Page 24 of Cold Silence
“It was me,” Travis admitted.
“Well, you were right.” Nick gave Claire a sheepish look. “I get on my high horse when things aren’t done the way I would do them. If I promise to be on my best behavior for the rest of my time here, I hope you’ll forget it ever happened.”
She waved a hand. “It’s already forgotten.”
“But not the things I want you to fix, right? I mean because?—”
“There you go again, Thorn.” Gage shook his head.
“Sorry.” He grinned. “Probably would be best if you moved on.”
Claire laughed.
“Good thing you’re also charming,” Gage said.
Nick rubbed the back of his hand over his shirt and smiled. “That I am.”
Gage rolled his eyes and looked at Claire. “Please save me from more of this.”
“Just a second,” Nick said, his tone sharp and alert now. “Before you go, you’ll want to know I’m on your thief’s trail. He tried to hide, but he didn’t count on the server backup that was in process and didn’t modify those files. So I found him. Just like I said I would.”
“But whoishe?” Claire asked, her good humor gone.
Nick frowned. “That I can’t answer yet and might never be able to, but I can and will tell you exactly what he did when he invaded the network.”
“Thank you.” Claire’s expression was unreadable, and Travis wanted to know what she was thinking.
“Okay,” Nick said, his attention going back to the computer. “That’s all for now.”
She looked at Gage and Travis. “Follow me.”
Travis had loved seeing her lighter side before the stress set in again. Seeing the woman he’d fallen in love with. Of course, she wasn’t smiling and laughing because of him or even for him. Still, he’d enjoyed her good mood while it lasted.
They continued the tour and found Sierra working with her team in the equipment room. Squatting on the floor near the empty cubby, she had tweezers and an evidence bag in her hands. She used the tweezers to pick something up and deposited it into the bag, then stood and caught sight of them.
“Hey, Gage.” She flashed him one of her earnest smiles that Travis was coming to associate with her. “Didn’t expect to see you in Florida.”
“We go way back.” Gage clapped Travis on the back. “When he sends up the Bat signal I come running.”
Claire rolled her eyes and looked at Sierra. “Did you find something?”
Sierra held out the bag. “A crushed seashell.”
“Oh, that.” Claire let out a long breath of disappointment. “Could’ve come from anywhere or anyone. Crushed shells are commonly used in place of gravel here.”
“True.” Sierra closed the bag. “But we can still analyze the shell, and if you find a strong suspect, perhaps we can tie it to their landscape. Worse case, we can find out what type of shell it is and locate the companies in the area who supply these shells. Then maybe find a purchase record of such shells from your suspect.”
“Oh, wow.” Claire blinked a few times. “That’s great.”
Was it? To Travis that sounded like days of work which would only helponcethey found the suspect. He’d hoped for something that could give them a suspect’s identity tonight.
Sierra dropped the bag into a bin markedEvidence. “When does your cleaning crew come in to empty your trash?”
“We have a full-time janitor. He cleans and empties trash throughout the day.”
Sierra pursed her lips. “Does every can get emptied every day?”
“For the most part, yes. But there are exceptions. If a room is in use during his scheduled rounds he’ll skip it.”
