Page 28 of Cassidy

She shrugged. “Maybe you mostly text each other. He lives in Madison, after all.”

“True.” Gabe passed the phone back to Steele again. “Thanks. I appreciate the assistance.”

“Anytime.” Steele assured him.

Their meals arrived, and her stomach grumbled so loudly at the enticing scent of her grilled chicken sandwich and cream of mushroom soup that Steele and Gabe snickered.

She shrugged off the embarrassment. She glanced at Steele, who took the lead in saying grace.

“Dear Lord Jesus, we thank You for this food, and we ask that You keep Travis and all of us looking for him safe in Your care. Amen.”

“Amen,” she and Gabe echoed.

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Even Gabe seemed to be enjoying his meal, despite his missing half brother.

Finding Travis’s destroyed phone had been a setback, but she knew it was entirely possible that Travis had done the deed himself. To cover his tracks in some way. Not that Travis had looked capable of slamming Gabe in the head and leaving him along the deserted road, but maybe someone Travis had teamed up with.

Was this really related to a video game? Despite Gabe’s comments about the possibility, she found it hard to believe. Corporate espionage, maybe. One company stealing technology from another.

But if that was the case, why on earth would a kid like Travis be involved?

“I should talk to my mom,” Gabe said, breaking the silence. “I know Cameron is interviewing her, but I should talk to her too.”

She shrugged. “That’s fine with me. But let’s wait until we get back to the precinct. I’m sure Rhy has her number. And it’s best to use a different phone other than yours.”

“Does the fact that your phone was wiped mean that we won’t get anything from your phone records?” Steele asked.

Gabe grimaced. “Probably. It depends on when the sanitization happened, but I’m sure that was last night.”

Steele sighed. “That’s a bummer.”

Gabe finished his meal and pushed his plate aside. “Here are the next steps we should take. First, I reach out to my mom to see what she knows. It’s possible she’ll tell me something she might hold back from the police. Especially if she thinks Travis might get in trouble for whatever he’s been doing.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “I think the best thing I can do to get to the bottom of this is to focus on the data we recovered from the USB drive I hid in my freezer. I must have put it there for a good reason.”

“That sounds like a plan.” She finished her sandwich and soup, feeling better to have something in her stomach. “It seems logical that the bad guys tossed your place to get that information.”

“I agree.” Steele pulled out his wallet and signaled for the bill. “Meanwhile, we can ask for Travis’s phone records. Maybe they haven’t been wiped clean.”

“I think Rhy may have already asked for them,” Cassidy said. “That’s protocol when investigating a missing person.”

“Let’s get back to the precinct, then,” Gabe said, waving a hand impatiently. “I want to get started on that data.”

He was acting like his usual self, so much so that she had to remind herself that his memory hadn’t fully recovered.

They had to wait for their server to return. She finally arrived with the bill, looking harried. “I hope everything was good?”

“Great, thanks.” Gabe barely spared her a glance, making it clear he wanted to get out of there.

Steele paid in cash, leaving a generous tip. Cassidy was the last to get out of the booth, following both men as they made their way outside.

By force of habit, Steele paused at the doorway, peering through the glass before pushing the door open. Gabe stood back to allow her to go next. She gave him a reassuring smile as she headed out to the SUV.

“I’ll take the keys,” Steele said with a grin. “Not that you’re a bad driver or anything,” he hastily added. “But it is my vehicle.”

“Whatever.” She tossed them to him. To her surprise, Gabe climbed into the back seat, leaving her the front.

A minute later, they were back on the road, heading east toward Milwaukee. She wondered again if the meeting point near the Wildflower Motel was viewed as some sort of halfway point between Gabe’s home in White Gull Bay and Travis’s house in Madison.

“Uh, Cass?” Tension lined Steele’s tone as he abruptly hit the gas. He then flicked the switch to activate the red and blue light bar on top. “We have company.”

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