Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
“So he does have motivation.” If Hollis had been surprised but ultimately decent and maybe even requested to meet his son, or asked if Cami needed anything, then that would be different. But he’d expressed the exact sentiment Rex had worried he would.
“To have had him kidnapped?” Her eyes drifted to the side for a moment. “Yes, I suppose, but . . . I honestly think he was shocked when he heard that he’d been kidnapped. I don’t think he knew about it. He did receive the email from Cyrus and either convinced himself it was a prank, or actually believed it was. Hollis was never a good liar because he never tried to be good. He took it for granted no one would question him, so he didn’t bother to make himself seem believable. He hasn’t changed.”
“Well that helps.” He almost bit his own tongue. It came across as bitter, and he didn’t want to remain resentful toward the guy. It was just that hearing Cami bring up the teenage version of Hollis, the guy who’d made him feel so worthless when they were in high school, set him on edge. Still. And he didn’t like that about himself. It made him feel petty and small, his own feelings trapping him in the discomfort of youth.
Cami’s eyes lingered on him a moment as if she was trying to figure him out, and then she looked down and picked at the cuticle on her thumbnail. “On my way here, I got a call from Detective Mauro in California. They were able to identify the remains of the man who fell to his death.”
He sat up a little straighter. “And?”
“Apparently, he’s hired muscle. Well known in Oakland, California. The guy has a long rap sheet and just got out of San Quentin six months ago for armed robbery. The weapon they found near his body had the serial number filed off.”
“Did they mention any known connections?”
“They’re looking into that now, but I mean, they’re not likely to find anything, right?”
He sighed. “No. Guys like that don’t generally keep records.”
“The rental cabin is owned by a corporation that appears to be a shell company.”
He’d figured. And when they investigated that company, it would lead to another one overseas. Eventually, they’d find themselves in some Bangladeshi rug store where the owner had been paid off to file paperwork. There’d be no trace of anyone who’d set up the operation now. “Did Detective Mauro say anything about the video camera in the room with Cyrus?”
“Just that there was a link to the feed on the guy’s phone. It was one of those prepaid ones, though, so not much else to access.”
Rex nodded. He knew he could assume any numbers that were in it were also from anonymous burner phones and had since been turned off. Oakland, California. Someone had hired a goon close enough to drive to the location. Why exactly they’d chosen that spot in the woods in Big Sur was a mystery. Maybe this unknown person or persons had a number of locations set up for just such a circumstance. The bars on the window indicated that it had a specific purpose, and that purpose didn’t have anything to do with communing with nature. “What now?” he murmured, mostly to himself.
“The boxes,” she said. “It feels like all we have.”
He turned and looked at her, his gaze moving over her pretty face. She was so beautiful to him. What was it about her features that set his heart on fire the way they did? Maybe if he could figure it out—quantify it the way he was usually so good at—he could gain control over it so he didn’t feel mostly flattened each time she turned his way. It feels like all we have. He moved his mind back to what she’d said about the boxes. He agreed it was all they had, but not only as it pertained to the case they were trying to work through together. Them. In general. And he didn’t like that. He could admit it, at least to himself. But how could they have more without someone—namely him—getting hurt?
Maybe it’s worth it.
Cami sighed. “I should go.”
He turned and met her eyes. There was something there—a question or a statement, he wasn’t sure. He wiped his hands on his jeans. He needed to get cleaned up and return some calls, and Cyrus would be waiting to be picked up at her father’s house. She’d had a long afternoon confronting the man who’d abandoned her eleven years before and had made it clear he was still the same selfish asshole. Maybe she’d expected it, but the confrontation had to have been emotionally taxing all the same.
They both stood at the same time, each letting out a small breathy chuckle when they almost collided. Again, their eyes met and she opened her mouth to say something, paused, and then closed it. She tipped her head to the side. “I might take the night off from box searching. It’s been a day.”