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Skye. It's nearly the weekend. Let the police handle this one."
    Skye gaped at her. "How can you say that? According to the flyer, it's been seven days. We need to get Jonathan Stivers on this right away. He's good. He can find practically anyone."
    "He's also expensive, and we're running low on funds." Sheridan reached out to touch her arm. "We've got to be careful, Skye, reserve our assets so we can keep our doors open."
    The fact Sheridan would say such a thing meant they were already in trouble. But Skye couldn't deal with that yet. She was too busy thinking about Sean. Thanks to his wife, the mechanic-turned-jewelry salesman who'd come to her for help could be rotting in a gully somewhere.
    "I told him to leave her, to get away." Skye drew a deep breath, attempting to regroup. Again.
    "He wouldn't?"
    "He refused to abandon his kids. And he doubted his own fears. He said his family laughed at him when he told them he thought Tasha was dangerous."
    Sheridan gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "The police are doing what they can, Skye."
    But it never seemed to be enough. David was the most dedicated cop she knew and even he hadn't been able to put Burke away forever. There were other problems-- people falling through the cracks, the system breaking down. That was why she, Sheridan and Jasmine spent almost every minute of every day helping one victim after another. For some, they provided a private investigator to assist prosecutors. For others, it was a better attorney, a place to stay, medical help, even physical therapy and counseling. They tried to fill in wherever necessary. But that required a lot of resources, and although they took home just enough to cover their own basic needs, there was never enough money to do it all.
    Fortunately, now that they'd proven they were completely committed to what they'd started three years ago, they were beginning to gain the attention of local and state officials. A state senator had promised to attend a fund-raising event at the Hyatt next weekend, bolstering Skye's hopes for more generous contributions.
    "I feel an obligation to do something, Sher. When we met, he asked if we help men. He seemed.. .embarrassed, as if it was emasculating in some way. I told him we try to help as many people as we can, regardless of 31

    gender, age or ethnicity."
    "So what did you promise him?"
    "An appointment with Jonathan. I thought we should find out if his suspicions about his wife had any foundation in fact, but then he never came back. I called him several times, trying to touch base, but it was right before Christmas and, when I didn't hear from him, I assumed he was out of town with his family. Then.. .this." She bit her lip, terrified that another life had been lost--a life she might have been able to save. "I should've been more diligent, should've driven over to his place--"
    "Skye, what you assumed was perfectly reasonable. We still don't know what happened. Maybe he left because he found some sort of proof that he wasn't safe."
    "No. He would've taken the kids if the situation had become that desperate."
    "Okay, we'll see what Jonathan can do to track him down." Sheridan tried to follow this statement with a smile, but Skye could sense the effort behind it, the worry. She hadn't seen her friend so concerned about TLS
    since those rocky months after they'd first launched the charity. That they were overextended wasn't a big surprise, given the number of cases they'd taken on after the last newspaper article had heightened public awareness of their existence. She should've been more sensitive to their limitations. But it was always difficult to choose whom to help. And she wasn't especially in tune with their financial situation to begin with. Sheridan handled the accounting; Skye oversaw or taught the classes they offered in self-defense, self-esteem, trauma recovery, and, as an adjunct, gun safety and target shooting. Jasmine worked with investigators to find evidence, people,