38. Ryder

38

"He just gave me a sandwich and told me to wait for my mom. He didn't say he was coming back."

They'd found Kobie Jiminez seated at a table in the corner of Wonder Burger, eating a sausage, egg, and cheese bagel and playing Hungry Birds on his phone. The kid had no idea what the problem was. Anton Hebert had shown up in the Jiminez apartment and told Kobie that his mom had to work late. Since Nola seemed to change sitters on a regular basis and Anton had a key—a key Nola had "lost" at work the month before and hadn't mentioned because she didn't think it was important—Kobie thought it was okay and went with him. The guy had balls. He'd taken Kobie to pick up takeout and groceries before they headed back to his apartment, and Kobie said he'd had a great time, although he was disappointed he didn't get to see the snakes. Hebert had taken them to his "other place." They'd shared "weird food," which seemed to be Lebanese from the description, and then Kobie had felt tired. He wasn't sure how long he'd slept, but when he woke, it had been time to get breakfast. They'd missed Hebert by minutes.

"Did he say anything about where he was going next?" Dusk asked.

With Dan still out hunting down silver SUVs, Dusk had been deemed the most personable member of the team and, therefore, the most suited to questioning a child. They'd put him on a couch in a small sunroom at the Cathouse with cookies and a soft drink. Nola was sitting with Kobie, sniffing and wiping her eyes with a tissue. She'd apologised a hundred times. Ryder wanted to hate her for what she'd done to Luna, but if his kid had been abducted and he didn't have a support network like Blackwood, he knew he might make questionable decisions in the crusade to get the child back.

Kobie shook his head. "No, he just said to wait."

"What else did he tell you about the snakes?"

The boy brightened. "He has four of them. And guess what? Some are poisonous!"

"Venomous," Tulsa muttered from beside Ryder. And there had been five tanks in the apartment, so there was little doubt where the king cobra in Julius Whitlow's home had come from.

"Then it's probably good that they weren't there."

"Mom, can I have a snake?"

Nola looked horrified. "We don't have room for a snake, mijito."

"I would get a small one, and it can live on the table by the TV."

"I think it's a ‘no' on the snake, buddy. But if you're good, I'm sure your mom will take you to Sea Quest to visit the animals."

"Mom, can we go?"

"We'll see."

Dice and Spider were out canvassing pet stores, searching for anyone familiar with Hebert and his snakes. Jezebel had gone to the Luxor to hunt for a lead on Hebert's ex. He had a bolt-hole, another place to stay that she might know about. Romeo and Sin were at the Nile Palace, the former doing damage control and the latter eavesdropping on the cops for information. Storm had an unrelated emergency to deal with at Creech Air Force Base, and Emmy was questioning Hebert's neighbours with Slater.

What had they gotten so far?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

At least there hadn't been any more catfights. Tulsa had fixed an electronic tag to Elene's ankle and promised that if she left the property, she'd find herself in the wilds of Alaska. Caro was assisting Marcel in the kitchen.

"I'll go help Emmy with the neighbours," Ryder murmured to Tulsa. He'd been hopeful the boy would know something, give them a tiny sliver of information that would lead to Luna, but other than the existence of a second location, he knew zip. He hadn't seen Luna, and he'd slept through most of the drama. Fucking roofies.

"We have a confirmed licence plate," Dan said over the comms system. "It's a three-year-old Chevrolet Tahoe with the V8 engine. The previous owner sold it two months ago, but Hebert never transferred the title."

Emmy spoke up. "We're sure the registered owner isn't involved?"

"As sure as we can be. He's stuck at home with two sick kids while his husband works overtime at the hospital. And he isn't Luna's biggest fan—when I told him the Tahoe hit my car while I was watching Luna's show at the Nile Palace, he grimaced and suggested I should have saved my money for Imelda Raine at the Black Diamond because the whole experience is so much classier."

Tulsa snickered, and Emmy said, "Aw, I'm touched."

"We did get one small clue that might be useful."

"What is it?" Ryder asked quickly.

"Hebert asked if the vehicle drove well in snow."

"Snow? Did he say where he was going?"

"Robbie—the registered keeper—never went farther than Red Rock Canyon, so he had no idea of the answer. Hebert never elaborated after that."

"Doesn't he come from Minnesota?" Emmy asked. "Isn't it nicknamed Minnesnowta?"

"It doesn't snow there in July," another voice answered. Sin, Ryder thought. "But we don't know when he's planning to drive in snow. Maybe he's just thinking ahead?"

They already knew he was capable of that.

Tulsa followed Ryder out of the sunroom. "We picked the kid up by Woodlawn Cemetery. You know what else is near there?"

"What?"

"The on-ramp for I-15. And you know where that goes? North to I-70." And I-70 went east toward Minnesota. "Echo, what happened to his mom's home? Did we find out yet?"

"Candice Hebert didn't own any property. She drew disability and rented a basement apartment. Oh, and…it looks as if she worked part-time at the local Spend and Save."

"Hmmm…" Dan mused. "Hebert paid cash for the Tahoe. How much does a security guard at the Nile Palace earn?"

"Not enough," Tulsa gritted out.

Sin came back with a better answer. "He'd have to save his entire salary for a year and a half to buy that Tahoe."

Plus he had a second place. How many people in regular jobs could afford that?

"Hot herps aren't cheap to keep either," Dice added, picking up on the theme. "Vivs, heating, lighting, food…"

Dan asked the question on everyone's mind. "If he didn't get an inheritance from his mom, and he didn't make bank at the hotel, then how is he funding this?"

"I didn't find any other bank accounts," Echo said.

"Look again," Priest told her. "And don't forget he used cash for the vehicle. We know he's happy to break the law, so let's consider an illegal side hustle. Drugs, wet work, trafficking. How much do king cobras go for on the black market?"

Dice answered, "A couple thousand. The venom goes for big bucks, but milking snakes is hella risky."

"We can't rule out any possibilities at the moment. Not Minnesota, not a reptile connection."

Emmy sucked in a breath. "Better get the jet warmed up."

More than twenty-four hours had passed since Luna disappeared. They had a "who," a "how," and a "why," but not a "where," and meanwhile, Luna could be halfway across the country.

With Neve, Ryder had felt a different kind of agony. A yawning pit of loss. Her father hadn't even had the decency to tell Ryder of her death himself. No, the news that she hadn't made it had been broken by one of Neve's school friends, who'd rushed to the hospital as soon as she heard that Neve had been loaded into an ambulance. The girl had been sobbing so hard she could barely get the words out. Ryder had gone from happy to devastated in a heartbeat. His Navy teammates had been sympathetic, but he'd never felt so alone.

Only Ryder's sister had been truly supportive. Phoebe had dropped everything to be by his side. His parents had liked Neve well enough, but his dad thought she was highly strung, and his mom had always said Neve would break his heart in the end. Well, his mom had been right, hadn't she? No amount of condolences could change that. Captain Metcalfe, as he was then, had threatened to ram an aircraft carrier up Henry Fontaine's Nimitz-class asshole, which was something, at least.

But this…this was different.

Now Ryder had his chosen family, and they offered support in spades. And Luna wasn't dead; he had to believe that. Schr?dinger's girlfriend. But the nausea swimming in his gut made it hard to function, and they were still no closer to finding her. Neither were the cops. Earlier, the Blackwood team had discussed handing over Nola Jiminez, but if they did that, there was a risk the LVMPD might focus on the kidnapping itself and not on the search. Prosecuting Nola would be an easy win. She'd only had her green card for two years, so she'd probably get deported, and Kobie would end up suffering for her mistake.

"Hey, you want to hear something weird?" Echo said from the basement. Apparently, she preferred it down there.

"Spill," Tulsa told her.

"A silver SUV was spotted near the scene of another disappearance recently, and the cops think it was a late-model Tahoe. A woman named Kacie Bachman vanished from the parking lot of the Slam Dunk Saloon nearly a month ago. Could be something, could be nothing."

"Where did you find that out?" Emmy asked. "About the Tahoe, I mean. I saw the disappearance on the news."

"From the"—cough—"LVMPD's evidence management system."

Priest sighed. "Dusk?"

"I'll look into it."

"If the Choir can handle Vegas, Blackwood can take Minnesota," Emmy said.

"We can handle Vegas."

And for Luna's sake, Ryder had to handle his emotions and play his part.