Page 66 of Lost Truth
“Just follow the tunnel to the stairway,” he told Cady.
She stepped off, keeping to the center of the wide stone tunnel where the ceiling was higher. Still, he had to stoop most of the way. Either the people who made the tunnel were shorter—quite possible—or they had to bend to haul the cargo.
The stone stairway led up one flight to a typical exterior door standing open at the top. They entered into what had once served as a living room for guests. A moving bookshelf hid the door. The team used the room as a quiet space, but the outdated and worn furnishings weren’t something they wanted to share with others.
Cady turned in a circle. “This room is a blast from the past.”
“I’d say sixties or early seventies.” Nolan joined them and secured the door behind him.
“Is it wrong to say I love it?” She smiled. “I mean, it’s worn out, but I love the design style.”
Hayden shook his head. “I’ve never had much appreciation for mid-century design.”
Nolan peered at him. “I didn’t even know what mid-century design was. I’m surprised you do.”
“It is kind of odd, isn’t it?” Hayden said. “My foster family owned an authentic mid-century ranch designed by some famous architect. The building was all square lines and angles. I liked that part of it. Just not the colors used to decorate. Like orange. They had a whole lot of that in the house, and I’d tell them it only belongs on traffic cones.”
Cady laughed. “I guess we don’t have like-minded design styles then.”
Hayden looked at her. “Is that a problem?”
“Okay, then.” Nolan shifted his eyes between Hayden and Cady. “This is getting a little too personal for me and where I make my exit. The team’s in the conference room whenever you’re ready to update them on today’s events.”
He left the room as if it were on fire. Hayden clenched his jaw. He didn’t want to combine personal with business, and here he was talking about decorating a house and comparing it to what Cady might like.
“We should get going.”Before we get distracted and follow down that personal lane.“Kai is depending on us not to get sidetracked.”
She nodded and hustled out of the room without a word.
Hayden trailed behind her, but at a slower pace. He needed to clear his brain and be ready to update his team on the progress they’d made today. Sure, none of it had led to Kai as of yet, but everything pointed them in the right direction.
By the time he reached the room, Cady had poured a mug of coffee and taken a seat next to Abby. She seemed to avoid looking at the door. Hayden ripped his gaze away from her before his teammate saw the battle he was fighting.
Too late.
Abby cocked her head and gave him a pointed look. He ignored it and went to the refreshment table Reece had stocked. Without a word, he took his cup of coffee to the head of the conference table and grabbed a marker, then set his mug down and went to an empty whiteboard.
He started noting the items from today in the order in which they’d learned them. First, he jotted down,Detailed review of documents from locker and look up license plate for pickup. Next line,Look into Emerald Scorpion Group.Number three was,Review Palmer’s older Wi-Fi files. And finally he noted,Search for names on the dark web matching code names.
He put the marker down and turned. “We had a productive day, but we have a number of items to follow up on.”
“Can I barge in to give an update first?” Gabe tapped his finger on the table. “I wanted to put this out there in case it impacts anything else we talk about.”
Gabe didn’t wait for Hayden to agree, but got up and went to the board to pick up the marker. He wrote the name Sawyer Ellis.
“Sawyer?” Reece blinked her long, mascara-coated eyelashes. “What’s he got to do with this?”
“Now, Reece.” Jude patted her arm. “Don’t go off on Gabe just because you’ve got a thing for Sawyer.”
She gritted her teeth. “I do not have, as you say,a thingfor Sawyer. I hardly know the man.”
“That’s because you do your best impression of Bashful every time he’s around.” Jude laughed.
Reece grumbled something under her breath and turned her attention back to Gabe. “So, why Sawyer?”
“Simple,” Gabe said. “I was tasked with finding a boat to tail Collins on his meetup with the trafficking ship, and Sawyer’s in the Coast Guard.”
Reece crossed her arms. “Surely he won’t let you use an official Coast Guard vessel for our off-the-books undercover op.”
