Free Exposure by Brandilyn Collins

Hannah’s body lying beside the road?
    “It’ll be all right, Kaycee. We’ll find her.” Mark’s brown eyes looked deep into hers, as if he saw her fear. “Best thing you can do is call Ryan Parksley and go over the names of those friends. See if he missed somebody.”
    “Okay. I need to go home first. I have a list of her closest friends and their phone numbers.” A month ago they’d all had a slumber party at Kaycee’s house, and she’d talked to each parent beforehand.
    “Good. You should get home as soon as you can. Hannah may turn up there yet. She could be hiding out somewhere, afraid of getting in trouble.”
    The words spit fire at Kaycee. Hannah, waiting in desperation for her, while she’d run off to Tricia’s because of her own weakness. Why hadn’t she stayed put last night? She should have been strong, should have fought the fear.
    Kaycee pulled in a breath. “Okay. You have my home phone number in your files. Plus I’ll give you my cell. I want to know the minute you learn anything. And I’ll keep in touch with the station.”
    Tricia fetched paper and pen. Kaycee scratched out her cell number and thrust the paper into Mark’s hands. Briefly, he gripped her fingers. “We’ll find her, Kaycee.”
    She nodded, throat tight, then swiveled toward the guestroom to dress.

THIRTEEN

    Cold anger coiled in Nico’s gut as he drove away from Bear’s mansion. The ham and eggs sat like mud in his stomach. Good food couldn’t make up for the threats. Or comparing him to Slim. Nico had to fix one issue he’d “created,” Bear said, while Slim fixed the second. Two too many mistakes. Too much clean-up.
    For three years as captain Nico had kept his soldiers in line, made sure his street rackets ran like well-oiled machines. Anybody tried to muscle in, he got taken care of. He’d never made a wrong move. Always proved his loyalty to the family. Had consistently been an earner. Now look at him. This job was the biggest single take the family’d ever seen. And he’d planned it from start to finish.
    Some thanks he got.
    “Anything goes wrong here, it’s on you.” Bear had leaned over his emptied plate, piercing Nico with a look that said more than the words.
    Yeah
,
yeah.
    Nico swerved into the driveway of his two-story house and turned off the engine. He slid out and slammed the door. A phone call to Giordano and a change of cars, and he’d be on his way.
    Just as well Bear told him to do this himself, Nico thought as he stalked into his empty house. After the breakfast he’d had, his fingers were itching to pull a trigger.

FOURTEEN

    Kaycee left Tricia’s house on trembling legs.
    Hannah’s features hung foremost in her mind — the sad gray eyes, the sweet round face framed by light brown hair with bangs. Kaycee could almost see Hannah out there somewhere, begging for her to help.
    As Kaycee traipsed down the sidewalk the weight of unseen eyes pressed upon her.
    Looking in all directions, she slid into her PT Cruiser. Her fingers pressed like claws against the steering wheel.
    Minutes later Kaycee pulled into her own driveway — and the full terror of last night flooded back. In her mind she saw the flash go off in her kitchen, saw the dead man’s photo in her hands.
We see you.
Her white wood house, once so inviting with its wrap-around porch and columns, now loomed like some bleached monster.
    Kaycee’s gaze cruised the front and side yards. No Hannah.
    The dimness inside her garage hung threatening and heavy as the automatic door closed. The one light in the ceiling wasn’t enough to dispel the shadows in her head. Clutching her overnight bag and purse, Kaycee stepped out of the garage and walked around to the back. No Hannah. Kaycee gazed across her backyard, the two oak trees, the small shed in the far corner.
    Had the police looked there?
    She tossed her belongings on the ground and cut across the lawn toward the shed. Kaycee never used the thing, couldn’t remember looking