Page 121 of Daddy's Trust
“Everyone’s a critic,” Cash said as he dipped his spoon into the oatmeal and took some. Gross.
Addie spooned some in.
“Thanks,” she said to Butch.
“No talking,” Cash reminded her.
She nodded and they all ate quietly. Cash added some sugar to his, ignoring the look Ralen gave him.
Butch’s phone went off, and he opened the laptop that had been sitting in front of him. He turned it so they could all see, before standing and moving behind Dotty.
Brody and Ink appeared on the laptop screen.
“Morning, everyone. Sleep okay?” Ink asked.
There were several shrugs and tired sighs.
“That good, huh? I don’t blame you. I have some news, though. The police talked to hotel security and they weren’t willing to just hand over their video footage. So they are asking a judge for a warrant. Hopefully, they will be able to pinpoint who trashed your hotel room and left that message. Brody has been looking into Vextar. He can’t find anything about him, which indicates that it’s a false name. I’ve got some of my guys asking around about him, but everyone has been clamming up as soon as they hear his name, which is a big red flag.”
“He’s a bit of a ghost, to be honest,” Brody said. “But if we get a good image of his face, we might be able to do some facial recognition. Monroe worked with Greer to create an image, but she didn’t think it really looked that much like him.”
“Jackson took a photo of it,” Ink said. “I still think the cops must have heard of him or they wouldn’t have questioned Monroe so much at the police station.”
“I just don’t understand one thing,” Monroe said. “If this was Vextar and he left that message in the hotel room, why come after us at the airport as we were leaving?”
“It has to be those photos that you put up,” Brody said. “I’ve been studying them, but so far I can’t figure out what it is about them that would have him sending men after you. Other than the fact that you can see a part of his face. However, it’s not enough for facial recognition.”
“Who is this guy that he’s able to send people after Monroe? Do you think he belongs to some gang?” Dotty asked.
There was silence as everyone took that in.
Monroe groaned and buried her face in her hands. “Trust me to marry some gang leader.”
“How did they know we were at the airport, though?” Dotty asked.
“I think I know that,” Monroe said, raising her hand and looking guilty. “I was having a look through my messages just before, and you know how my phone dropped out of my hand yesterday? In the airport parking garage when I nearly walked out in front of that car?”
“Yes,” Cash replied. “Why?”
“Well, I happened to notice that a message I’d been writing actually got sent through to Vextar. I’ve sent him lots of messages, and he hasn’t replied to any of them. When you ring him, his phone just goes voicemail. It’s not like I ever thought he was even reading them. But I had written one that I didn’t intend to send.”
“What did it say?” Ralen asked.
“I hope you’re happy. We’re going home now. I never want to see you again.”
“Oh, shit,” Dotty said.
“So that’s how he guessed you were at the airport,” Ralen said, running his hand over his face.
“Yes, I’m really sorry.”
“It’s all right,” Ink told her. “Better that they came after you here rather than back home where you wouldn’t have us.”
Cash noticed that Addie had put her spoon down. She’d barely touched her oatmeal. Her hand was rubbing her tummy. Was she feeling ill because of everything that they were talking about, or was it her period?
“Eat your breakfast, Stowaway,” he whispered.
That wasn’t too bad, right? He hadn’t called her little girl or baby.
