Page 76 of Wild Wolf

"Say you don't have it one more time, and you're fucking dead.”

"Okay. Okay."

Commotion rumbled through the speaker, and I couldn’t make out what was said after that. Eventually, the call disconnected, and the time limit was up on my voicemail.

With a grave look on my face, I told JD, "We’ve gotta go!”

His brow wrinkled at me. "This party is just getting started.”

"Now!”

By my tone, he knew this was serious.

We hustled out of the backstage area and through the crowd, racing for the Porsche. I called the sheriff and told him to send a patrol unit to Taryn's house. Then I called Isabella and asked her to track Taryn’s phone.

With a few keystrokes, Isabella told me that the phone was still at Taryn’s house.

We reached the Porsche, hopped in, and sped across the island. The flat-six howled as Jack rowed through the gears, putting the classic car through its paces.

By the time we got to Taryn’s bungalow, Mendoza had already arrived. His patrol car was parked out front with lights flashing. The commotion had drawn a crowd of neighbors.

JD parked at the curb, and we hustled through the gate and up the walkway. Taryn's car was in the driveway. The front door was ajar.

With my weapon drawn, I shouted into the house, "Mendoza. It's me."

"I'm inside," he shouted back. "She's not here.”

We pushed through the foyer and stepped into the living room to join Mendoza.

Taryn’s purse was on the ground. The place had been ransacked—books pulled from shelves, cabinets and drawers opened.

“I've been through the whole house," Mendoza said. "There's no sign of her. Looks like the perp got in through a bedroom window. The screen is off, and he must have punched a screwdriver through the glass to move the latch.”

"He held her at gunpoint and took her hostage,” I said as I picked up Taryn’s purse from the floor and rummaged through it.

Her cell phone was inside.

A grimace tugged my face. We had no way to track her.

“He’s going to use her as the last sacrifice,” I said in a grave tone.

“Where would he do that?” JD asked.

“A quiet place, under the full moon.”

I called the sheriff and had him put a BOLO out on Oren’s black hot hatch. He probably forced her at gunpoint to drive.

My next call was to Isabella. "I need another favor.”

"Tyson, you can't run out of favors with me. Not after what we've been through."

I need you to look at Oren’s cell history. I want to know every place he's been in the last month, and in particular, places he's visited more than once. I need to find a pattern for this guy.”

"I'm on it," she said, her fingers racing across the keys.

I held on the line while we continued to look around for clues that might have been left behind. We didn’t turn up much.

Mendoza started banging on neighboring doors, and so did JD and I.