Page 68 of Shadow of Fear
Hayden grinned and shrugged. “What can I say? Excitement is my middle name.”
“You’ll have to excuse my team.” Nolan eyed them. “They haven’t learned not to air their dirty laundry in front of a client yet.”
“No worries.” Colin waved a hand. “We’re not paying clients, so feel free to say whatever you want to say.” He looked at his brother. “After all, when you start working with our team, you’ll hear some dirty laundry too.”
“Thanks for understanding,” Nolan said, his focus still pinned to his team. “Maybe they’ll remember for the rest of the meeting not to make unnecessary comments.”
Gabe ran a finger across his lips, zipping his mouth closed.
“I won’t want to be unprofessional and mention that Gabe’s the sarcastic one of the team, so you should ignore him.” Abby grinned.
Kinsley laughed. Poor Nolan. He had his work cut out for him to manage this impetuous team. A challenge, but she thought it would be fun, too.
Nolan let out a long breath. “If you would get me the name and date of birth before we leave, we could get started the minute we get back to our office.”
Colin stood and dug his cell phone from his pocket. “Let me make a call, and I should have it for you in a matter of minutes.”
He stepped outside and closed the door firmly behind him.
“I know we’re pushing our luck here,” Dev said. “But with sending two of our teammates to Portland to surveil suspects, we’re short-staffed here in protecting Kinsley and could use one more guy on the ground in Portland.”
Nolan clasped his hands together on the table. “And you’d like us to supplement your details.”
“Yes, if possible.”
Hayden—Mr. Excitement—got a gleam in his eyes. “I’m down with that.”
“I’d be glad to help, too,” Abby said.
“If you have a workspace for us here,” Nolan said, “I don’t see why we can’t all work here for now and help you out.”
Gabe leaned forward. “I’d be happy to go to Portland if you give me an interesting suspect.”
Dev cocked his head. “Ever heard of Louis Luongo?”
Gabe’s eyes widened. “Who in the state of Oregon hasn’t? Don’t tell me he’s one of your suspects.”
Dev explained. “So you can see, he’s loosely connected, but we can’t cross him off our suspect list, and we’re not quite ready to press him for an alibi and send him into hiding. So we need someone to keep eyes on him.”
“I’m your man,” Gabe said, his eager expression brightening his eyes. “Just give me his address, and I’m out of here.”
“Not so fast.” Nolan looked at his teammate. “We came in one car, and you’ll need wheels.”
“He’ll get to Portland faster if he uses one of ours instead of driving back to your place,” Dev said.
Gabe rubbed his hands together. “Then point the way.”
Dev stood. “Let me ask Reid about office space for you all and for the use of a vehicle.” He hurried out the door.
Nolan looked at Kinsley. “Dev referred to several suspects under surveillance. Would you mind telling us about them so we know what we’re facing?”
Mind? Yeah. Kinsley would rather not talk about these men. She’d rather Dev or Colin would bring them up to date, but this was something she could do, and she had to do her part. She took a deep breath and launched into a description of why Huff and Mooney were considered suspects. She tried to be thorough and share every detail she possessed. She was just finishing when both Colin and Dev returned.
Colin ripped a piece of paper off the notepad Dev had left behind, scribbled a note, and shoved the paper across the table to Nolan. “Caldwell’s details. Name, date of birth, and driver’s license number. And by the way, he doesn’t have any vehicles registered to him in the state.”
Nolan picked up the paper to study it, then folded the yellow page, and shoved it into a large cargo pocket. “Thanks for saving me some time with the additional information.”
Dev returned and dropped onto his chair. “Reid said it’s okay to use an SUV for Portland and the conference room as an office. Once we get you set up, just ask for anything else you might need.”
