Page 110 of Lost Truth
She felt his pain and anguish not only from his look, but in his tone. “What did you do?”
“Ivers gave me two choices. First was to sign the business over to him.” He growled, like an injured animal. “I’d sell the place to someone else before I wouldeverdo that.”
“And the second choice?” she asked already having an idea what it might be.
“Agree to let him funnel cash through my business.” He grimaced. “I knew it would be dirty money. There couldn’t be any other reason why he needed it laundered. He didn’t tell me how he got the money, and I didn’t ask. But then, Ernie Sutton and your dad asked me to take them out in my boat to follow Wade Collins. That’s when I learned of the trafficking.”
His face paled in the light of the ambulance. “I was sick to my stomach and vowed to find a way to take Ivers down. So I buddied up to him. Pretended I was impressed with what he was doing.”
She patted his hand. “That must’ve been hard.”
“You have no idea.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “But I kept it together, and one day I went to visit him at his house. He was in his office working on his laptop with a drive plugged into it. As soon as I came into the room, he ejected the drive and put it in a locked desk drawer. I knew it had to contain something he didn’t want anyone to see. Long story short, I broke into his house and stole the drive.”
“You were brave to break into the house of someone like Ivers.”
“Brave or stupid.” He gave a derisive laugh. “I don’t know anything about computers—hate them actually—but I showed the drive to a guy I know who does. He said it was seriously encrypted. He couldn’t open it, and said not just anyone could. Before I found someone to help me with it, Ivers came after me. With a gun in my face, he warned me to give it back to him, but I wouldn’t tell him where it was. So he kidnapped me.”
“We found the drive,” she said.
He nodded. “That’s what Hayden told me, and he also told me it contained all the information needed to put this man away for a long, long time.”
“I need to get going, ma’am,” the medic said. “You can follow us to the hospital if you’d like to continue your conversation.”
She stood and rested her hand on Kai’s shoulder. “I’ll be staying in Lost Lake, so I’ll come by to visit you.”
“Thank you.” He gave a wobbly smile. “You’re as kind as I remember.”
She squeezed his shoulder and turned back toward the cabin. She’d nearly reached the porch when Mina came barreling across the property.
“Where is he?” she demanded. “Someone tell me where he is!”
“Inside.” Hayden waved her over.
She stormed ahead like a tornado seeking something to destroy, taking the three steps up to the cabin in two smooth leaps. Hayden and Abby followed from the porch, and Cady climbed the steps to bring up the rear.
The man who’d held Kai captive sat on the worn wooden floor, his hands behind his back, his knees lifted. He was tall and beefy, his blond hair buzzed short like the law enforcement officer he was.
Sergeant Abell, or so she’d been told. Cady had never met him, but from the gossip she’d heard since he was discovered in the cabin, he was a respected member of the sheriff’s department, and the deputies were shocked and angry.
Mina stood before him, her feet planted wide, her gaze raking him over. She pulled back her foot as if she intended to kick him, then took a breath and dropped her boot to the floor with a sudden thud. “How could you do this to us, Abe? You’ve single-handedly ruined the reputation of our department.”
He glared up at her. “What choice did I have? You’re so stinking popular in the county there’s no way I would ever successfully run against you for sheriff. So I was stuck in a dead-end job where I’d make the same salary for the rest of my career.”
Mina scowled. “You don’t have to be the sheriff to get a pay increase. You could always move up the ranks.”
“Could I? Really? Where?” His voice rose with each question. “El’s your buddy, and the department needs can only afford one lieutenant. Not to mention, I’m not a woman and can’t form the same bond with you as she did. Something I can never change.”
Mina shook her head. “Gender has no bearing on my decision-making. Not in the least. Detective Lyons and I are close because she doesn’t have an attitude like you do, and she’s a team player. Something you never understood and never will.”
“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes.
“Don’t whatever me,” she snapped. “Not when I’ve spent my entire time as a sheriff walking on eggshells around you and trying to make things work for us. Thankfully, I don’t need to do that any longer.” She huffed out a breath. “But also thanks to you, lawyers for every suspect you ever investigated, every person you ever arrested, will be crawling out of the woodwork demanding their investigations be reviewed.”
A snarky grin twisted his mouth. “Guess you’re gonna be busy then, and you won’t have a competent sergeant to back you up and take the load off.”
Mina growled deep in her throat and took a step toward him.
Abby reached out to tug Mina back by the arm. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret. He’s not worth it. Not at all.”
