The walls were closing in on Luke as he paced the apartment. They were back at Zach’s place. Zach and Logan were now four hours north. They’d be closing in on Dartmouth soon, but they still had no idea where Damon would have taken Naomi.

Damon still seemed to have no idea Luke had infiltrated the group of buyers ready to bid on the Brain Trust’s information the minute Damon pulled the trigger on the auction. Luke had received an alert to his fake account twenty minutes ago that the auction would be live in the next few hours and he need to be on standby if he wanted to bid.

They didn’t have much time to mess around now. Samantha needed to turn her attention to trying to get into the account Damon had locked Billy out of so they could try to lock down the information before it could be auctioned off.

Luke suspected there would also be copies, likely a backup on a physical drive in Damon’s possession. They’d need to get that, too, but first they needed to locate everyone.

He stopped pacing and sat across from Billy. “You’ve known Damon for years, right?” He kept his voice calm, even though he really wanted to wring the guy’s neck. Billy had sat numb and useless since they’d gotten back from the recording studio.

“Uh huh. Since freshman year of college.”

Luke nodded and rested his elbows on his knees as he leaned toward Billy. “All right. Let’s walk through things bit by bit.”

Billy winced. “Yeah. Okay.”

“You guys went to school in Boston?”

Billy answered with another, “uh huh.”

“Where did Damon grow up?”

“On the west coast. California. His dad raised him.”

“Okay, good.” Luke thought for a minute. They already knew Damon lived a few minutes from here in an apartment. They’d gone there after the recording studio and found it empty. Joel didn’t own any more properties in the area other than the recording studio, and his office and home had been empty. Damon had no properties listed in his name.

“So, during the summer, did Damon stick around campus or did he go back to the coast?”

“He stayed in Boston. He worked. His dad didn’t have a lot of money and he had to work to pay for his books and shit.”

“What about someplace he might go with the girls? Would he take Lyra and the girls to someone in Boston? Maybe a place you guys used to stay? Or a friend’s house?”

It was entirely possible Damon had taken Lyra and the twins with him to grab Naomi, but Luke had a feeling he wouldn’t’ want to do that. It was too unpredictable, too hard to control them while he snatched Naomi. Chances were, he and whoever was working with him had split up. They would stash Lyra and the girls with one or two of them while Damon went after Naomi.

Billy shook his head slowly. “No. I mean, I don’t think any of our friends would keep quiet if he showed up with Lyra and the twins and was keeping them against their will. People liked him but . . . ”

Luke waited as Billy seemed to chew on the idea for a minute. “Our friend Jeff has a place in Boston that he doesn’t stay at very much. Jeff travels for work. He isn’t married or anything, so his place might be empty. We’ve stayed in it before when we visit, even if he isn’t around.”

Luke looked at Samantha. She was watching them, waiting.

“Where is it Billy? What is Jeff’s last name?” Jesus, it was like pulling teeth with this kid, Luke thought.

“Uh, Jeff Silver. I think the place is in Boston. Or right outside there. The street is something like Pineridge, Oak . . . something.”

Samantha was clicking the keys. “I’ve got a few. Hang on.” She clicked through more screens and hit the keys a few more times before looking up. “Pine Way in Newton, Massachusetts?”

“Yeah.” Billy pointed at Samantha and nodded. “That’s it. That’s it.”

“You got the guy’s number?” Luke asked, tossing Billy his cell phone. When he got a nod from Billy he continued. “Text him. Tell him you’re in the area and want to know if he’s around to hang out.”

They waited several minutes, and again, Luke thought those walls were getting closer and closer. The room seemed smaller with each tick of the clock. He needed to remind his brother to get rid of the damned clock on the wall. Who had a clock with actual ticking hands anymore?

Minutes later, a text sounded and Billy read from the screen. “Sorry, bro, out of town. Back in a week if you’re still around?”

Chad and Luke exchanged a look. “It’s the best lead we’ve got,” Chad said.

“It’s not much.” Luke couldn’t stand the idea of sitting still waiting, but he also hated the idea of getting further away from Lyra if she and the girls were still here. “Jax, can you stay here in case we’re wrong?”

“Yeah. And I’ve got buddies in that area we can call if we need more people.”

Luke gave him a grim nod.

“Billy, do you have a key to Damon’s apartment?”

“No.”

Jax stepped forward. “We don’t need a key. I’ll get us in.” Billy looked up at him and Jax flicked his head at the door. “Come on. You’re coming with me. We’ll see what we can find in his apartment.”

“Get me a credit card statement and his computer, if it’s there,” Samantha said.

“We’ll call you with his credit card info,” said Jax over his shoulder.

Luke and Chad followed. “Keep us posted, Samantha,” Luke said, as he shut the door behind them and they all fanned out to follow leads that could be absolute shit.