Page 46 of Lost Truth
She crossed her arms and slumped in her chair, but Hayden couldn’t offer a better explanation. He tapped the whiteboard.
“Before you ask.” Reece’s gaze zeroed in on him. “I’ve called hospitals and shelters in a tri-county area. No one matching Kai’s description has been seen at any of the locations. In case he did show up, I urged them to be on the lookout for him.”
Hayden slashed a red mark through the item.
“You can cross off my thing too.” Gabe was sitting up straight, his usual, relaxed posture missing. “Kai’s Jeep Wrangler isn’t at his home or business, and that’s about all we can do. I’ll text everyone the details so you can be on the lookout for it as you’re working the investigation.”
Gabe glanced at El, a flash of emotion crossing his face, then he quickly looked away to Mina. “I assume you’ll be putting out an alert for the vehicle.”
“Already done,” Mina replied.
Hayden crossed the item off, then backed up to a skipped step. “We interviewed Becca, Daisy, and both of Kai’s immediate neighbors.” He explained the information they’d learned. “Becca will let us know if we can interview any of the women Mayor Sutton brought to her, and Daisy is reviewing the mayor’s phone logs to see if any record exists of a phone call to ICE.”
“They’ll both get back to us if they can be of more help,” Cady added.
Hayden gave a nod. “It’s possible they could remember something to help move us forward too. We also checked the houses in Kai’s neighborhood for security cameras. Nada.”
“Dorothy kept an eagle eye on the area and seemed almost as good as a camera.” Abby chuckled.
“Problem is, she doesn’t have video playback.” Hayden laughed.
Cady laughed, but it seemed halfhearted. “I plan to interview my dad’s birdwatching friends tomorrow. See if they spotted a ship or boat or anything out of the ordinary on our coast.”
“Like I said,” Hayden continued. “I’ll look into registration records for theRed Dragon Voyager. But if my ICE buddy is right about his agency not having an open investigation, then the trafficking is likely still going on. Percy said Collins went out every Thursday night, and Collins could still be actively involved.”
“That’s tomorrow night.” Cady’s excitement echoed in her voice as it carried easily through the room.
“Which means we could put him under surveillance and perhaps get a registration number for the ship, which will help ID the owners,” Jude said, weighing in for the first time, which was surprising to Hayden when his teammate was often very vocal.
Gabe rubbed his hands together. “You can count me in on that.”
“Hold up.” Mina scanned both sides of the table, her gaze meeting each person’s eyes with quiet intention. “That’s a job best left to law enforcement. And I’m not the only one who’ll tell you that. I’m sure your ICE contact will ask you to back off and not interfere too.”
She was right again, but that didn’t matter to Hayden. Not one bit.
“I can’t do that.” Hayden set his feet firmly apart, grounding himself with a solid stance. “Not when we’ve been hired to find a missing man, and we committed to help Cady find the person who gave her father the lethal fentanyl dose.”
“I understand your commitment, but we’ll take care of Collins.” Mina’s gaze swept toward Nolan, expectant, as though she was silently asking him to break into the tense exchange with Hayden.
Nolan cleared his throat, but didn’t shy away from looking at her. “I can’t say we won’t watch Collins and tail him if he goes to the ship, but we won’t get in your way.”
Mina cocked her head. “Then we might have to arrest you.”
“For what?” Gabe shot forward, seeming to forget his awkwardness around El, and stared at Mina. “Taking a boat ride at night? Hayden’s always looking for the next thrill, and you don’t have a legal reason to stop him—us from taking a joyride.”
Mina’s gaze sharpened, her silent plea to Nolan growing more insistent.
“Sorry.” He offered a smile, but it was tight with tension. “But we knew at some point we’d get into a situation where we’d be at odds with each other. None of us will break the law, and we won’t get in your way. That’s all I can promise right now.”
Hayden wanted to high-five his teammate but refrained from moving and watched carefully to see how Mina and Nolan handled this disagreement.
“You’re right. We did, and I guess this is one of those times.” She gave Nolan a gentle, sincere smile. “If we’re both on the water tomorrow night, we’ll coordinate with you so there’s zero chance of interference.”
He beamed back at her, but El glared at her boss’s back. Obviously El didn’t like the decision, but she held her tongue. At least for now. She would probably share her thoughts with Mina when they were alone. Not that it would change anything. One thing Hayden had learned about Mina was, when she’d made up her mind, it was hard to change it.
Thankfully, this decision was in the team’s favor. They were now free to tail Collins to the ship, bringing them one step closer to identifying the traffickers.
