberately dropped off the grid.”
My mind races, connecting dots I don’t want to connect. An escort missing. Eli going dark. The timing of it all.
“You think he did something to her? To Amanda?”
Dillian is quiet for a moment. “I think it’s a hell of a coincidence that a woman he’s been seen with goes missing right around the time he decides to play ghost. But I don’t have anything concrete yet. Just... watch your girl, Tony. If Eli’s involved in something bad and he thinks someone’s closing in on him, he might get desperate. And desperate men do desperate things.”
I glance at my phone, pulling up the security app to check on Lila’s house. The feeds are clear, no movement. According to her phone’s GPS, she’s still at Mia's house. Safe, for now.
“I’m on it,” I tell Dillian. “What about Amanda? What are you doing to find her?”
“Everything I can without raising flags. It’s tricky. Officially, she’s just another missing persons case. But prostitution complicates things—some of the guys aren’t exactly rushing to find a hooker, you know? But I’ve got a few people I trust looking into it. Checking hotel records, traffic cams, that sort of thing.”
“Let me know if you find anything. And Dillian... thanks. I know you’re sticking your neck out here.”
He snorts. “Yeah, well, you’d do the same for me. Have done, actually. Multiple times. Besides, if this guy is hurting women, I want him off the streets. Badge or no badge.”
After we hang up, I throw a pair of sweatpants on and head to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee to go with my breakfast, my mind churning. I need to be smart about this. If Eli knows he’s being watched, he’ll be more careful than ever. And if he’s somehow involved in Amanda’s disappearance, he’s more dangerous than I thought.
I pull out my laptop and log into GameStream’s secure server. As the owner, I have access to everything, including the personal information of our top streamers. Eli’s profile comes up, showing his streaming schedule, subscriber count, and payment history. Nothing unusual there. But when I dig deeper, looking at his login locations over the past few months, I notice something odd. There are gaps, periods where he doesn’t stream at all, doesn’t even log in to check his account. And these gaps line up perfectly with his “business trips.”
What kind of streamer doesn’t stream for days at a time? Doesn’t check his metrics, his subscriber count, his revenue? Unless streaming isn’t his real business at all, but a cover for something else.
I cross-reference the dates of his absences with news reports, police blotters, missing persons cases. Nothing jumps out immediately, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing there. I just need to dig deeper.
My phone pings with a notification from the security app. Movement at Lila’s house. I switch screens quickly, heart rate spiking until I see it’s just Lila herself, coming home from Mia’s and she's alone. She moves through the house with purpose, heading straight to the bedroom she shared with Eli. I watch as she pulls a suitcase from the closet and begins filling it with clothes.
