Page 82 of Lost Hours
Of all the team members, he was the one who needed the most control over his life. Nolan might like to be in charge, but Hayden demanded control. Maybe that meant he couldn’t let a woman into his world.
Maybe it stemmed from when he’d lost his parents as a teenager and had been put in foster care. Unlike a lot of the stories often told about foster care, he’d had a very positive experience, but he never fully connected with his foster family. Once he aged out of the program, he didn’t stay in touch with them. He got through college on scholarships and hard work, and like the others on the team, replaced their nonexistent or dysfunctional family with each other.
Both men seemed kind of sullen, and she was likely to blame.
“Maybe you guys should consider arranged marriages,” she joked to lighten things up.
“Oh, gross.” Hayden rolled his eyes. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Right.”
He shuddered. “Trust me, I’m not that desperate for a woman in my life.”
She looked at Nolan, wondering why he hadn’t commented at all, and found him holding a fork of coleslaw at his mouth and watching her. Had her questions touched a nerve on his family or on the way he’d once thought she’d bailed on him?
She really wished they were alone and she could ask him, but Hayden was large and present in the room.
Nolan’s phone rang. He looked at his screen and pushed his lunch plate away. “It’s Dylan.”
He tapped the phone. “Putting you on speaker, man, so Mina can hear you.”
“Got something for you.” Dylan’s excited tone carried throughout the room.
“This about Wade?” Nolan asked.
“Better than that. I’ve identified your Smythe fella.”
“You have?” Mina jumped to her feet. “Who?”
“He’s one Zachary Tate. Lives in Seaside Harbor. Works in transport at the hospital. Professes to be a starving actor and has debt up to his eyeballs.”
Adrenaline kicked Mina’s heart rate up, and she planted her hands on the table to keep from pacing the room. “How did you find him?”
“I traced the login for the mansion reservation. He didn’t bother to hide his IP address. Not a surprise. Most people don’t do that.”
Mina didn’t care why he didn’t hide the unique internet number assigned to his computer, she just wanted to know if it meant they could find him. “So do you have his physical address?”
“I do indeed. I’ll text it to you.” Dylan took a short breath. “And before you ask, I checked the hospital schedule to see if he’s working today. He’s off.”
“Talk about first-rate service,” Nolan said.
“Hey, you hired the A-Team of forensics.” Dylan chuckled. “Still working on Wade, but I also have information on your graduation pictures. Located them online. I first found them at the academy. I had to hack their database to get the information. So either your suspect is a hacker, he hired a hacker, or he knows someone at the academy.”
“If Tate didn’t bother to hide his IP address, he’s not likely a hacker,” Mina said.
“Good point,” Dylan said, “But he could’ve hired one.”
“If he knows someone at the academy, it might mean he’s in law enforcement,” Nolan said.
Mina didn’t like his implications. “Not at our office. My sergeant has investigated everyone who’s worked there past and present and found nothing suspicious.”
“He might’ve covered his tracks,” Nolan said. “Or could be serving in another agency or even be private now.”
Yeah, could be on the LLL team.She gave Nolan a pointed look. She hoped he didn’t think she was beginning to suspect his team, but she wouldn’t take time to clarify that. “And the other place you found pictures, Dylan?”
“The individual photos are used as rookie pictures at the agencies the team worked for on their first jobs,” he answered. “Again it would’ve required hacking to access them, but all agencies? That’s unlikely.”
“So at this point, it’s kind of a dead end.” Nolan leaned back.
