My phone rang at 6 AM, just as I was checking out of the motel where I'd managed to get two hours of restless sleep.

"Marcus?"

"I found her."

My heart stopped. "Where?"

"Not where—how. I tracked down Alessa Mike. Turns out she's got a sister in Phoenix who runs a women's shelter. Anonymous referrals, no questions asked, completely off the grid."

Phoenix. A thousand miles away from Denver, from James, from the life that had nearly killed her.

"Are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be without ...