Page 39 of Night Hawk
“What if I could get someone from Gage’s team to fly you here?”
“That would help.”
Clay started thinking about the costs he was incurring. It was one thing to hitch a ride on the helicopter, but Gage would need to charge for a special trip. Still, finding these girls trumped everything. And besides, Clay could send Bird’s blood sample on the chopper to Veritas.
“I’ll give Gage a call and let you know.” He disconnected and dialed Gage.
As it turned out, Coop was headed to Portland late in the afternoon, and Clay would only have to pay for Kelsey to be flown back home when the job was done. He texted her the information, and she responded immediately.
Works for me.
I’ll pick you up at Gage’s compound, he replied.It will be late by the time you finish so you can stay with us if you want.
He quickly texted Sierra to ask if her assistant could pick up the blood sample from the helipad and gave her the time. Before he could put his phone down she replied with a yes.
He set his phone in a cup holder and turned to Toni to update her. “We have a few hours before Kelsey arrives. How do you want to proceed?”
“I say we do an internet search on both Jason and Fritz Rader. See what we turn up. I especially want to see if I can find Jason’s Facebook page, and I should call my grandpa.”
“We can do that at my parents’ place.” He cranked the engine. “On the way, we can drop off the blood sample for Coop to take to Portland. And I want to find out which house Jason lured his victims to and visit the place.”
“He’s recently been arrested so it could still be sealed off.”
Clay shifted into gear. “Not if the owner put pressure on Trent to return it to their control.”
“But then they likely had it cleaned.”
He wouldn’t lose hope. “There’s still bound to be forensic evidence there. We’ll just need to look harder—and maybe get Sierra out here too.”
Toni stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows in the Byrd’s large ranch style house. The living room overlooked a path leading through grasses and flowers to a wooden stairway down to the beach. The wind whipped through the dried grasses and peppered sand into the window.
“This is a great location,” she said to Clay when he joined her.
A fond smile spread across his face. “My grandparents grew up nearby and built this place. We spent so many summers out here with them. It was awesome. When they got older and moved into a smaller house, they passed it down to my dad. Otherwise we could never have afforded such a place.”
His smile widened, and his love for his family was so evident in his expression, touching her deeply. What would it be like to really know your grandparents? To have such a big family instead of being alone in the world?
She felt a pity-party ramping up.Stop it. Stop comparing. You live a blessed life.
“As it is,” he continued, “Mom and Dad rent it out part of the year just to pay the taxes and upkeep. But it’s vacant a lot of the time in the offseason.”
“I’ve never really gone to the beach much, but I like it best in the winter. To sit inside and watch the storms roll in. And when it lets up to take long walks in the fog and mist. One of my dreams is to go horseback riding on the beach, but I’ve never made the time to do it.”
“A woman after my own heart.” He chuckled. “Not the horse part, but I like the beach in stormy weather too. Especially when I’m struggling with something big. Helps seeing such an amazing part of God’s creation to put things in perspective.”
She faced him. “Does that happen often? The big struggles, I mean.”
“Recently, a whole lot more than I’d like.”
She didn’t respond, just waited him out, hoping he’d tell her more.
“A good example is my dad’s transplant,” he said. “That’s when Sierra found out he isn’t her biological father. And your dad died about the same time.”
She was still touched by his caring. “His death really bothered you, didn’t it? I mean, more than the usual grief we face when someone is killed on the job.”
“Of course.” His face was deeply lined with concern, and her heart fluttered over the intensity of his gaze. “He’s your dad. How could I not be impacted?”
“You’re making it sound like there’s something between us.” She couldn’t believe she’d just said that when she wanted to ignore anything personal between them.
