Page 3 of Lost Truth
“I’m not certain. I’m just following up on things in Dad’s journals, and Kai was frequently mentioned in them.”
“But what about the police? Aren’t they investigating?”
“Sort of, but they don’t have any leads and have back-burnered his case to move on to other pressing investigations. They didn’t say that, but I could read between the lines. So you see, it’s up to me to find his killer.”
“This is crazy.” He hesitated, searching for the right words to say. “I mean, I don’t know you all that well, but it seems like your dad was an ordinary guy. Nothing outstanding or outrageous going on with him, other than his dementia. Why would someone want to poison him?”
“I don’t get it either.” She kept wringing her hands, as if the motion alone could keep her from falling apart. “At first, the medical examiner ruled his death natural causes. Blaming the dementia. She said she found his organs filled with blood and there was foamy blood in his lungs, too, which she said could occur in heart failure deaths.”
“Then how did you find out about the poison?”
Cady pressed her lips into a flat line. “I argued with her. Made sure she understood his dementia hadn’t reached the point where it affected his autonomic nervous system. I asked her what else could account for these symptoms, and she said an overdose.”
Interesting, but not fitting for Percy. “Overdose of what? It’s not like your dad was a drug addict.”
“Exactly. And I told her he didn’t have access to any of the medications hedidtake. When he moved in with me, I locked them all up and gave them to him when they were due, so I begged her to run a drug test. It came back positive for fentanyl, and then she went back to his body and found a needle mark. He could never have gotten his hands on these drugs. Even if he had, he was terrified of needles. Someone would’ve had to administer it to him.”
“Wow.” He rested his arms on the back of the chair. “That’s surreal.”
“Agreed, and like I said, I don’t actually think it’s real yet. I mean, I’ll never forget finding him in his bed that morning. His body cold. His skin dark. But…” She shuddered.
Hayden couldn’t ignore the anguish causing her to nearly fall apart. He took her trembling hands in his and held them still. They were arctic cold, and he rubbed her silky skin to try to warm it.
Their joined hands looked like they belonged together. He was in a quandary and couldn’t let his emotions color his decisions. Did he still report her to the sheriff for breaking and entering? What kind of man would he be if he turned her in or even left her alone in such distress? Not the kind of man he wanted to be, that was for sure.
Helping her find her dad’s killer was the only option. “If you think Kai’s disappearance could have something to do with your father’s death, then we should meet with the team and discuss working together on finding the killer while we look for Kai.”
Her eyes widened, a hint of relief breaking through. “That would be amazing.”
Fighting the urge to press her for answers about how her father’s death connected to Kai, he gave her hands a gentle squeeze before letting go. Time was of the essence when looking for a missing person, and Hayden needed more information—but he would wait. She’d have to share the full story with the team soon enough. Holding back now would give her a chance to pull herself together—and spare her the pain of reliving it twice.
But first… “Before I even suggest our partnership to the others, I’ll need to confirm you aren’t planning on writing a story about it.”
Her posture stiffened. “I would never turn my father’s death into a story for the paper. It’s private.” She stabbed her thumb at her chest. “Mywound.Mygrief. No one else’s and certainly not the public’s.”
Seeing her like that tore him up inside. He was witnessing her pain raw and unfiltered, and no matter how seasoned she was as one of Portland’s top crime reporters, he knew this story would never be just another headline—it would live close to her heart.
He dug out his phone. “Let me give Nolan a call. The team’s meeting at the inn to plan our investigation into Kai’s disappearance, and it would be really helpful if you could be there—if you’re okay with that.”
“It’s more than okay. I’ll be forever grateful.” She looked up at him with those luminous eyes, and he was once again lost, not only in the surprising way she’d affected him when he’d first met her, but in the grief and pain he would carry with him as if it were his own.
Oh, man. She really got to him, and he would do anything to take her pain away. From this moment on, she could count on him—not just to stand by her in her grief, but to find her father’s killer.
No matter what it took. No matter the personal cost.
Cady had assumed she and Hayden would head straight to the old inn where the team lived and worked. Instead, they’d stopped outside Kai’s cottage in the warmth of the summer evening, while a sharp wind swept across the cliffside.
She huddled out of the flow of air near the house, but Mr. Adventure didn’t care about the forceful winds. He climbed a swaying tree to install security cameras, moving from limb to limb like a monkey at ease off the ground.
“There.” He jumped down from the lowest tree branch, sticking his landing. “Not as fun as scaling a mountain or skiing down one, but climbing a tree still has its rewards.” He grinned in the moonlight.
Her heart did a crazy somersault. From their first meeting, something about him drew her in a way she’d never experienced. Physical, yes. He was the proverbial tall, dark, and handsome. Piercing charcoal eyes able to cut right through a person but were often tempered by a gentle side she hadn’t witnessed in a man in a long time.
Several times while her father’s dementia held him captive and terror had him flailing about, Hayden had tenderly approached him and coaxed him into a relaxed state. If she had any question about Hayden’s character, his compassionate behavior told her he was a stand-up guy.
Compassion and keeper material. Too bad she wouldn’t follow her interest in him. She had way too many things to do and accomplish before settling down. If she ever saidI do—an unlikely event—she would be all in. Everything, including starting a family. But she had big goals for her job as a reporter and couldn’t be traveling around the world and be the kind of mother she wanted to be.
The kind she never had.
