Chapter 16
Tayla watched Rowan refill his Iron Man mug with Red Bull.
He noticed her attention. “Like I said, it’s a lucky mug.”
She smiled. “I like it. I’m not criticizing. It’s a cool mug.” She liked Rowan. He was smart and quirky, and she suspected he was pretty sensitive. “So, what makes your mug lucky?”
“That’s not really . . . it’s a long story.” He didn’t seem upset, but he wasn’t going to share.
“No problem. Didn’t mean to pry.” She noticed he’d changed into a different Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles t-shirt at some point that day. She wondered if the shirt was lucky too. But she was pretty sure she shouldn’t ask.
“Rowan?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m going to offer a little unsolicited advice.”
“Oh?” He sounded suspicious. Or maybe scared.
“There’s no need to feel offended when Leland calls you ‘kid.’ If he really thought you weren’t good at your job, he’d come right out and say it. He’s not shy about being brutally honest. Trust me. He respects your ability. He’d tell you if he didn’t.”
He looked a little uncomfortable with the topic, but she also sensed he appreciated her comments. “Thanks.”
“Leland just enjoys acting grouchy. Always has. I think he likes his crusty, tough exterior. It never fooled me. But I’ve known him my whole life. And I’m his niece, so I see a different side of him sometimes.”
The IT genius gave a slow nod. “Okay.”
“And I’m still getting to know Knox, but I’m pretty sure he’s not trying to disrespect you. He gives Jason a hard time as well, and they’re good friends.”
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation.
Eric Kitts identified himself, and Tayla opened the door for him.
Eric arrived sooner than she expected. He briefly checked in with Rowan, then spent the next several minutes apologizing to Tayla for everything she’d been through the past few days.
“I was shocked you came all the way out here to look for Leland. I wish you’d called me first.”
She glanced at the camera feeds on Rowan’s laptops. Nothing but an empty pier. “I realize that now. But, at first, I had no idea the men looking for Leland had anything to do with WhiteRock.”
Eric pushed a hand through his hair. “I know. I understand. But from now on, if you’re ever worried about Leland, will you please call me before chasing after him?”
“Of course.” Her response was polite, and automatic, but she wasn’t sure she meant it. Eric Kitts was hard to read. He seemed genuinely concerned about her, Leland, and the entire situation, but something was off about him.
But, to be fair, she wasn’t one of his employees. He probably wasn’t supposed to share too much with her. Maybe he was upset that Leland and Jason let her know as much as they did.
She took her seat next to Rowan so she could divide her attention between Eric and the camera feeds. If he had a problem with that, he would learn how stubborn she could be.
He didn’t react when she glanced at the screens. Good.
He cleared his throat. “And I’m so sorry about Gus. All of WhiteRock will grieve his passing, but I know he and Leland were especially close.”
“Yes, they were.”
“I know you knew him. I’m very sorry for your loss.”
He was definitely stressed about Gus’s passing. But she didn’t sense as much grief as regret . . . and something else . . . fear? That didn’t quite make sense.
“Hello,” Rowan said, staring at his laptop.
Talya’s and Eric’s attention jumped to the screens.
Two of the four cameras showed a partial view of a boat arriving at Rock Point Pier. A minute later, a third camera also showed a partial view.
“The Sea Queen,” Tayla said.
Eric leaned closer to the screens. “What?”
“The name on the boat. It says ‘The Sea Queen.’” She pointed to the name painted on the side of the boat.
“Oh. Huh. Well, it might be stolen, but we’ll look it up later.”
That’s when she sensed it. She couldn’t articulate exactly what it was, but Eric’s reaction to ‘The Sea Queen’ sent sirens blaring in Tayla’s head. Rowan seemed surprised at Eric’s response as well, but he didn’t say anything.
Suddenly, she didn’t feel safe around Eric. She didn’t know why. It was either gut instinct or an over-active imagination.
Frozen in her chair, all she could do was stare at the camera feeds and try to figure out whether or not she was losing her mind.
“Here we go,” Rowan said, zooming in on four men disembarking The Sea Queen.
About the same time, the cameras showed men walking up to the pier from the road. Rowan scrambled to zoom in, and, well, she wasn’t exactly sure what all he was doing with the images, but he was typing furiously on his keyboard.
“I’m going out there,” Eric announced. “Rowan, do you have extra comms?”
“Um, you mean to communicate with the team? No. We only brought four headsets.”
Eric held out his hand. “Give me yours then.”
Rowan’s face went slack. “Um, I won’t be able to—”
“I know. It’s fine. I need to be out there and I need comms.”
Eric’s words held so much finality that Rowan didn’t seem to know how to respond, except to slide the headset off and hand it to the director of WhiteRock.
Tayla’s confidence in Eric Kitts plummeted. “But if we see anything important on the cameras, we won’t—”
“Tayla, please.” His patronizing tone did him no favors. “I know you’re worried about Leland, but this isn’t your area of expertise.”
He grabbed the backpack he’d brought with him.
Everything about Eric felt unsettling. But she didn’t know what to say. She had zero authority in this situation, and no actual proof—beyond her gut feeling—that Eric was doing anything wrong.
She looked at Rowan. She knew he was working hard on . . . whatever he was doing, but she suspected he was intentionally avoiding eye contact with Eric and her.
She watched Eric walk to the door. “Jason also has a sat phone, in case—”
“Yes, I have the number.” He opened the door. “You two stay put. I’ll see you later.” The door shut. And a disturbing foreboding prickled her skin.
“Rowan?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know Eric very well. And I know I’m not a WhiteRock employee, but was that normal? Was he acting strange to you?”
Rowan’s fingers slowed on his keyboard. He paused a beat. “He’s my boss.”
“I know. And you’re being very professional. I just thought he was acting weird. Does it make sense that he took your headset? Now you can’t communicate with the guys if you see something on the camera they need to know about.”
Rowan looked uncomfortable for a micro-second, then shrugged. “He’s my boss.“ His typing resumed lightning speed.
She shouldn’t press him. He was young and probably a new employee. On this assignment, he reported to Jason, who reported to Eric, so Eric Kitts was actually his boss’s boss. She didn’t want to stress him out.
But she couldn’t help worrying about Eric deciding to drive out to the pier. And taking Rowan’s headset. Why had he acted so strange? Should she call Jason on the sat phone? And tell him what? That Eric gave off a weird vibe, then headed to the pier?
Nope. That sounded ridiculous.
She tried to focus on the men in view of the cameras. The men from the boat spoke briefly to six men who approached from the road. Then, all but two walked back to the road.
“Are those two staying behind to guard the boat? Maybe the others are going to the orphanage?” Tayla asked.
“Looks that way. We’ll know in a minute.”
That minute turned into four. But sure enough, the same men appeared on the orphanage camera feed.
“Okay,” Rowan said. “Now we know the location of the pier wasn’t a coincidence. They’re definitely after the stuff in the basement.”
A ding sounded on Rowan’s laptop. He opened a different tab and clicked around some more. Tayla focused on the other screens—until Rowan’s posture went taught.
“What’s wrong?”
“Whoa,” was all he said.
“What is it?”
“Um, the face recognition got a hit on one of the guys in Gus’s video. The man who met with the appraiser—his name is Dylan Kitts. According to this, he’s Eric Kitts’ cousin.”
So, she wasn’t being paranoid. Eric Kitts knew more than he was sharing. And he might be putting Leland, Jason, and Knox in more danger.
“Oh, no,” Rowan said.
“What is it?”
“That’s him,” he said, pointing to a slender man wearing a baseball cap in the surveillance video. “That’s Dylan Kitts on the pier right now.”
That explained Eric’s reaction. Partially.
“Do you know him?” Tayla asked.
“No. I didn’t even know he had a cousin. I’m just telling you what the search found.”
Tayla’s mind raced with all kinds of what-ifs. “Okay, hang on. At the very least, this confirms that the guy on Gus’s video, Dylan Kitts, is also at the pier tonight. He either hired Gus’s killer or knows who did.”
“And he’s the WhiteRock director’s cousin.” Rowan sounded miserable. “Look, Tayla, I’m an IT guy. I’m very good at what I do, but I . . . I don’t know what to do with this. I don’t understand what’s going on.”
“And you can’t radio Jason. That’s what you would be doing right now, right? If Eric hadn’t taken your headset?”
Rowan looked like he was going to be sick. “Yeah.”
“What we need to know is whether or not Eric is being upfront with Jason, Leland, and Knox about this right now. If he went to the pier to cover up his cousin’s involvement, they could be in danger.”
Tayla took out her cell phone. “I could call Jason on the sat phone.”
Rowan scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, that might work. But he’s not going to be looking at it if there’s stuff going on. And I guarantee you it’s muted.”
“Might as well try.” She retrieved the piece of paper Jason gave her on the first day—wow, that felt like weeks ago—and punched in the number. It rang for what felt like forever. No one answered. She knew she shouldn’t be surprised, but it made her worry even more.
She looked at her cell again, trying to decide what to do. “Maybe I should text Jason.”
“I wouldn’t text anything about Eric on the sat phone. That phone belongs to WhiteRock. Eric might try to use the phone tonight and see the text. He’d eventually see it at some point anyway.”