Page 17 of Lost Truth
Reece waved a hand. “No worries. I’m sure Gabe will be glad to help me load the dishwasher.” She gave him a pointed look.
“Right,” he said, but looked like he wanted to groan. “What she said.”
“I’m good to go, too.” Abby slid back. “I’ll help with dinner dishes tonight.”
“As long as you don’t help me cook.” Reece laughed.
“No chance of that happening.” Abby winked.
Cady scooted off her chair. “Thank you again for breakfast, Reece. If you’re ever in the Portland area, I’ll be glad to repay you.”
“No need to repay me, but I’d be glad to go out for a meal the next time I’m there.”
“We can take my vehicle.” Hayden held his hand toward the door and directed them to his Raptor, then soon had them pulling up to Kai’s cottage.
Cady followed him to the door of the quaint place, tucking the front of her jacket closed to the sharp wind curling off the ocean. The sun might be shining bright, but with temps in the low fifties and the breeze a cooler temperature still, the chill seeped through her jacket.
Hayden pushed open the door and stepped back to let her and Abby enter first.
Abby marched straight inside and looked around the room, her hand on her sidearm. “I’ll clear the place as a precaution before we get started.”
She disappeared in the hallway.
Hayden’s gaze tracked her. “You can take the person out of law enforcement, but you can’t take the law enforcement out of the person.”
“I heard that,” Abby called back. “The same could be said of you, and if you’d entered before me, you’d be doing the same thing.”
“She’s got me there.” He gave Cady a lopsided smile.
Her heartstrings reverberated in her chest, but before she could fall prey to her emotions, Abby zoomed back into the room.
She handed disposable gloves to Cady, and then to Hayden. “Cady will search the kitchen and you have the living area. I’ve got the bedroom and bathroom.”
“I’ll get right on that, boss.” Hayden saluted her.
If she was bothered by his playful response when she seemed quite serious, she didn’t show it.
Cady glanced into the small kitchen. “I assume you gave me this space because nobody ever hides things there.”
“Actually, criminals stash stuff in their kitchens all the time.” Abby slipped into her gloves. “They figure we won’t think they would do such a thing and it’s safer.”
“Be particularly mindful of the freezer and refrigerator and any openable containers holding food in the pantry,” Hayden added.
Cady nodded and took a few steps to the kitchen, struggling to put on the gloves, unlike Abby’s practiced movements with hers. Cady decided to start with the refrigerator-freezer and then work her way through the pantry, since those were the areas Hayden mentioned.
His and Abby’s footsteps on the wooden floor signaled their departure, but she soon lost herself in the search. It was a tedious job to look through containers of rice and beans for small items, but she didn’t want to dump them on the floor and leave a mess for Kai when he returned. She’d just eaten breakfast, but the pungent spice smells stimulated her appetite, especially the exotic curry powder.
Either she wasn’t very good at searching, or there was nothing to be found, but she struck out in the prime locations. She climbed up on the counter to begin a search of the upper cabinets. If she wanted to hide something in a kitchen, she would use these harder to reach cupboards.
“I’m not finding any bank or phone records,” Hayden called out.
She glanced around the refrigerator to look at him as he closed a desk drawer. “That would seem odd, right? Many people his age still get paper bills in the mail.”
“I was thinking the same thing too.” Hayden leaned against the bookshelf behind him. “But lots of people don’t get them at all, and others shred their bills after they pay them.”
“Not me. I’m a keeper.” Albeit a messy one.
“Me too. At least until the end of the year. Then I get rid of everything I don’t need for my taxes.” He peered around the space. “But I don’t see a shredder.”
