Page 89 of Deathtoll

Murph

Instinct pushed Murph tolast known location, the starting point for any missing persons investigation. He was halfway across town, heading to Hershey, where Emma’s car was found, to see if he could spot something Cirelli might have missed, by the time he changed his mind. Instincts were good, and the first instinct often proved to be right, but not always. He was so sleep-deprived, his decision-making was impacted. He hadn’t been thinking straight.

The drive up to Hershey would take an hour and a half, an hour of looking around and talking with Cirelli, then another hour and a half back. Which translated toa lotof hours away from Kate.

She was the main target. Emma had likely only been taken to torture Kate, to put her on notice. And Cirelli wasn’t an idiot; she was a damn fine agent. If there was something to see in that parking lot, in or around Emma’s car, she’d see it.

Murph turned around. Best to stay where he was and watch Broslin.

Kate didn’t want him. He’d accepted her wishes. But that didn’t mean he was going to stand by while an assassin was coming for her, while Emma was missing.

He hunted for rental cars and out-of-state license plates, faces he didn’t recognize. He discounted families, pairs of girlfriends, anyone obviously too young. Asael was a master of disguise, but it’d still be difficult for a forty-something man to look like a teenage girl.

Nobody set off Murph’s alarm. He gave up after an hour, figured he’d be better off circling Kate’s block. If everything looked all right, maybe he could catch some shut-eye there, in his pickup. At some point, Asael would make contact. Murph wanted to be in top shape when that happened.

He was driving past Kate’s house, nodding at Harper in his cruiser, when Hunter burst through the front door, talking rapidly into his phone.

His face said everything Murph most feared.

He pulled up to the curb and jumped from his truck. “What is it?” He met Hunter halfway, Harper on his heels. “What happened?”

“Can’t find Kate.”

Murph ran past him, heart pounding like a war drum.How the hell?He shouldn’t have left. “Kate!”

No sign of struggle in the bedroom, window locked. He ran to the back door. Locked. He pushed through the half-closed door of the guest bedroom.

Nothing disturbed. Checked the closed window.Unlocked.

He backed out without touching anything and ran out of the house through the laundry room, then checked the narrow space through which Kate’s home had been invaded.

Asael had come through the window, two steps to cross the hallway while Hunter had been in the kitchen, looking outside. Kate would have gone with the hitman if he threatened Emma’s life. Back out the window. Then gone.

“Fuck!”

Was Hunter freaking deaf?

Except, Murph couldn’t fully blame Hunter. Because where hadhebeen? Driving around like an idiot.

The house on the other side of the gap stood empty. Tony Mauro was still in the hospital. Murph checked the front and back doors. Locked.

He crossed the back lawn and knocked on the sliding glass door of the back neighbor. Nobody responded. Nobody home.

The woman in the next house over waved at him through the kitchen window. She opened it with effort then stuck her head out. “Looking for the Millers?”

“Hey, Maggie. Actually, looking for Kate.” He pointed at her house. “Wonder if you might have seen her out back? Or anyone else out here?”

The woman shook her head. “Is she okay? Gabi told me what happened. Did the police find her sister?”

“Not yet. Any unfamiliar cars on your street this morning?”

“No. But I was doing laundry in the basement most of the day so far. Just came up to start making lunch.”

Murph thanked her, then ran up her driveway to the cruiser where Gabi sat behind the wheel.

She was jumping out of the car to meet him, rushing forward,oh hell dammitall over her face. “Harper just said Kate’s gone.”

“Have you seen anything? Have you been here the whole time?”