Page 52 of Lost Truth
Mina, seeming oblivious to Cady’s interest, put the large paper evidence bag she carried on the table across from Hayden without any explanation.
He tried to make out the information written on the outside of the bag, but she’d left it at the wrong angle, and he wasn’t about to grab official evidence without permission.
He made eye contact with her. “I hope you have answers for us.”
She tilted her head and gave him a quizzical look. “Depends on your questions. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to grab a cup of coffee before we get started.”
“Sorry. I should’ve offered you one.” Hayden gave her a sincere smile. Not that he wanted to wait for answers to his questions. Not with Kai missing and women obviously being trafficked, but that didn’t mean he should ignore common courtesy. His mother taught him proper manners before she died. One of the many lessons he carried with him from both of his parents and tried to implement in their honor.
Mina stepped to the long table where Reece had stocked soft drinks in a tray with ice and a big pitcher of iced tea. She’d also brewed two pots of coffee. Mina grabbed a mug and poured the coffee, taking it black. She also picked up a large blueberry muffin fresh from the oven and took an empty chair across from Hayden.
After a long pull on her mug, she glanced around the table. “Before we get started, I wanted to make it clear that I still can’t share most investigative details with you. It’s not that I don’t want to, but my job requires me to follow investigative protocols. I know all of you except Cady can understand my position from your prior law enforcement jobs.”
“We do.” Nolan searched the team’s faces. “And we’ll respect that, right?”
Everyone except Cady nodded.
“I’m not sure I understand all the technical rules of what you’re allowed to share and not share,” she said. “But I’ll assume if you don’t tell us, you can’t.”
“Thank you for understanding.” Mina smiled at her.
“In that vein,” Cady said, “were you able to get my father’s police reports?”
Mina nodded. “There’s nothing in them to dispute your story.”
Cady gave a shaky exhale. “Do they include anything that could help?”
“Maybe. El is reviewing the file in more detail, but like I said, I won’t be able to share that information with you.”
“Understood,” Cady said, but her expression gave away her disappointment.
Mina shifted her attention to Hayden. “Okay. Fire away.”
Hayden realized he’d been shaking his leg as he waited. He didn’t want to come across as being overeager to get answers so forced himself to plant his foot solidly on the floor. “We heard a rumor that the boat washed up on the beach is associated with smuggling. Is that true?”
Mina rested her hands near the muffin, but didn’t touch it. “I suppose itcouldbe related. But at this time, we don’t have any evidence to suggest that it is.”
“But you don’t have any evidence to suggest that it isn’t either, do you?” Cady asked.
“No. Nothing either way.”
“Have you found the boat’s owners?” Cady pressed harder.
“No, and it’s not for a lack of trying.” Mina peeled the paper from her muffin. “We pulled information from the state’s boat registration database only to learn it was registered in Delaware to a shell corporation called Marine Investment Associates, LLC.”
Cady quickly scribbled in her notepad. “Is Delaware significant?”
“Good question.” Mina looked up from her muffin. “Delaware has strong laws that prevent government from revealing the beneficial owner of a given shell corporation. So shell corps aren’t required to publicly list the company’s owner, which means we couldn’t use that route to locate the owner’s name. We were able to track down registered company directors, but the names were phony—three guys who agreed to sign their names for a few dollars.”
“So it was a wild goose chase.” Abby’s frustration lingered in her tone. “My experience says shell corps can be legit but also a front for illegal activities. Having bogus directors in play likely indicates someone was trying to skirt the law.”
“Exactly.” Mina broke off a piece of her muffin, but held it in her hand. “Which is why we had a state forensics team process the boat like we might a crime scene.”
“I’m assuming since the boat is still there,” Hayden said, “the search and evidence collected were a bust, and you didn’t find anything to help locate the owner.”
“That’s correct.” Mina popped the muffin in her mouth, then reached for the evidence bag. She pulled out a plastic bag holding something made of cloth and laid it on the table in front of Hayden. “One thing we did find was a monogrammed handkerchief. It’d fallen behind bench cushions. Note the initials. CAP.”
Hayden examined the handkerchief. “Who even carries monogrammed handkerchiefs these days? But that aside, where do you begin to look for someone with those initials? You’re probably not looking for your garden variety criminal.”
