Page 47 of Lost Truth
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The meeting had ended a few minutes ago and Cady had no idea what would happen next. Mina and El had departed, and Nolan walked out with them to call Sierra as he promised. The rest of the team remained in the room.
Earlier, Hayden said to prepare for a long night ahead, so maybe the team planned to do some research. She had something to do too. During the update, an idea had formed in her head. One she could do something about without any assistance from the team, but she didn’t share it yet. No point in discussing an idea that might not pan out.
Hayden approached Abby at the food table. “I’ll email the files from Cady’s background check to you.”
Abby poured a cup of coffee, which she held out to him. “Let me get some caffeine on board, and then I’ll get right on it.”
Jude joined Hayden at the table and grabbed a mug that said,I heart Lost Lake.
Hayden blew on his steaming coffee as he faced his teammate. “If Cady gives you a list of her dad’s birdwatcher friends, would you locate their home addresses so we can hit the ground running in the morning?”
“You got it.” Jude quickly dumped coffee into his mug, splashing the deep brown liquid on the table.
Abby swiped a cloth over the table behind him. “Dude, you have so got to learn to clean up after yourself.”
He raised three fingers. “I’ll be more careful. Scout’s honor.”
“Empty promise.” She gave him a patronizing look. “You were never a scout and don’t think for one second your little-boy I’m-sorry look will cut it.” Her words carried a bite, but a playful grin tugged at her lips as she looked at her friend.
He flashed a winning smile that left her shaking her head.
He sauntered toward Cady as if he had all the time in the world.
“I’ll jot down the names for you.” Cady grabbed her notebook and wrote quickly, but glanced up as Hayden approached. He set down his mug and dropped heavily behind his computer as if the weight of the investigation was too much for him.
She couldn’t even imagine being responsible for finding a missing person. Sure, she did stories where lives were on the line, but it wasn’t her responsibility to save a life, or at least she’d never investigated a story that required her to keep someone alive.
She quickly finished the list for Jude. “Thank you for doing this.”
“Of course.” He swiped the paper from her hand. “But don’t be thinking I’m a pushover and I’ll accept just any to-do item. I definitely draw the line at cleaning toilets.” He laughed and strode to the same seat he’d occupied before.
Cady shook her head but couldn’t help grinning as he walked away. Of all of the teammates, he seemed the most fun-loving, or at least he was the team joker, as Hayden had said. Every team had someone like Jude to lighten the mood. She was starting to see how each person’s strengths and quirks shaped the dynamic of a team that meshed well together.
“Just a heads up.” Hayden opened his laptop. “Jude might be a real charmer and doesn’t seem reliable, but you can depend on him to do whatever he’s asked and do it to the very best of his ability.”
Her thoughts exactly. “Dependability and reliability seem to be one of the hallmarks of this team.”
He squared his shoulders, the pride in his expression unmistakable as he relaxed against the back of his chair. “I’d like to think that’s true. I know we all would give up everything, even our lives, to rescue someone in danger.
Oh, man. How did she respond to such a statement? She didn’t like to think of him in any kind of danger. Anyone on the team facing danger, for that matter. But her concern for Hayden exceeded her worry for the rest of the team. He was finding a place in her heart, and losing him to violence wasn’t something she even wanted to contemplate.
Hayden sat forward again. “Give me a minute to get this information emailed to Abby, then we can talk about what I hope to accomplish tonight.”
“I actually have an idea. I don’t know if it’ll pan out, but I’d like to run with it for a bit. I’ll grab my computer from my room and be right back.” She got up before he asked questions and tried to talk her out of branching out on her own.
A quick trip down the hallway, and she was in the large open foyer. The musty, old-building smell seemed more overpowering tonight, but she quickly made a turn down another hallway to her room. No musty smell here. They’d used sweet-smelling coconut and orange-scented cleaners, reminding her of vacations at the beach.
What would it be like to live here with pristine beaches and an ocean right outside your door? Calming at times, she was sure, but storms could rage and destroy. She didn’t much like that part of beach living. Could she get used to it?
She reached for the light switch, then paused—drawn instead to the soft glow of the moon pouring in through the French doors. Why not take a short break, just long enough to feel the ocean’s calm before confronting the world’s ugliness again?
As she pushed through the doors, a gusty wind pounded her backward. The ocean air between gusts was warm and comforting, so she braved the wind and stepped outside to the sound of waves crashing into the craggy rocks. Clear skies let the moon’s glow stretch across the water, and the stars above glittered like tiny fragments of glass tossed across black velvet.
She made her way to the white wooden railing. It wobbled under her hands, and she spotted a warning sign on a tall post, but couldn’t make it out in the dim light. Hayden’s warning came back to her from her first night here.Don’t trust the railing and go no further than the barrier. The cliff ahead had experienced erosion before Nolan had bought the inn, and they needed to fix it to make the area safe.
She backed over cracked concrete and looked up at the sky again. The stars, the moon. How could anyone not believe in an all-powerful God when such splendor was revealed in front of them?
