Page 97 of Lost Truth
Abby got out her phone and tapped the screen. “All the dates listed are Mondays. So if this is Palmer, looks like he got paid before the women arrived. Likely to broker the deal with Collins.”
“Then the name ‘Relay’ makes sense,” Cady said.
Hayden sat back. “The most important thing is this conclusively ties Ivers to the Emerald Scorpion Group, and we have the paperwork showing their plan to traffic women.”
“So is there any point in tailing him now?” Abby squinted slightly, lines forming around her eyes. “I mean, we can give this data to Mina, and with everything else we’ve located, she should be able to arrest him.”
“True.” Hayden tapped his chin. “But if he has Kai, he might not be willing to tell us how to find him, and Kai could die in captivity.”
Abby frowned. “Ivers could have someone watching Kai and he’ll release him if Ivers is arrested.”
“Or he might not. He might not want to bring someone else into the mix,” Hayden said. “And maybe Kai can identify this guy and he won’t release him anyway.”
“In the video, Ivers indicated he was the only one who could handle getting this drive back from Kai,” Cady said.
“Then there’s the other option I mentioned in the meeting.” Abby looked at them both. “Kai hasn’t been abducted at all, and as soon as he hears the news that Collins, Palmer, and Ivers are in custody, he might come home on his own.”
Hayden planted his hands on the desktop. “And like I said, we can’t count on that. I think our best bet before we turn this data over to Mina is to get eyes on Ivers.”
His screen dinged, but he continued to look at Abby.
“I’m not sure I agree about keeping this information from law enforcement,” she said. “But say I go along with it. What good does watching him do now?”
Hayden snapped his chair forward. “Now that we have proof of his guilt, we have the ammunition we need to get him to reveal Kai’s location.”
“I don’t know.” Abby bit her lower lip. “This plan could go sideways.”
“Or it could go in our favor.” He glanced at his computer. “Hold on. The algorithm I have running for Ivers just returned a record.”
He clicked a few windows, then looked back at Abby. “If you needed a reason to tail him, I have it.”
“What?” Cady leaned closer, trying to read his screen.
“Ivers has tickets on a plane scheduled to depart later tonight for Beijing.”
“Oh, no,” Cady said. “He probably knows about last night, and he’s going to disappear.”
“Not only that, but China doesn’t have an extradition treaty with us.”
Abby crossed her arms. “So, there would be no way we could get him back to stand trial.”
Hayden jumped up and closed his computer. With or without Abby’s agreement, he was clearly going to head to the Dunes, and Cady would be right by his side, finally with a chance to confront the man who had arranged her father’s murder.
