Page 161 of Daddy's Trust
Shoot.
Moment over. Reality was back.
43
When Addie and Cash stepped out of the bedroom, everyone turned to stare at them.
Addie knew she had to be bright red.
Dotty and Monroe were already sitting at the table with Brody. Ink was standing behind Brody, talking to Butch, while Ralen was making coffee.
Ink smiled at her, though, not looking surprised that she’d come out of the same room as Cash. “Hey, Addie. How are you doing? How’s the throat? I hear Hack came and had a look at it this morning.”
“He did?” Dotty asked, startled. “Wait, who’s Hack again?”
“My sister’s fiance,” Cash said. “He’s also a doctor. Or so he says.”
Ralen carried cups of coffee over to the table, and Addie sat down in the chair that Cash drew out for her. Ink picked up a cup of coffee and gave it a curious look. She wasn’t sure why.
But then he took a sip and she let it go.
Brody also seemed a bit startled when he glanced down at his laptop. Then he grinned, clearing his throat. That was an odd reaction. What was he looking at?
“Right. We have some updates,” Ink said.
“Please tell me it’s something that means we can get out of here,” Dotty urged.
Dottie sister looked stressed. Addie was worried about her and Monroe, who seemed so quiet, as though she’d withdrawn into herself.
They really needed to get home. Addie, too. As much as she liked to dream about staying, about belonging to Cash, she knew that wasn’t possible.
That had been made very clear to her.
“We have now confirmed that it was Vextar who broke into your hotel room,” Ink told them. “The police were able to get security footage from the hotel. Vextar was seen entering the lobby with another man, and then they both exited the elevator on the same floor as your room. The cameras also managed to capture them standing outside your room.”
Brody turned his laptop around to show them the screen. “We got a copy of the footage.”
“Detective Jackson might have some more questions, but I explained you’d only be answering them via video given what happened at the airport.”
Hmm. Addie wondered how happy the detective had been about that.
“Do you know who the other person with Vextar is?” Dotty asked, as they all studied the two men walking across the foyer of the hotel.
Vextar was a good-looking guy. She could see that even through the grainy image. The guy with him seemed smaller, and walked with a bit of a limp.
“Actually, we did run facial recognition, and so did the police, and we have figured out that he goes by the nickname, Limpy,” Ink said. “Not a terribly original nickname.”
“Or kind,” Addie said.
Cash placed his hand on her thigh and gave her a warning look.
“No, or kind. Mind you, Limpy isn’t known for his kindness. He’s abusive when it comes to women. His last three girlfriends filed complaints about him hitting them. But then they strangely retracted those statements.”
“So someone warned them off,” Dotty said. “This guy must have a real name.”
“Cliff Cummings,” Brody said. “Got a long rap sheet. Grew up in Billings. Not a member of any gang that we can figure out, but we think he might work for a few of them, or he’s associated with them anyway.”
“If anyone knows where he is, so far they’re not talking, but we’ve got some people out looking. He’s likely gone to ground,” Ink said. “But we probably have a better chance of finding him than we do of finding Vextar at the moment, since he’s still a ghost. We haven’t had any luck with facial recognition. Hopefully, we find someone who’s willing to sell out Limpy. And then he can lead us to Vextar.”
