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Shoving his wallet in his pocket, he snagged his phone, leaving his badge wallet in the drawer. He leaned over to kiss her. “I shouldn’t be long. I’ll call you.”

The drive to Vontressa’s apartment, in the same complex where his sister and Cookie both lived and just south of Coney’s city limits, took less than ten minutes on the back road. The three buildings formed a square U, and David waited on the second floor of the middle building, the apartment door behind him partially open. Tick wheeled into a parking spot, then took the stairs two at a time.

“David.” He grasped his friend’s hand, aware of a tremble in those fingers he’d only experienced once before, the night David’s daddy had died. Mr. Isaac hadn’t been much older than Daddy, either. David had coped a hell of a lot better, though.

“Thank you for coming, Lamar.” David ran a hand over his nape, sweat glinting on his forehead.

“Anytime.” He nodded toward the door. “Look, we’re going to check on her. If she’s not here, we’re not touching anything, and we’re calling the sheriff’s department.

The apartment was a near twin to Tori’s, the door opening straight into the living area, with Vontressa’s kitchen open to the room and the bedroom off a hallway. The ceiling fan swung in a lazy circle, and the fluorescent kitchen light glowed. Tick pointed to it. “Was that on Friday night?”

“Yeah.” David shrugged, his face drawn.

Moving boxes, some open, took up space in the living room, with items stacked on the carpet. A half-empty soda sat on the kitchen counter. More boxes marched across the opposite counter, a toaster and coffee maker still sitting in their purchase boxes.

The AC kicked on with a slight hum.

In the bedroom, folded sheets sat on the bare mattress. Tick’s stomach hollowed. “You said she signed the lease last week?”

David nodded. “Picked up the keys Thursday. Stayed at Mama’s that night and I moved all her boxes over here after work Friday.”

The closet doors stood open, a riot of colorful clothes hanging from the bar. Purses lined the top shelf. “Do you see the bag she had Friday?”

“No, she was using the new purse Mama gave her for her birthday. She loves that thing. It’s not in the living room or the kitchen. I looked when we walked through.”

A box of toiletries sat in the middle of the bathroom floor. A shower curtain, still in its package, waited to be hung, the rod leaning against the wall.

Tick walked back to the living room. The blinds were down, but the strips were separated, letting in the glow of the outside security lights. “Did you check with her friends?”

“Mama was calling around when I left.” Deep creases furrowed David’s brow.

Tick swallowed an oath. “David, we have to call local LE.”

“Okay.” The stunned unease on David’s face made his own chest hurt.

As Tick watched David pull out his phone and dial 911, his gut clenched on the idea Vontressa wasn’t coming home.

It was worse than he thought. In the parking lot with David, Tick listened to the bored deputy not take David’s concern seriously.

“With all due respect. . .” Rutland crossed his arms over his chest and heaved a sigh. Tick rested his hands at his belt, mouth compressed so he’d keep it shut. “Your sister’s an adult. With her car and purse gone, she probably went somewhere on her own—”

“It’s been forty-eight hours since last known contact.” The guy was screwing this up, costing precious time.

“Look, I’ll take a report—”

“And enter her stats in the national database.” That was a standard first step, or it should be. He’d run across plenty of she’s-an-adult scenarios where local guys skipped that step, and none of those scenarios ended well. “Right?”

“Right.” Rutland bit the word off, and Tick bit back the urge to rattle off commands. This wasn’t his scene, even if he could have done a better job blindfolded.

With one hand cuffed behind his back.

His wife called him arrogant on the regular, but damn. Some things were basic.

“Look.” Rutland turned to David, demeanor softening a millimeter or so. “I know you’re worried. Your buddy here will tell you most times, situations like this resolve themselves.”

Tick swallowed a scoff. Just because he was an arrogant son of a bitch didn’t mean he had to act like one. Plus he didn’t need to piss off the locals and get himself invited to leave.

“So, I’ll post the report, add her details to the database.” Rutland scrawled a report number across the back of a generic business card for the department. “Give it a few hours and you’ll be able to pull a pdf to create your own posters.”