Fay's Six

CHAPTER5

Walker stoodat the edge of his bed and contemplated the sleeping arrangement. His king-size bed could certainly accommodate him and Fay easily. The only problem with that scenario was he wouldn’t sleep a wink.

He’d toss and turn and be uncomfortable thinking about the sexy body lying next to him.

His other option was the floor, which wasn’t any better.

The door from the master bathroom squeaked open and Fay strolled into the bedroom wearing a pair of boxers and a tank top.

No bra.

He groaned.

It would help if she wore her long dark hair down so it could at least cover her breasts. Thankfully, the shirt was dark in color.

Fuck. Right now, he wasn’t a much better man than Lee.

“I heard from Tuck,” Fay said with her head down and her fingers tapping on a tablet. “He found absolutely nothing of interest on either parent. Completely clean. But he did say that after he started digging, Pete’s name came up in cross-reference to a different case.” Fay fluffed one of the pillows and plopped on the left side of the bed.

“What case was that?” Awkwardly, he climbed in next to her, sitting cross-legged. “Does it involve any of our players?”

“Do you know anyone by the name of Chris Carroll?” She peered over the electronic device.

“I don’t. Why?”

“He’s been flagged by the feds for working for the Javi drug cartel out of Arizona,” she said. “They don’t have enough on him to do anything. Yet. But they are watching, and he just became a partner in Pete’s failing insurance company.”

“That’s a little suspicious.” Walker leaned closer to get a better look at her screen. “Sounds like a money laundering operation.”

“When people are late with payments, what does Craig usually do?”

“Mostly he takes what he believes he’s owed. Cars. Houses, since he’ll often take a lien out on them. There have been reports of broken bones, burned buildings, stolen items, more threats, but there’s never been a murder or a kidnapping.”

“That you know of.”

“Fair point.” Walker leaned back and stretched out his legs. “For some reason, people in this town don’t see Craig as the horrible person that he is, but as a businessman who is slightly opportunistic.”

“People tell themselves all sorts of things to justify either turning a blind eye or justifying their own behavior.” She jutted her chin in the direction of the door. “Take our friend in the other room. I almost feel sorry for him. Something must have happened to him in the past to make him resent women in power so much.”

“Or he was just raised that way.” Walker turned. “My mom was a real go-getter, and my dad supported everything she did. He also encouraged my sister, sometimes to the point I wondered if I was chopped liver.”

“Are you telling me you were jealous of Tammy?”

“Not at all,” Walker corrected. “I admired and respected her. She was my hero. I often wished I could be more like her, but my point is I was raised understanding how much harder it was going to be for Tammy than it was for me. She needed all the pats on the back and all the support my family could give her because the choices she made in life meant she was going to have to constantly fight for respect to be taken seriously. Me? Well, being a SEAL was a tough-ass job and the training to get there was no picnic. We both know that sometimes the Navy’s philosophy is to tear someone down and then build them back up. However, we also both know how much easier it was for me because I’m a man.”

“Amen to that.” She reached out and patted his leg. Her hand lingered for a long moment before she rolled over and set her tablet on the nightstand. “Do we know where Pete went after he left the casino?”

“After he had that brief meeting with Craig, he went to the police station to give them a hard time. Then he drove out to where they found his son’s cell phone and wandered around until it got dark. He’s at home now and one of Sparrow’s officers is watching him.”

“I don’t think he’s our guy,” Fay said.

Walker had to agree. “I’m really struggling to make this connection to Craig, even with adding the possible money laundering. That’s just leverage Craig’s using because Pete couldn’t pay him back. But that also doesn’t mean Craig wouldn’t hold Pete’s kid hostage.”

“But if that’s the case, why not tell Pete? And what else exactly does Craig want from Pete? I don’t see the motivation if he’s already got someone in his business.”

“I agree. While all this is connected by the players, it’s not why Levi is missing.” Walker jumped to his feet and made his way to his dresser where he’d tucked the cold case files in a drawer. “There are ten missing boys that were never found. The last one went missing six years ago. This is where we need to focus right now, and I might have found one thing that ties all ten cases together with Levi’s.”

“What’s that?”

“Every boy that went missing left their cells behind.”

“I don’t think that’s a big clue.” She crossed her ankles and rested her hands on her midriff. “They could have tossed it trying to ask for help. Or the killer-kidnapper could have tossed it as well.”

“All possible, but all were found too close for comfort for me. Look at these.” He pulled out a couple of images from selected files and handed them to Fay. All the phone records were pulled and it was determined that the ability to ping locations was turned off the day each boy disappeared for a period of time before it was turned back on and subsequently found within a fifty-mile radius.”

“That is interesting.” She took the files from his hands. “But maybe the victims were trying to save battery for some reason.”

“Every single one of them? No. That’s too much of a coincidence. Either they were doing it because they thought it would somehow help them be found, or the kidnapper did, which I haven’t figured out why he or she would do that yet.” He sat on the side of the bed. “Pinging the last location of the cell was how the phones were found. But it’s the location that’s bothering me.” He tapped one of the pictures.

“The phones were found relatively close to town. The furthest was about fifty-six miles; the closest was only twelve. They were all found with other identifying information like a license, credit card, clothing. Doesn’t that feel almost staged to you?”

“Maybe a little. What does Sparrow think?”