Page 52 of Lost Cause
Abby turned to the couple who’d been silently standing by. “Thank you for your help and have a safe trip to the mainland.”
Sylvia eyed her. “And thank you for your trust in believing we would leave on our own without needing someone to babysit us.”
Abby didn’t take the bait and respond to Sylvia’s sarcasm but watched them walk the short plank to the gate and then stop at a card reader. They each swiped passes.
Passes? Duh! Why hadn’t Abby remembered seeing passengers use them on the ferry? She didn’t have to take Sylvia and Ugo’s word for whether or not they’d spent the night onthe island. She just had to get eyes on the ferry logs. Sure, if they’d taken a water taxi home, there wouldn’t be a record of their return trip to the mainland for that day, but the program would’ve recorded one back to the mansion the next time they worked. If they’d stayed on the island, that trip wouldn’t be recorded.
These logs should be a piece of cake for Hayden to get, and if Ugo or Sylvia lied about staying the night, Abby would have facts to call them out on their lies.
Abby remained in place until the ferry departed with the couple aboard, then jogged up to the house to share her lightbulb moment with Burke. She burst through the door, planning to jog to the library, but Gabe remained in the foyer, his phone in his hand.
He looked up. “I didn’t think you were coming back.”
“Why would I leave?”
He shrugged. “Maybe the creep factor of this place. The belligerent employees. The detective you seem to have a thing for.”
She rolled her eyes, but didn’t comment. “Are you coming to the team update?”
“Okay, ignore your feelings for him, but they won’t go away.”
She bit her lip to keep from gaping at her teammate. Gabe never talked about feelings.
“I know,” he said. “I don’t talk about this stuff, but I figure you should recognize when you’re fighting a losing battle. You two have something between you. It’ll eventually overcome your resistance.”
“You mean like you and El?” El—Elaina—Lyons was the local detective working for Mina. Anytime the two of them were in the same room sparks flew and shields went up on both sides.
Gabe glanced sideways before meeting Abby’s eyes. “Exactly like that, which makes me an expert on the subject.”
“Wow! I can’t believe you actually admitted your feelings for El.”
“Figured it’d help convince you that you were losing the battle.”
“This is a battle I think I can win,” she said, but wasn’t at all certain she was right.
“Then go for it and see how it works out for you.” Gabe got up. “As always, should you give this information to anyone else, I will disavow any knowledge of our interaction.” He laughed and headed for the door, his laughter trailing behind him.
She chuckled at his Mission Impossible reference, but he was serious about her keeping this information to herself. She would never betray his confidence, and she hoped she hadn’t discouraged him from sharing personal information in the future.
She caught up to him just as he stepped into the dining room and followed him through the door. Burke stood at the far end of the table, his phone pressed to his ear.
“Of course,” he said. “You got it.” He swiped his finger up the screen and set his phone on the table.
She grabbed her iPad and sat near him. “Everything okay?”
“Fine. Ryder wants to be sure I keep him updated. FYI, no other missing person’s investigations occurred when Estelle disappeared, so we can cross that off our list of items to follow up on.” He handed the journals to Gabe.
Gabe gave the stack of books a sour look. “Guess this means I’m still on babysitting duty.”
“Sorry,” Abby said. “But think of the potentially interesting reading you’re going to do.”
“Yeah, right. The most exciting thing I’ve read so far is about the ball Estelle hosted. She goes into crazy detail about what everyone’s wearing.” He rolled his eyes. “But hey, I get it. Someone has to do the job and why not me?”
“We appreciate it for sure.” Burke glanced at his watch. “We’re late for the three o’clock team update.”
Abby opened her iPad case. Telling him about the ferry computer passes would have to wait until after they met with her team.
“Wouldn’t be the first time we started late.” Gabe retrieved a laptop from his backpack.
