Chapter 25
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T ucker wasn’t surprised that Brynn kept it together. She’d had plenty of practice in the past. Had he not looked for signs of stress, he’d have never noticed she was still upset. The slight tremor of her hands and the way she kept biting her bottom lip were barely noticeable.
It had been a good move to host dinner in Jess and Oliver’s apartment. It gave Brynn a chance to recover from the realization someone had been in her space She’d stay with him until they figured out their next move.
He loaded several cushioned bags holding cameras and equipment and an external hard drive she’d unearthed to replace the SSD drive. He studied the cases and wondered how much space she might need to move it all. They could convert his weight room into her office. There was room there for the cabinets in the living room. And the others in her bedroom could go in the garage.
The fact that he was thinking of a way for her to move into his house was…. It hadn’t been long enough for either of them to think about it, but she slipped into his life so easily. He enjoyed spending time with her. They liked some of the same things. She was open to learning new things. When he was busy, she didn’t bitch, but found things she needed to get done, so they had a working rhythm.
Even with her hair slicked back from the wetsuit hood and the furrows in her face from the mask, he wanted her. All he had to do was look at her and the need to carry her off to the nearest bed and lay claim… The way her sherry-colored eyes went dark when she was aroused…He was getting hard just thinking about it.
But it went beyond that. Since they’d been together, she’d lost some of that wariness in her gaze and stance. Still, she wasn’t as open with him as he wanted her to be. Her trip to Bryant’s office and the police station still bothered him.
The moment she’d leaned into him for comfort…there had been something in her face that had taken his breath.
Oliver appeared at the door and held it for Brynn while she exited the building. She turned to rest her hand on his arm and say something, then took her overnight bag from him. Her long, dancer-like stride carried her forward. Her postcard-sized purse strap draped across her body, and her laptop case hung off one shoulder. Her mane of caramel-streaked hair fell on either side of her beautiful, heart-shaped face.
Damn! He was crazy about her.
“I told Jess about what happened,” she said.
“I thought you might give her a heads-up. I asked Oliver to walk you down while I loaded the car.”
She nodded. “I didn’t want to say anything to Martin. He’s overwhelmed right now, but Jess said she and Oliver will keep an eye on him. The police said they’d meet me at my apartment and dust for prints tomorrow. I told them I was leaving with you and to call me when they needed to be let in. They’re looking at it that it was probably Tate who broke into my apartment.”
He took the laptop bag from her shoulder and pushed it between two camera bags. She shoved the overnight case into an empty slot.
He drew her in against him. “He’s going to be okay. The super repaired the doorknob and the lock, and Tate’s in jail. I think Martin may have planned to break up with Tate at the spa, hoping to avoid what happened.”
“You’re probably right. He’s been unhappy for a while now.” She seemed emotionally drained. And who wouldn’t be? She’d dealt with one issue after another all day. And they had more to talk about once they were at his house.
“I’ll be right behind you all the way home.”
“Okay.”
Once at the house, he had her park her car in the garage. “Your cameras will be safer inside, and you won’t have to unload any of it until you need it.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Once inside the garage, he got her overnight bag out of the car, opened the door leading into the kitchen, and stood back so she could proceed him.
He poured them both a glass of iced tea, even though he craved something stronger, and joined her in the living room. He hated to pile it on, but they needed to deal with things and make a plan. He waited until she’d taken a drink of tea and set the glass aside, then said, “I have to meet Jordan’s parents and brother at the Del for breakfast at zero-nine-hundred. I’ll only be a couple of hours. The service starts at fourteen hundred, but I’ll have to be there at least half an hour early. Think you’d be up for meeting me for lunch?”
She nodded and reached for his hand. “I’m sorry about your friend, Tucker.”
He looked away. “I am, too.”
“Is there anything I can do for you or your friend’s family?”
He shook his head. “No, but I appreciate you asking.” Shifting his attention back to her, he said, “Whoever stole the SSD may contact you about it, Brynn.”
Color flared across her face and, with it, anger. “I’ll tell them where to stick it, too.”
He grinned. She might have had the wind knocked out of her, but she still had some fight left. He was relieved to see it.
“Did you save the photos you’d enhanced onto the drive?”
“No. I save off-site every time I do something, but I back up everything once a week.”
So, they wouldn’t realize she’d enhanced the photos to make the man and woman visible. If they were able to access the photos on the drive in their original state, they’d think she had nothing. “I think we should check in with Ahmad and see if he has any more information.”
“I’ve been concerned about him since the night he showed up at my apartment,” she admitted.
He felt the same. “I’ll give him a call and see what’s going on.” He pulled out the burner phone and hit Ahmad’s contact number. The phone rang and rang, and finally, a man answered, his voice deeper and more heavily accented than Ahmad’s.
“This is Tucker Giles. Can I speak with Ahmad?”
“Ahmad has not been home in three days. We do not know where he is.”
Shit! Concern ricocheted through him. The man on the end of the phone seemed dismissive. “And he didn’t take his phone?” Tucker asked.
“When we returned home from work, his phone was here, but he was not.”
“Have you spoken to his boss?”
“Yes, his boss said he has not been to work.”
Tucker drew a deep breath. “Have you called the police and reported him missing?”
“No. If we did that, and he comes home, he may be deported.”
Jesus. Had they already killed him? Would his body wash up on the beach?
“Have you called his father to tell him he’s missing?” Tucker asked.
Silence stretched on the opposite end of the line.
“What is his father’s name?” Tucker asked, his tone more insistent.
“Siraj. Siraj Balil.”
“If Ahmad should call or come home, can you tell him I need to speak with him?”
“Certainly.”
The man hung up before he could say goodbye.
Tucker stared at the cell phone. Ahmad’s father was an attaché to a diplomat. If he contacted him, he could set the ball rolling at the embassy in Washington and then urge the embassy to contact the San Diego police to start looking for his son.
He turned to find Brynn watching him.
“They’ve taken him, haven’t they?”
“Not necessarily. He may be in hiding.” Even though he said it, he didn’t believe it.
“Not without his phone.” Her eyes looked a little glassy, her skin pale.
“He may have dumped the phone, thinking they might be able to track him through it.”
She bit her bottom lip.
“I’m going to make another phone call to see if I can get Ahmad’s father’s number.”
Brynn nodded. “I’ll go out and get my overnight bag.”
Tucker punched Sam’s number.
Sam answered his call immediately. “What’s up?”
“Do you remember Ahmad, the young guy who acted as a translator for us aboard the Sea Dragon in Saudi Arabia?”
“Yeah, I remember him.”
“He applied for a visa to come to CONUS to work here. Brynn and I ran into him a few weeks back. I called his phone today, and his uncle answered. He’s been missing for three days. They haven’t filed a police report.”
“Why not?”
“I think they’re afraid to get involved.”
“Exactly what would they be getting involved in?”
Leave it to Sam to cut to the heart of things. He took some time to explain how Brynn had done the shoot aboard the Aurora and how Ahmad had approached her, then him, with his suspicions about his co-worker and the men aboard the Titan.
“I told him to just monitor the situation from a distance and be careful.”
“Why were you calling him?” Sam asked.
“A woman’s body washed ashore a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to warn him to be careful. Brynn was taking a picture of our first ocean dive and captured a picture of the boat behind us. She used a program on the photo to enlarge and clarify it. A man aboard the cabin cruiser was attacking a woman in the photo. This happened a couple of days before the body was discovered.”
“Fuck!” Sam exclaimed.
“She dropped the photo off at the police station today.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. He didn’t want to go through explaining the whole Martin situation. “While she was at a friend’s apartment down the hall today, someone broke into her place and stole the backup drive she saves all her work on.”
Sam was silent for a moment. “What do you need?”
“Ahmad’s father works for the Saudi Arabian Ambassador in DC. I don’t believe the uncle I talked to has contacted him about the situation. I think he needs to know that his son is missing, but I don’t know how to contact him.”
“Let me make a call, and I’ll call you back. What’s his father’s name?”
“Siraj Bilal.”
“Where is Brynn?” Sam asked.
“She’s here with me. They didn’t take anything but the drive, but once they gain access to it, they may come calling.”
“You said the police have the pictures she took.”
“Yes, since about ten this morning. They may already be looking into the crew.”
“So, they may have been made aware there’s a potential witness,” Sam added.
“Roger that.”
“Shit, Gilly. What are you going to do?”
“Whatever I have to in order to keep her safe.”