"How did they find us?"
She didn't answer immediately.
"Someone knew June was here."
"That much is obvious."
"They may have followed the riders from the diner. They may have accessed an emergency placement record. Or someone in the local department may have given them information."
I looked at her.
"Deputy Pike?"
"I can't say that yet."
"You think he could be involved."
"I think we have enough reason to investigate him, and not enough evidence to accuse him publicly."
She paused.
"But the attempt to take June tonight changes the urgency of this case. We need to move her to a protected location."
"What about the center?"
"It's no longer secure."
"Where do you want her to go?"
"I've arranged a confidential placement through a state-approved emergency program. The address won't be entered into the ordinary county system, and the people handling her transport have been vetted."
I nodded, relieved that someone was finally making decisions based on the danger rather than the appearance of things.
"Can we escort her?"
"Not the entire club. A small group, yes. The rest of you should continue your planned departure when it's safe. I don't want nearly two hundred motorcycles drawing attention to her next location."
I understood.
"Who goes?"
"You're going. Cole. Ben. And whichever rider you trust most to follow instructions and remain calm."
I thought of Nora, the waitress who had stood up to Dale when everyone else was afraid to speak.
She wasn't a rider, but she knew the diner, the faces, and the events that had led to June finding us. She had also agreed to provide a statement to Dana.
"There's one more person we may need to protect," I said.
Dana followed my gaze toward the parking lot.
"Who?"
"Nora Bell."
"Why?"
"Because she saw what happened at the diner. She heard Dale threaten June. She saw Deputy Pike's behavior. And if the people behind this have been covering their tracks, she may be another witness they want to silence."
Dana was quiet for a moment.
Then she nodded.
"I'll have someone speak with her."
We stood on the porch as the sun rose.
Behind us, June was eating breakfast in the kitchen with Rachel. She had finally released Bunny long enough to hold a piece of toast in both hands.
I watched her through the window.
She was still afraid, but she was eating.
For that morning, it was enough.
The men who had attacked the center had failed to take her.
But they had done something nearly as dangerous.
They had shown us that Dale Rusk wasn't acting alone.
And whoever helped him reach June was willing to break into a building full of witnesses to get her back.
The danger was no longer a suspicion.
It had come through our door in the middle of the night.
By eight o'clock, the community center had become a crime scene.
The damaged door was sealed off, the broken window had been photographed, and investigators were collecting what they could from the parking area. A tire impression near the service road suggested the men had used a vehicle with unusually wide rear tires, but there were too many similar trucks in the region to identify it immediately.
Dana worked from a folding table near the kitchen, speaking to officers, prosecutors, and officials from the state child-welfare division.
Every conversation seemed to uncover another unanswered question.
Why had Elena's original complaint disappeared?
Why had the local records system failed to flag June's name?
How had Dale known where the girl was being kept?
And why had Deputy Pike been so quick to dismiss her first disclosure?
The flash drive offered a possible explanation, but it wasn't an easy one.
Dr. Park had delivered it to a state digital-evidence unit under documented chain of custody. The drive was encrypted, and the first examination had revealed that its contents were divided into several folders. Some contained spreadsheets, some scanned documents, and others appeared to contain logs of communications.
Dana had obtained authorization for a specialist to begin analyzing it.
"We don't know yet whether the records are authentic," she told me. "But we have enough to justify a broader investigation."
"How broad?"
"At least three counties. Possibly more."
Cole leaned against the kitchen counter.
"So a bad deputy, a crooked contractor, and some missing children."
Dana looked at him.
"That's a reasonable description of our current concerns, provided we remember that the evidence has to establish who did what."
Cole raised both hands.
"Understood."
I pulled out a chair.
"How do we find Elena?"
Dana studied a map spread across the table.
"June remembers a motel and a place with a large sign. We think the motel may have been along the old highway west of Kingman. There are several possibilities, and we're checking surveillance footage from the surrounding businesses."
"Could Dale have taken her somewhere nearby?"
"Possibly. The attack last night suggests he wanted June back quickly, which may mean Elena is still alive and they're worried about what she knows."
"Or they wanted the drive."
"That, too."
She tapped a location on the map.
"This is the most likely area. A cluster of roadside motels and service stations, some of which have been closed for years."
I recognized the road.
It ran through a stretch of desert where abandoned businesses sat beneath faded signs. Travelers used it when they wanted to avoid the busiest part of the interstate, and truckers knew there were several unofficial places to stop when they needed rest.
"There's an old motor lodge near that junction," I said. "The Coyote Lantern. Closed about five years ago."
"Would June recognize it?"
"Maybe. The sign is still there."
Dana made a note.
"We'll check it. But I want to be clear about something. We're not going to use June as bait, and we're not going to send you to confront anyone."
"I wasn't planning to."
Cole gave me a sideways glance.
Dana noticed.
"Mr. Rourke?"
"I heard you."
"Good."
She looked at a phone message that had just arrived.
"We've had a development. Deputy Pike has been removed from direct involvement in the case pending review. He was interviewed this morning, and his statements don't match the available dispatch records."
"Is he under arrest?" Cole asked.
"Not at this point."
"Why not?"
"Because suspicion is not the same as proof, and we need evidence that will stand up in court."
Cole's mouth tightened, but he nodded.
Dana continued.
"There's also an issue with Rusk. The county initially recorded him as being held for questioning after the diner incident. Then a second entry appeared saying he had been released without charge. The timestamps don't match the video from the station."
I leaned forward.
"Someone changed the record."
"That's what we're investigating."
"Can you locate him?"
"Not yet."
The room seemed to shrink around us.
Dale had attacked the community center, attempted to reach June, and then disappeared from official custody—or had never been properly held in the first place.
We still didn't know whether he was working alone, whether he had another safe house, or whether the man in the black pickup was the same person who had accompanied him at the diner.
But one thing was clear.