Page 42 of Cassidy

“Hey, heard you’re having memory issues.” Roscoe turned to glance at Gabe. “I’m sorry to hear that. And that you’ve been targeted by gunfire.”

“Thanks.” Gabe’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I hate knowing Gary’s place was damaged because of me.”

“The shooter is responsible, not us,” Cass said quickly. “None of this is your fault.”

“I don’t know,” Gabe said in a low voice as he stared blindly out the window. “I feel like it is. That I somehow started this mess but can’t remember how or why.”

She exchanged a long look with Roscoe, not knowing how to reassure him. Even if Gabe did somehow set these events in motion, she was convinced there was a good reason.

Too bad they were no closer to figuring out what exactly that entailed.

“Do you want another rental car?” Roscoe asked, drawing her attention from her troubled thoughts. “Everyone is planning to meet back at the precinct to debrief.”

Did they need another rental car if Steele was bringing the one Flynn had already gotten for them? Probably not. “Heading back to the precinct is a good idea for safety reasons.” She frowned. “I really wish the safe house was available.”

“Yeah, I hear you.” Roscoe shrugged. “We’ll figure something out.”

She didn’t point out that so far their efforts had been in vain. Then again, she wasn’t sure what they could have done differently. It had never occurred to her that Gabe’s mother’s phone could be tracked through her home network to the American Lodge. She twisted in her seat to look at Gabe. “I thought the reason we use passwords on our home security networks is to prevent people from hacking into them?”

“It is,” Gabe said, “but nothing is foolproof.”

“But if that’s the case, how do we prevent hacking?” She scowled. “You’re making it sound as if anyone can get access into our private homes.”

“Not easy,” he said, “but not impossible either. Keep in mind, Travis is missing.”

Now she understood. “You think Travis could have given the bad guys the password to the network.”

“Yes. Or one of his techy friends already had it.” Gabe’s expression turned grave. “I’m worried Travis is working against us on this. That he somehow got in over his head with some really bad actors.”

She wasn’t sure how to respond. She wanted to believe they’d find Travis alive and well and not doing anything illegal. “Either way, we’ll find him.”

Gabe frowned. “I hope so.”

They arrived at the precinct at quarter past four in the afternoon. Past shift change, but she knew from experience Rhy would work as late as needed.

Roscoe parked next to the rental. The three of them climbed out and headed inside. The rest of the team was already assembled in the conference room.

“We’re not sure what the shooters motives were,” Steele was saying as they entered. “I suspect the feds will be all over this.”

Rhy nodded. “I spoke to my brother Brady; he’s got their tech expert Ian Dunlap digging into the shooter’s background. He’ll let me know when they find something.”

“Why do I get the feeling that’s a task I should be doing?” Gabe asked as they sat in the three empty seats.

There was a pause before Rhy said, “I probably would have asked for your help, but these shootings are being investigated as domestic terrorism, which means the feds would be involved no matter what.”

Cassidy could tell that Gabe was upset at not being able to help, so she redirected the conversation. “Gabe was explaining to me that his mother’s home internet security could have been breached by the bad guys, and that’s how we were tracked to the American Lodge.”

Rhy’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? How is that even possible?”

She was glad she wasn’t the only clueless one. She waved at Gabe, indicating he should explain.

“The easy answer is that Travis or one of his friends gave out the password. But the truth is any network can be hacked. And Travis’s home may have been targeted on purpose in a cyberattack.”

“Great, another thing to worry about,” Brock muttered. “As if we don’t have enough violence on the street, now we have to worry about cyberattacks.”

“Cyberattacks have always been a problem,” Joe said. “But until now they hadn’t been used to target law enforcement activities.”

There was another moment of silence as that sank in.

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