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inside.”
    “Thanks, Ryan. Now I’m going to get up. So don’t try anything stupid. Again, I mean.”
     

 
     
    7
     
    The apartment’s décor screamed college student—a hand-me-down couch, mismatched chairs and tables, and a stack of empty pizza boxes near the kitchen. There was even a leopard print beanbag chair in the corner.
    Logan made sure everyone was seated before he pulled over one of the chairs from the dining table and joined them. There was no denying that he was feeling a little annoyed. Not just with Ryan and Angie, but with himself, too. He couldn’t figure out what he’d done to cause their reaction.
    Putting on his best nonthreatening smile, he started off by getting the names of the other three. The girls were Maria and Joan, roommates in the apartment directly below Elyse and Angie’s place. The guy’s name was Kenny. He was Maria’s boyfriend, and lived a few miles away.
    Still smiling, Logan repeated who he was and why he was there. Joan and Maria seemed to be the first to relax. Kenny was still a bit guarded, but Logan could tell he was also coming around. Angie and Ryan, though, continued to look unhappy.
    “You all know Elyse?” Logan asked, focusing most of his attention on Joan, Maria and Kenny.
    “Sure,” Maria said. The other two nodded beside her. “She’s a friend of ours.”
    “Do you really know Elyse’s grandfather?” Angie asked, more of an accusation than a question.
    “I really do.”
    “What does she call him?” Joan asked. Unlike Angie, she seemed to genuinely want to hear the answer, and give him a chance.
    “I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve never met her before. But back home we all call him Tooney.”
    “Yes,” she said. “Grandpa Tooney.”
    “You could have just guessed that,” Ryan said.
    Glancing at each of them in turn, Logan said, “Look, she was supposed to visit Tooney today, but she didn’t show up. He tried calling her. She didn’t answer. So he asked me to come down and make sure everything’s okay. That’s it.”
    No one said anything for a moment.
    “She…she did tell me she was planning to visit her grandfather today,” Maria offered.
    “When did she say that?” Logan asked.
    “A day or two ago. I can’t remember exactly.”
    He considered this for a moment, then said, “She told Tooney she was going to leave at ten this morning, and be at his place in the afternoon. Does anyone know if that’s when she left?”
    Maria shrugged, and shook her head.
    “I didn’t see her at all today,” Joan said.
    Kenny was also shrugging. “I just came over this evening. Wasn’t even around this morning.”
    Logan turned to Angie. “You’re her roommate. Do you know if she left this morning?”
    She looked torn, like she wanted to answer and wanted to keep her mouth shut at the same time. Finally, she said, “She…she didn’t come home last night.”
    “She didn’t come home?”
    “It’s not that unusual.” She turned away, her gaze momentarily falling on Ryan. Logan wasn’t sure, but it seemed like some message passed between them. “Sometimes she spends the night at her boyfriend’s place. I assume that’s what she was doing, and just left from there.”
    “Boyfriend?” Maria said, surprised. “When did that happen?”
    Angie looked uncomfortable. “Not that long ago.”
    “What’s his name?” Logan asked.
    She hesitated, then said, “Aaron. Aaron Hughes.”
    “Aaron?” Maria stared at Angie in disbelief. “I thought she said she wasn’t interested in him.”
    “I guess she changed her mind,” Angie told her, shrugging. “I mean, we didn’t really talk about a lot of things, so I don’t know for sure.”
    “Do you have his address? Maybe a phone number?”
    She shook her head. “Sorry.”
    “I know where he lives,” Joan offered.
    Everyone looked at her.
    “ You know?” Maria asked.
    “What?” Joan said, unable to completely hide her embarrassment. “He was hanging out around here a lot.