Page 80 of Lost Hours
“What is it?” he asked.
She felt his probing gaze on her. Should she tell him? Why not? “I don’t want this thing from our past to ruin my relationship with my parents.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t ask them,” he said, but his tone held little or no conviction.
“Maybe.” She left him with the vague answer as they reached the inn’s parking lot. She parked near the main entrance and grabbed her metal water bottle and the stack of financial files from her backseat.
Nolan led the way to the conference room. At the long table, Hayden, Reece, and Jude sat behind computers, and Abby had a stack of papers in front of her that she appeared to be organizing. All of them looked up, their gazes expectant.
Nolan gestured for Mina to have a seat. She set the pile of reports on the table and took a chair near the end. He stopped at the head of the table.
“Long time no see.” Hayden chuckled.
“Did you get Cadence and Percy off okay?” Nolan didn’t comment on Hayden’s obvious interest in Cadence.
Hayden nodded. “I got her phone number, too, just in case we needed to call her.”
Mina smirked, but once again Nolan left it alone. “We’re here to review city financial records, but let me give you a quick update first.”
No one spoke, and they gave him their rapt attention as he recounted their morning.
Thank you for bringing this team here to help. I couldn’t do this without them. Without Nolan.
“Anything to report on Becca?” Nolan dropped into a chair next to her and looked at the others.
Jude lowered the screen on his computer. “I’m about to take off and hunt down one of her friends who hasn’t returned my calls. I’ll let you know if I actually talk to her, and if she has anything to report.”
Nolan scratched his neck. “Before you go, we need your credit card and bank statements for the past six months.”
Jude arched a brow but didn’t question the request. He obviously trusted Nolan not to ask for something that wasn’t needed and would do as asked for the greater good, but she thought he deserved some reassurance. She explained their reasoning.
Jude lifted the computer screen. “I’ll print them right now.”
“You know this is just to rule you out, right?” Mina asked.
Jude kept his gaze pinned on his computer. “I do, but if my dad taught me anything that stuck—which isn’t much—it was to never ever reveal your financial information to anyone else. To that end, I’ll be redacting my account numbers before I turn over the statements. You need them, you’ll have to get a warrant for them.”
“Understood,” Mina said, not questioning his reasonable response. He was estranged from his wealthy father, and money was a hot topic. She didn’t want to bring all of that up when it wasn’t necessary right now.
“I also need someone to look at our past cases,” Nolan said. “See if we can spot a connection to the mayor.”
“I can do it,” Reece offered. “Anything in particular you think I should be looking for?”
Nolan slightly lifted his hands. “Could be a waste of time, but we have to look at every possibility.”
“Waste of time or not, I’ll do my best.” Reece stood. “I’ll get the files and get started right away.”
“Anything else to report?” Nolan looked around the table. “If not, Mina and I are going to get started on the city financial records.”
No one spoke. Not a word or even a movement, leaving the room as somber as when Jude’s finances had been called into question. Maybe the others didn’t think Nolan should’ve made the request when he knew his teammate—brother really—wasn’t guilty. They might think he should’ve insisted on Mina getting a warrant. Maybe she should have, just to protect his relationship with his team.
Too late. She couldn’t have a do-over.
He smiled at his team. “Feel free to offer to help with these records if you want.”
The room was suddenly a beehive of conversation and activities, and Mina almost laughed at their willingness to avoid the mundane task.
She split the stack of reports in half, gave Nolan one half, and set to work on the other stack without a word.
