The Devil's Daughter (Hidden Sins #1)(17)

He ran his hand through his hair. “Chase, you call me the second you get some answers from the registration people. I’m pursuing some unconventional paths, but we can’t afford to let this thing with Neveah sit, either.” He shook his head. “We’re in over our heads, guys. So just do the best you can until I can get more hands on deck.”

Henry pushed to his feet and stretched. “You already put the call out to Augusta?”

“Her picture has circulated over there, and I’ve passed it on to the stations in Great Falls. They have quite a bit bigger population, so I don’t know if it will pop even if she’s been there, but they’ve promised to get it out there and see if anything comes of it.” He felt like he was going through the motions for no reason, but they had to pursue every avenue until they found the girl.

Or found her body.

“Henry, who was that kid she was running around with? The one with the priors?”

“Aaron Johnson.” Henry crossed his arms over his chest and glowered. “He’s a little punk.”

Zach wasn’t about to argue that. The kid had a mouth on him and the morals of an alley cat. “The Smiths say she was done with him, but—”

Henry snorted. “Parents would be the last to know.”

“Exactly. Track the kid down and see if you can get him to tell you when the last time he saw her was.”

Henry nodded. He might be more gentle giant than anything else, but he could put a good front on it when it suited him. Idiot kids with sticky fingers brought out that side of him. He’d have Aaron Johnson pissing his pants with one stone-cold look. “I’ll check the school first, but that little punk has more truancies than the rest of the junior class combined. It might take some time to hunt him down.”

For a small town, there were plenty of places for kids to get into trouble if they were so inclined. Zach had gotten into his fair share when he was in school, too, though he’d never resorted to the shit that would actually get him arrested.

Probably because his father had been the sheriff.

He nodded at Henry. “Best get to it, then.”

“I’ll call when I have some answers.”

“Good.” He watched the older man shrug on his jacket and head out the door. It was only then that he turned to Chase. “Go home. Take a few hours.”

“What?”

“You’re not doing anyone any favors if you’re running yourself into the ground. Those college offices don’t get up and running before nine, so get out of here for a while and catch some shut-eye.” It was an order, so he didn’t bother to phrase it as a question.

Chase didn’t move, his eyes stark in his pale face. “I can’t get her face out of my head, Zach. Up here, I know there’s nothing I could have done.” He pointed to his head. “But that doesn’t take the guilt away. This is our town. Ours. Nothing like that is supposed to happen in our town.”

Zach couldn’t argue that. Part of the reason he’d chosen to come back to Clear Springs in the first place was because of the fact that things like brutal murders didn’t happen here. He’d seen enough violence in the desert to last him a lifetime. There was nothing more fucked-up than having men he’d trained with and gone on mission after mission with gunned down in front of him. Or worse, blown up past the point of recognition. Violence like that wasn’t supposed to happen in his hometown. It was supposed to be safe.

But someone had gone and taken away that safety—and it was his job to figure out who had done it.

“We’ll find the person responsible.” It didn’t matter if they were in over their head, because letting something like this happen to another girl in his town wasn’t an option. He very carefully didn’t think about the fact that they hadn’t found the slightest evidence of where the hell Neveah had gotten to. Zach took a deep breath. “But you won’t be finding a damn thing if you fall asleep behind the wheel or while you’re on hold. Take a few hours, Chase.”

It was entirely possible that, wherever Neveah was, those few hours wouldn’t make a single bit of difference in her fate.

He didn’t say that. He barely let himself think it.

Zach had learned the hard way that it was vital to focus on the positive and keep going. If they stopped long enough to think about all the shit beyond their control, they’d lose their damn minds, and he’d find his deputies curled up in a corner, rocking, with a wild look in their eyes.

He’d been the one in the corner a time or two in his twenties. He had no interest in returning.

One step at a time.

Chase hesitated and then finally gave a jerky nod. “Three hours. No more.”

“Take four and make sure you get something to eat while you’re at it.” He didn’t know if his deputy would actually sleep, but maybe getting him out of the police station for a bit would be enough to ground him again.

“If you’re sure . . .”

“Go. Don’t make me say it again.” Once he was sure Chase would obey his order, he headed for his cruiser. The high school kids would just be hitting homeroom right around now, which meant it was a good time to yank Neveah’s friends out of class and see if any of them were going to change their story about what had happened over the weekend without their parents looking over their shoulders. Technically, he wasn’t allowed to interview underage suspects without a parent present, but the principal would stand in, and since none of these kids were actually suspects, he was willing to bend the rules. All that mattered was finding the missing girl. He could give two fucks about underage drinking or any of the things that would tie parents up in knots. Once he made that explicitly clear, he hoped it’d get someone talking. At this point, all they knew was that Neveah had been at school on Friday, but no one claimed to have seen her since the last bell rang.