Page 5 of Captive Audience

But I still had investigative skills, and I wanted the same thing now as when I’d first started my career—to raise awareness of the cases neglected by the cops.

The ones that slipped through the cracks.

The ones people forgot about because there was some shiny new crisis in a city with one-and-a-half-million people.

Because the most vulnerable needed someone to fight for them.

Each victim I helped, each family I made a difference to, made all my hard work on the podcast worth it.

I checked my phone to see if the guy I’d been chatting with on Tinder had replied to my message confirming our date tonight. Nothing.

I opened the app to make sure I’d actually hit send on my message, but his profile had vanished.

Again? Are you kidding me?

That made seven guys in a row who’d ghosted me after making plans. Did they really have to block me instead of sending a quick message withSorry, not interested?

Fucking men. Lying, untrustworthy assholes. Good for one thing and one thing only, and I didn’t need dick that badly.

Although it’d been an alarmingly long time since I’d ridden a real one.

An email notification popped up on the screen from an address I didn’t recognize. When I clicked on it, I saw an anonymous tip that a girl fitting Sierra’s description had been spotted near a known sex-worker hangout.

Okay. That could be worth looking into.

I texted my cousin Jake to see if he’d accompany me on another walk through one of Philly’s seediest areas. He didn’t want me to go without him. Kensington wasn’t a place to wander alone at night, and Jake was big, burly, and had aDon’t fuck with melook about him, even if he was a giant teddy bear on the inside.

A couple of minutes later, Jake replied with a thumbs-up emoji.

I steppedoff the El at Kensington-Allegheny along with a group of fledgling gang members and several weary-looking factory workers. Pigeons scattered across the cracked concrete platform as stragglers rushed to board the train before the doors closed.

I zipped up my thick coat to stave off the cool evening air, wishing it could also protect me from the sour stench of urine.

Jake would be here soon. I pulled my phone out to let him know I was here already, and found an unread message.

Jake

Sorry cuz. Got called in to work. Rain check?

Sent eighteen minutes ago? Shit. Why hadn’t I seen the notification? There was something weird going on with my phone lately.

Sure. Talk to you soon.

I glanced around the empty station. It wouldn’t be long before another train turned up on the opposite platform to take me homeward.

But since I was here, maybe I could take a quick walk. The location given in the tip wasn’t far from the station. And it was only seven forty-five p.m. Not exactly the witching hour in these parts.

If Sierra was in the area, I needed to act fast before she moved on. It wasn’t unheard-of for street kids to get manipulated bypimps and forced into work to pay off a never-ending debt. If that had happened to Sierra, she could be rescued. She might be traumatized, but that was better than finding a body.

Fifteen minutes. That was all I needed to ask a few questions, and then I could be on my way.

3

ROOK

Asha Sparks was about to commit murder.

Mymurder.