Page 104 of Lost Truth
Hayden glanced at Cady to see how she was handling today’s incident. She was looking down at her plate, her fork pushing potato salad around, but she wasn’t eating.
“The doctors are optimistic for Ivers’s recovery,” he said to her, but didn’t mention the guy might never walk again.
“I sure hope so, because Kai could depend on him making it.”
“And if Kai’s safety didn’t depend on his recovery? What would you feel if Ivers died?”
She looked up then. “Surprisingly, I don’t have any anger toward him at this point. At least not enough to wish him dead.”
He took her free hand under the table and squeezed it. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks, but I don’t think it has anything to do with me as much as it has to do with what you talked about earlier. To trust God to work this out and provide justice for my father. It’s all in His hands now.”
Hayden held her gaze. “We’re in God’s hands too.”
“We are.” She gave him a wobbly smile.
He squeezed her hand and let go. His appetite returning a bit, he forked a bite of the tangy potato salad, perfectly made as usual. That bite encouraged him to chomp off a chunk of the burger, and discovered Gabe wasn’t just blowing smoke. The burger rivaled any Hayden had eaten in the past.
He swiped a napkin over his mouth and looked down the table at his team. “I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want to sit around and wait for Ivers to make it or not. Even if he does, he might not tell us anything about Kai. We need to do something.”
“But what?” Reece asked.
“I can print out the information on the drive for everyone to look through,” Hayden said. “Then I’ll search property records online for Ivers to see if he owns a place where he could stash Kai unnoticed.”
“There are plenty of secluded beach houses in the area.” Abby held a fork of potato salad midair. “And we’re close enough to the mountains. He might have a place there.”
“Since properties are recorded by each county, I’ll need to get going on that right away.” He reached for his computer. “I’ll start the printing now so by the time we’re done eating, the data will be ready for everyone to review.”
“As long as you leave enough time for me to have a second burger, I’m on board.” Laughing, Gabe got up with his empty plate and headed for the food table. “Dessert too. Never want to miss one of Reece’s desserts.”
“Then, if we want to get moving, I better grab the brownies.” Reece passed by Gabe and knuckled him on the shoulder.
Hayden might feel more of an appetite now, but he took bites in between sending pages to the printer until all documents and spreadsheets had printed and his food had disappeared.
He set the pages in the middle of the table. “Have at it and divvy up as you see fit.”
Hayden moved to the food table and looked back at Cady to see if she’d gotten a brownie while his face was fixed on his computer screen. She didn’t have a small dessert plate and much of her meal still sat untouched. Maybe something sweet could tempt her to eat, so he grabbed one for each of them.
“Thanks.” She smiled at him. “It was sweet of you to think of me.”
“You mean, after I rudely ignored you all through dinner?”
“You had work to do. Work Kai could be depending on.”
“Then you don’t mind if I ignore you again and scarf this down while searching online property records?”
“Not at all.” She pressed her hand over his.
“Aha!” Reece pumped up her fist in passing. “Just like I thought. Hope the handholding in front of us means you’re finally ready to announce you’re a couple.”
“I didn’t… I mean…” Cady jerked her hand free, and a flush rose up her neck and over her face.
She was blushing like a teenager, and despite his team butting into something very personal, he found her response sweet.
She shook her head. “What am I doing letting this embarrass me? I’m not some girl who was just caught kissing behind the bleachers. I’m a grown woman who’s about to start dating one of your teammates. If you don’t like it, I hope over time, you’ll change your mind.” She lifted her chin and aimed it at everyone giving her their attention. She seemed to want to portray confidence, but he didn’t think she felt confident right now.
“Bravo!” Abby smiled broadly. “Way to stand up for the two of you. We’ve been rooting for you to get together, and we couldn’t be happier.”
