Page 73 of Lost Truth
Gabe raised his binoculars too. “Agreed. If he’s on board, he’s inside with the lights out.”
“We’re plenty early.” Hayden cut the engine. “He might not arrive until near time to rendezvous with the ship.”
Without the motor rumbling, the sound of waves lapping against boats became clear, as did the sound of the wind gusts sending choppy waves to shore.
Hayden’s phone dinged. “Text is from Daisy. She didn’t find anything unusual in the mayor’s phone records.”
“She sure is working late,” Cady said. “But we figured she wouldn’t find anything.”
Hayden nodded, but then continued to look at his phone, time ticking silently by.
Gabe turned toward him. “Gaming at a time like this?”
“Of course not,” he said. “Just checking to be sure the tracker Jude placed on the boat this afternoon is operational.”
“And is it?” Cady asked.
“It is indeed. We should be able to follow Collins’s every move.”
“What if he finds the tracker and destroys it?” she asked. “Then what?”
“Then I hack his navigation system to follow him that way.” Hayden’s confidence in his abilities came through every word. “It’s a little more complex and might take longer, but we won’t lose him.”
She thought he was being unreasonably positive, but what did she know about hacking navigation? She shifted her binoculars to the open ocean, dark in the inky night. “Too bad we can’t get out on the water to see where Mina and her team are waiting. It would be comforting to know they were there for sure.”
“Don’t worry,” Hayden said. “If we run into trouble, they’re a radio transmission away for Nolan.”
“Speaking of Nolan, I’ll check in with the others to see if they’re in place.” Gabe bent his head forward. “Top Dog, this is Outlaw. Are you in position? Over.”
Top Dog? Outlaw?She shouldn’t be surprised the team members had nicknames. After all, they had to communicate when they were undercover. It would be fun to figure out who was who. Obviously, Gabe was Outlaw, and since he mentioned checking in with Nolan, Top Dog had to be him.
“Will do, Top Dog. Over.” Gabe looked at Hayden. “Nolan’s in place, and he’s communicated with Mina. Her team is in place too.”
Hayden had his binoculars raised and gave a slight nod, but didn’t say anything.
“Riddler, this is Outlaw,” Gabe said. “Are you in position? Over.”
Hmm, Riddler. Though Gabe seemed to have a sarcastic kind of humor, she’d already identified him as Outlaw, so the real team joker could be no other than Jude.
Gabe soon confirmed her suspicions, and that Jude and Reece were in place.
“So what are the other team nicknames?” she asked, particularly eager to find out what they called Hayden.
Hayden lowered his binoculars to look back at her. “Ace, Maverick, and Sidekick.”
“You seem to be a fearless adventurer, so you must be Maverick.”
“Touché.”
“And I just learned that Reece is a sharpshooter so she must be Ace.”
“Right again,” Gabe said.
“Then that leaves Abby as Sidekick.” Cady pondered that one. “I guess Sidekick means she’s there to help whenever needed, which I see in her, but that’s not really a good nickname for a leader like a sheriff.”
“Our names go way back to college days,” Hayden said. “Back then she didn’t show any desire to be a leader, but people change. Problem is, she’ll always be Sidekick to us, no matter what happens.”
Gabe leaned between the seats to look at Cady. “Impressive reasoning. Looks like you’ve already got us pegged.”
