Page 106 of Lost Truth
Reece tapped a page in front of her. “Before anyone asks, I have the asset sheet for Emerald Scorpion Group and it’s blank.”
“Zero assets is odd for a shipping enterprise,” Nolan said. “And equally as odd for the consultant business to have a boat as an asset.”
Abby made strong eye contact with Hayden. “Whatever his reason for choosing that company to record his assets, we should look into it. There could be a property worth pursuing.”
“She could be right,” Reece said, her gaze brightening. “What if he needed a place to go where law enforcement couldn’t easily find him? To do that, he’d have to leave that property off his asset list.”
Hayden let the idea sink in. “Yeah, maybe. It’s certainly worth checking the county databases again.”
He tried not to sound discouraged, but it lingered in his words.
Abby got up and clapped him on the back. “You don’t have to carry the full weight of this investigation on your own. Remember, we’re here to help.”
“Good reminder, and it helps.” He smiled up at her.
“We’re family first, associates second,” she said. “We have your six now and forever.”
A swirl of such deep, abiding emotions Hayden hadn’t felt since he’d lost his parents hit him. Did he now have everything he’d ever dreamed of? A woman he loved who loved him back and the truest of families who would be with him through thick and thin.
He couldn’t look up or risk embarrassing himself by blubbering in front of everyone. He turned back to his computer and entered Marine Investment Associates into their county’s database. Abby squeezed his shoulder, then went back to her seat. He fixed his full attention on the churning computer. Hoping this might be the ticket, he tapped his finger on the table as he watched the circle icon rotate on the screen.
No records found.
He let his frustration out on a deep exhale. Okay, fine. This was just the first attempt, and he didn’t need to get discouraged. He would try both companies in each county, so he entered Emerald Scorpion Group. No point in holding his breath this time. Not when his expectations had already dropped. And he was right. No records for this company.
“Nothing in our county,” he announced to the group. “Moving on to nearby counties.”
Using his history to locate the county websites made his search faster this time. He informed the group of the results for each county, so when he hit the last one, they knew he’d struck out.
Gabe tilted back in his chair. “Maybe he doesn’t own a place.”
Reece narrowed her eyes. “But then, where is Kai?”
Gabe shrugged. “That I don’t know, but it’s clearly time to consider other options.”
“Not so fast.” Cady pushed her chair back to look at Gabe. “What if instead of registering under the complete business name, he used an abbreviation?”
Gabe made direct eye contact with Cady. “How would we ever begin to figure out his abbreviation?”
Cady got up and went to the whiteboard where the company names were listed. “He could’ve used the first letter of each word. So for example.” She circled the first letter of each word. “Marine Investment Associates becomes MIA.”
“Though I doubt he would expect to have taken a hostage when he formed the business,” Abby said. “It’s appropriate for our missing person.”
“Well, let’s check.” Hayden went back to their county and entered MIA. “Oh snap! We got a hit under MIA, and the mailing address for the property I just found is Ivers’s home address.”
“Yes!” Cady pumped up a fist. “This place belongs to Ivers for sure.”
Hayden wasn’t quite ready to match her enthusiasm. “I’ll map out the property, and we can plan a raid to free Kai.”
If he was there, Hayden didn’t say, because the team needed a win right now.
No bigger win than rescuing Kai from the clutches of the worst kind of criminal.
