Chapter 6 #2
Rowan was working on his laptop, and Knox and Jason were meeting someone on the main island of Morghana, in Morghana City.
That errand was a ferry ride away, so she'd enjoyed blissful silence in Room 336 while she studied every movement of each person entering and exiting Byron's property behind Henrik's shop.
Some of it was actually interesting. Today reminded her that this was something she loved about her job.
Staring at hand gestures, foot movements, and facial expressions for hours might not be most people's idea of a good time, but she found it fascinating.
The door lock clicked. Knox and Jason walked in carrying coffees.
"Ooooh. Coffee. You read my mind." She paused the footage she was studying. Jason looked content, happy even, so it was probably safe to ask about Tayla. "Jason, how's Tayla doing?"
He grinned. "The Grayhouses are hiring bodyguards for her. She didn't want them around 24/7 so she's moving into the room at the end of our hallway—the one we're not using. The bodyguards will escort her when she's running errands around the islands. And—"
"And you'll keep her safe here?" Knox asked. He placed a hand over his heart with exaggerated seriousness. "And you're only thinking of her safety. Sacrificing your personal time and energy to ensure—"
"Knock it off." Jason's eyes smiled, but he also looked like he would have thrown something at Knox if his hands weren't full of coffee.
"Just messing with you, man. It makes sense. We have a more secure setup here."
"Yeah. That was the idea."
"Well, I'm glad," Allie said. "I've been looking forward to meeting her."
"You'll love her," Knox said. "She's great." His gaze traveled to her monitor. "Hey, you find anything?"
She felt herself smile. "Yes, I did." She looked at Jason. "You'll want to see this."
Knox handed her a lidded coffee cup. "White chocolate mocha with nonfat milk? Did I get it right?"
He remembered. She tried not to blush. "Yes, that's right. Thanks." She took a sip, grateful for the sweet pick-me-up, and waved Jason and Knox over to the computer she'd been using.
"Just a sec." Jason looked at Rowan. "Any luck on the other two guys from the drone footage?"
Rowan shrugged. "No. Can't find anything on those two. They probably haven't been arrested anywhere. No hits on the guys from Henrik's footage either."
"Okay. Did Drakos send you the security footage of his meeting with Mr. Kendall?"
"Yeah, but I got it about one minute ago. I haven't started on that yet."
"That's fine. Keep me updated." He handed Rowan his lidded cup.
Rowan sniffed the top of his beverage. "What is this?"
Jason shrugged and pointed to Knox. "He ordered."
Knox grinned. "Spiced Caribbean Latte. Try it. It's good."
Rowan quirked one eyebrow. "What's in it?"
"A double shot of espresso. A bunch of spices . . . I don't know. Just try it." He sipped from his cup. "It's what I ordered."
Allie stifled a laugh at Rowan's expression. He looked suspicious of the drink until Knox said he'd ordered the same thing. Then, like a boy eager to be included in what the big-kids were doing, Rowan appeared thrilled with the espresso drink.
"Don't chug it, Rowan," she said. "It's espresso. Sip it. Enjoy it."
He nodded, and she hoped she hadn't sounded too bossy. Knox was right—it was hard not to treat him like a kid sometimes.
Jason walked over to Allie's makeshift workstation and gestured for Rowan to join them. "Come over here. You need to see this too. Allie is going to show us what she found."
He shuffled to her desk with his cup still pressed to his lips.
"Actually," Allie offered Rowan what she hoped was an encouraging smile, "Rowan made the first interesting observation about the men at the warehouse."
Rowan narrowed his eyes, clearly unsure what she was referring to. "Huh?"
"About the timing. When they came and went."
"Oh, yeah." He straightened and held his head a little higher. "They're spending the night there. The four guys we see most often in the video. They switch out guard duty. And sometimes they leave the warehouse during the day for a while, but all four of them are there overnight."
"Yes." Allie nodded. "And look at this." All three men huddled around her desk chair to get a view of the monitor.
She grabbed the mouse. "Let me go back a bit.
" She clicked through to an earlier video.
"Okay, here." She pointed to two men walking in the warehouse parking lot.
"These are two of the four men staying at the warehouse.
" She skipped to another image. "And these are the other two.
We don't know what goes on inside, but they guard the outside in shifts. "
Knox rubbed his jaw. "A four-man security team. Interesting."
"Yes. And all four of them wear jackets. Which doesn't mean much if they were wearing a suit or sport coat because the occasion called for it, but their look is very casual. So, the jackets make no sense in this warm climate unless you need to conceal a weapon."
"Or two," Knox added.
"Yeah," Allie said. "They look intense. I wouldn't underestimate them."
She clicked through a few more images. "At least one of them stays outside the whole time, guarding the door. Then, at least four times a day, one of them guards the door while the other walks around the building and the small parking area."
Jason nodded. "Interesting. So, any images of what they're guarding?"
"No. Three times in the past three weeks, the footage shows a U-haul-type truck driving to the loading dock area on the side of the building and parking for several minutes.
" She clicked on an image of the truck. "It backs up to the loading dock and parks.
But at that point, all we can see is the front of the truck, not what they are unloading. Assuming they're unloading something."
Rowan spoke up. "I tracked the truck to and from the ferry, but I don't have video access any farther without linking up to satellites." He focused his wide eyes on Jason like a puppy hoping for a treat.
Jason waved off the unspoken request. "I can't swing that yet. That's more imminent-danger-level stuff." He refocused on Allie. "Okay, what about people? Who else shows up?"
Allie felt herself grin. "That's the fun part." She clicked on an image of a man walking to the door of the warehouse dressed in slacks and a dress shirt, wearing a gold chain necklace. "This guy shows up only twice in the past three weeks. He seems important."
"We don't have an ID?" he asked Rowan.
Rowan shook his head. "Not yet. Working on it. Got a good image of that gold necklace, so I'm trying to work with that too."
"Good idea," Jason said.
"And the only thing I can tell you is that he makes the guards nervous," Allie said.
"How do you know that?" Rowan asked.
"I'm only sure because I looked through so much footage over the last few hours to get a baseline.
The guards have similar nonverbal cues on all the other days.
But when this guy drives up, their nonverbal cues change.
Their posture stiffens. Their gait is shorter.
This one," she pointed to the taller guard, "noticeably works his jaw.
And the other one keeps his fingers close together.
He even keeps his arms pressed to his sides.
But they only display this body language right before Gold Chain—that's what I named this guy—shows up. "
"Okay, but . . ."
All eyes turned to Rowan. But he looked afraid to finish his statement.
"It's okay, Rowan," Allie said. "I know you were looking over the footage as well. Did you find anything else?"
"Um." He rubbed the back of his head. "It's just that the guy in the lighter jacket messes with his hair in several of the videos. And I thought that made him look nervous. But the Gold Chain guy doesn't come on those days. Isn't that a nervous thing? Him messing with his hair like that?"
Allie was impressed. "Good eye, Rowan. And you're not wrong. But you have to look at everything in context. Gold Chain never shows up on the days that guy seems obsessed with his hair, but did you notice who does show up?"
His eyes narrowed. "Not really. I just saw the pizza delivery."
Allie grinned. "The pretty pizza delivery girl. The same pizza delivery girl every time. And she always walks inside the warehouse for several minutes when she makes a delivery."
His brow furrowed. "So, he was just nervous about a girl?"
"It's a different kind of nervous. That's why his body language is different when Gold Chain shows up."
"Huh," was his only response.
"You're learning from the best, Rowan," Jason said. "And now we need you to work your magic. Keep looking for Gold Chain, and see what you can find on Kendall."
"On it," Rowan said, looking eager to return to his realm of expertise.
Jason turned to Knox and Allie. "The phone number Henrik gave you—is it a landline?"
"Yeah," Knox said. "And that's the only number he gave us."
Allie watched the worry in Jason's eyes spread to his tightened jaw.
"You think Henrik is in danger?" She asked.
Jason gave a slow nod. "If Byron has any idea how much footage he has of them, he could be pressing his luck.
" He pointed to the frozen footage on Allie's screen.
"We don't have any evidence of a crime being committed.
But we do have faces and routines. I don't know what Byron is up to yet, but those guards prove they don't want anyone looking too close.
" He scratched his jaw. "Honestly, I don't understand why they haven't done something about Henrik's cameras before now. "
Knox laughed. "That's because you haven't seen this guy's operation. He thinks he's some kind of secret agent or something. These cameras," he pointed to the monitor, "are well-hidden."
Jason looked like that was hard for him to believe. "Seriously?"
"Hey, I'm not saying they wouldn't find them if they looked for them, but they're not obvious. And 'Pelican Rentals'—which does not rent pelicans, by the way—looks harmless at first glance. If Henrik hasn't tipped them off, Byron probably isn't paying him any attention."
Jason resumed his slow nod. "I'd agree with you, but those four guards concern me.
" He waved a finger between Allie and Knox.
"You two pay Henrik another visit. I'd say call him, but if Byron is worried about what he knows, they may be tapping his phone.
Tell him to be careful. And tell him not to touch any of his cameras.
If Byron hasn't noticed them yet, then we all got lucky.
We don't want them watching Henrik adjusting or repairing a camera facing their property. "
Knox gently shook what was left of his Caribbean Spiced Latte. "Good thing Henrik is next door to a coffee shop. I'm going to need some more caffeine."
Jason took a sip of his coffee and shooed them away with his free hand. "Go on. Let me know what he says."
Knox gave a mock salute. "Will do."
Allie grabbed her tote and her coffee and followed Knox to the door. She hoped Jason was being overcautious. Henrik was quirky, but he didn't deserve to be in danger. Hopefully, he would heed their advice.