Page 87 of Edge of Steele
“Then let me tell you about it. Nick found a bunch of deleted calls to a Gerry Horne. Guy had a history of ecoterrorism and lives out in the boonies near Round Prairie. Don’t know much else about him at this point. Figured Ryleigh and I would pay him a visit when we finish here, and then we’ll have that update meeting if needed.”
The others nodded.
“We’re still waiting on Gates’s phone logs.” Russ cast a pointed look at Nick.
Nick took a long sip of his juice, not looking the least bit put out by Russ. “You’ll have the data as soon as my team finishes.”
Colin set his fork on his empty plate. “I culled down the list of Sovereign Earth members who could potentially be related to this incident and emailed the list to everyone. Four names came up that might be worth looking into, but it’s marginal at best.”
“We can tackle that after we interview Horne.” Russ shifted to look at Finn. “You have duty at the bomb scene with Veritas. Any problem with that or are you on daddy duty?”
Finn held a fork with a chunk of ripe cantaloupe in the air. “No problem.”
“Good. Good.” Russ looked at Colin. “I want you to dig for information on Horne so by the time we get to his place we know everything about him, even how often he sneezes in a day. And I’d like satellite images of his property first. Don’t want any surprises.”
Colin pushed his chair back and picked up his empty plate and cup. “Then I best get started.”
He dumped his items in the trash and took off for the door.
Ryan sipped his coffee. “Grady has some questions for me, so I’ll meet with him when we finish up here.”
Russ clapped his hands, and the room went quiet as people stared at him.
He shook his head. “Sorry to disturb you.”
The others went back to their conversations, but the level lowered to a quiet hum as if they might be listening for what Russ had to say next. He had a very commanding presence. Couple that with the uniform he wore, and he seemed like a force to be reckoned with.
Hopefully this Horne fellow would be intimidated by them and cooperate by giving up Keenan’s whereabouts if he knew it.
Russ peered at her. “You about ready to hit the road?”
Ryleigh nodded and grabbed her dishes before looking at Finn. “I’ll likely get back to the crime scene before our shift is up.”
“Be careful.” He held her gaze as if he wanted to say more, then picked up a slice of bacon.
She tossed her dishes but filled her cup with coffee and added a lid. Russ was already at the door tapping his foot.
Still, she stopped to hug her gran and grandad. “Thanks for this amazing brunch.”
“Hank and Barbie did their share too.”
“But if I know you, Gran, you did all of the cooking.”
“’Course she did.” Her granddad laughed. When he quit, he pointed at Finn. “Now you go easy on that young man. Give him a chance.”
“You’re not trying to matchmake, are you?” She grinned. “That’s Gran’s job.”
“Hey, you been married for as many years as we have, and you don’t know where one of you starts and the other finishes.” He chuckled.
“And he’s right,” her gran said. “Finn seems like an upstanding guy. Just look at how he gave up his whole life for sweet little Avery.”
But wouldn’t give it up for me.
Oh, wow! Was she still holding that against him? She’d forgiven him for hurting her, but had she forgiven him for not letting her take first place in his life? God always came first, but she probably wouldn’t come next now either. Not with Avery to care for. That Ryleigh understood. But coming second to a job when he’d been a SEAL? Maybe not as much.
Russ glanced at her and tapped his watch.
“See you soon.” She gave her grandparents one last hug and rushed to the door. “Just saying goodbye to my grandparents and thanking them for the meal.”
