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they were still wrapped, mummylike, in the covers. “What time did Clyde call?”
    â€œRight at seven. Called me on my cell, not the station. Said the judge was always there when he opened up at six.”
    â€œFigure thirty minutes to walk from the stream to the Diner. He never uses lures in that stream; how fresh was that bait?”
    â€œIt’s a worm, Jonah. All I can tell you is that it wasn’t moving and hadn’t dried out. He had a little can of live worms beside the tackle box.” She paused, then added, “He had one of those little fisherman’s battery lanterns beside his chair. The kind that’s fairly powerful even though it’s small enough to fit inside a tackle box. It was still on.”
    â€œSo it was still dark when he . . . left.”
    â€œThat would be my guess.” She drew a breath. “The only thing the disappearances really have in common. Every victim was taken in the dark.”

THREE
    Jonah ran his fingers through his hair, trying to think. “Shit,” he said again. “Did you say you were still there?”
    â€œJudge’s fishing spot, yeah. I knew you wouldn’t want crime scene tape around the area, but I also figured you’d want to see it the same way I did. Only a few cars have gone by this morning on the way to church. Nobody’s appeared to notice anything strange about me being here, and I’m leaning against the car all nice and natural. Just looking at the view. I’ll stick around here. You can get to the Diner before church lets out. Have breakfast and talk to Clyde.”
    â€œAnything else?” he asked politely.
    â€œYeah. Bring me a coffee, will you?”
    â€œSee you in a few.” He didn’t wait for a response but cradled the receiver and fought free of the remaining covers so he could get out of bed. He had been told he was an extremely restless sleeper but had no idea why, since he could never remember his dreams.
    In less than half an hour, he was showered, shaved, dressed, and out the door. Like the judge and even though both were bachelors, Jonah owned a house not far from the downtown area, with a small front yard, a garage, and a fenced backyard where the latest thing in barbecue grills lived on a spacious patio.
    Though Jonah had never asked, he figured the judge owned a house rather than a condo for the same reason he did: a dislike of neighbors being
too
close.
    They each knew more than they really wanted to about their neighbors through their respective jobs. There was no sense finding out more details they didn’t need to know.
    The Diner held only a scattering of customers, since church hadn’t yet let out, so Jonah was able to claim his usual stool at the counter.
Am I becoming predictable? And is that a bad thing?
    â€œThe usual, Chief?” a fresh-faced waitress named LaRae Owens asked cheerfully as she poured coffee for him.
    Definitely predictable.
    â€œYeah, thanks, LaRae.”
    She nodded, smiled, and went off to serve somebody else, calling out Jonah’s order as she passed the serving window to the kitchen, a bit quieter than usual because it was Sunday. And because Waylon and Johnny weren’t singing back in the kitchen.
    Jonah sipped his coffee and looked at nothing, his mind racing. Phillip Carson wasn’t the sort for a joke, not like this, not when he knew how worried Jonah was about the kids disappearing. How worried the town was. So he hadn’t vanished just to have fun. He didn’t have family to speak of, at least not in Serenity, and if he’d been called away for a family emergency or because of his duties as a judge, Sarahwould have known about it because the station was always notified of any change to his schedule.
    If he
had
vanished as the kids had vanished, then victimology was not going to help find either the judge or the kids. Two teenagers attempting an elopement, and then a highly respected judge in his