Page 62 of Lost Truth
She willed herself to calm down and walked back to Nolan’s vehicle.
His window was open, and he leaned his head out. “You two okay?”
Hayden nodded.
“I’m good,” she said, and did her best to downplay her continuing unease.
Hayden planted his hands on his hips. “My Raptor sustained a lot of damage, but thankfully it’s still drivable.”
Nolan peered at the vehicle. “It’ll need a lot of bodywork for sure. Thank goodness we have good insurance.”
He pointed at the papers in Cady’s arms. “Those the documents?”
She nodded. “As much as I want to review them here, I get that it’s not safe. Like you said, it’s better for you to take and scan them so we have more than one copy.” She passed the documents through the window.
Nolan laid the stack on the passenger seat. “After I scan them, we should turn the originals over to Mina, along with the key.”
“Agreed.” Hayden dug the key from his pocket and handed it to his teammate as he described Cady’s phone call with Fletcher.
Nolan narrowed his eyes. “Sounds like you need time to run this lead down.”
“I do,” Hayden said. “But we can’t leave here with Palmer due home any minute.”
“Good point,” he replied. “I’d stay, but I have an appointment I can’t cancel. As soon as that’s over I’ll make some calls and arrange for someone to replace you.”
“Let me know who’s coming and when.” Hayden stepped back.
Nolan gave a quick salute and cranked his engine.
Cady stood next to Hayden, and they watched Nolan drive away.
“Time to get eyes on Palmer.” Hayden spun and marched toward his vehicle.
She had to jog to keep up with him, but they both slid inside at the same time.
He reached behind his seat to grab a tote bag. “Good. The bag escaped any bullets.”
“That’s remarkable, considering the outside of the vehicle.” She worked hard not to shiver at the thought of the bullets and alert Hayden to her ongoing unease.
From the bag, he handed her a pair of binoculars, then took a pair for himself and aimed them at the house. “No sign of Palmer yet. But we’re a little early, so that’s not surprising.”
She lowered her binoculars and swiveled in her seat. “Do you really think this will be helpful? I mean, Palmer will hardly stand out on the sidewalk and tell us he’s guilty of human trafficking.”
Hayden continued to watch the house. “You’re right. It won’t be that easy. The best we can hope for is witnessing something he might carry into or bring out of the house. Maybe he goes somewhere, and we tail him. That provides another lead.”
He laid his binoculars on the console and retrieved his gadget bag that also looked free of bullet holes. “No matter what happens, we’ll be ready for it.”
He took out a digital camera. Even with her limited experience with cameras, she knew he held a top-of-the-line 35mm SLR.
He screwed a long lens on the front and lifted the viewfinder to his eyes. “Hold up. He’s just pulling onto his street.”
She picked up her binoculars again and zoomed in on the front of the property. A black Mercedes drove at a low speed toward the house. The garage door swung open, but the car stopped in the driveway. A tall man wearing a black suit, white shirt, and striped necktie slid out and started for the front door. She zoomed in on his upper body to see his thick head of dark hair, a wide jaw, and buff body. He looked like the pictures she’d seen of Palmer, and since this was his house, he probably was Palmer.
“Man,” she said, keeping her binoculars locked on him. “These binoculars can see everything down to the pin on his lapel.”
“The very reason we bought the best high-powered binoculars we could afford. It’s the little details that can sometimes give you the big leads.”
Palmer strode confidently to the front door and squatted in front of the keyless entry lock. He entered his code, giving her full view of the number. “Did you catch his code?”
