Page 35 of Cassidy

“How should I know?” She was getting angry again. “You did this, Gabe. I just know you’re responsible for Travis disappearing. I need you to fix it!”

“I’ll do my best,” he said.

“That’s not good enough! I want you to promise you’ll bring Travis home. Promise me!”

“Mom, I will do everything humanly possible to find Travis. I won’t make promises I can’t keep. Thanks for calling me back.” With that, he pushed the end button and tossed the new phone on the table.

Thankfully, his mother didn’t call him back to continue ripping into him. He already felt more battered and bruised after that call than he had waking up in the snow last night.

“That was awful,” Cassidy said in a low tone. “I’m so sorry she treated you so terribly.”

“She’s distraught.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I guess I can’t blame her for being worried about her son.”

“She has two sons, Gabe. Two!” Cassidy’s blue eyes sparked with anger. “And she has no right to treat you like garbage.”

He shrugged. “I can’t change her attitude. All I can do is focus my efforts on finding Travis. And it sounds like I was the last one to talk to him.”

She reached out to take his hand. “I heard most of the conversation but not all of it. Did she overhear you talking to Travis?”

He thought back through the painful conversation. “No, she said he was planning to return my call. They argued over us being in touch, then she saw him on the phone as he headed out to his car.” He frowned. “He may have called me. Or left a message.”

“If that was at three thirty, he would have had to leave a message because you were at the precinct until five,” Cassidy said.

“Okay, that helps.” The timeline of Travis’s last movements was starting to take shape. “Travis left home at three thirty in the afternoon. Maybe he went to a friend’s house because we hadn’t connected yet. At some point, we must have talked and met up on the deserted road near the Wildflower Motel.”

“Maybe he drove all the way to your house,” Cassidy suggested, “and that’s why your car was in the garage.”

“It’s possible, but I don’t understand why Travis would hit me on the head and leave me outside in the cold. And where is he now?”

“Let’s touch base with Rhy. Maybe he has more information regarding the BOLO for the Corvette.” She pulled out her new phone. “A sweet ride like that shouldn’t be too difficult to find.”

He nodded, still feeling as if he’d been trampled by a herd of wild horses. He struggled to remember if Travis had been at his house, but he couldn’t summon a single memory.

Hard to blame his mother for not believing him.

Dejected, he closed his eyes.Please, Lord Jesus, help me remember!

“Okay, thanks, Rhy,” Cassidy said. “I’ll let Gabe know.”

He opened his eyes, wondering what he’d missed.

Her expression softened, and she took his hand again. “Sorry, Gabe, but there’s been no sign of the Corvette. Based on finding Travis’s phone earlier today, they’ve now broadened the search to include all of metropolitan Milwaukee, Madison, and every city in between. As far as Travis’s phone records, Rhy is still waiting on them. Cameron is hoping to get them within the hour.”

“That’s good.” He tried but couldn’t summon a smile. “I really hope Travis is okay. That if he’s involved, he’s physically fine.”

“We’ll pray for him.” She tightened her grip on his hand and bowed her head. “Dear Lord Jesus, keep Travis safe in Your loving arms. Guide us as we search for the truth. Amen.”

“Amen.” He didn’t release Cass’s hand as he looked deep into her beautiful blue eyes. “Thank you. For everything.”

“We’re in this together,” she assured him. Then she surprised him by leaning forward to brush a light kiss on his cheek. “We’ll find him, Gabe.”

He shouldn’t have been so moved by her kiss, not when his half brother was missing. But he was. Oddly, between the prayer and her caress, he felt stronger. Letting her go wasn’t easy, but he straightened and turned back to the computer. “This code has to be important, but darned if I can figure out how.”

“I wish I could help, but the only code I know is the one to get into my condo.” She gestured to the screen. “You mentioned this was likely code to an operating system. I assume it’s clean? By that I mean not infected by a virus?”

He frowned, considering her question. The virus that had been unleashed on the precinct system could be related to this mystery code. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

He decided to start at the beginning, looking at it with fresh eyes. With an effort, he pushed the contentious conversation with his mother out of his mind.

---