Page 61 of Cassidy

At Bax’s confused expression, she said, “That’s a social media site for gamers.”

Bax nodded. “Okay. Go on.”

Miles swallowed hard, still avoiding his father’s gaze. “There were rumblings about this game making people rich. Like I said, Travis is a big name on Dorian, he’s wicked smart. Beats every game faster than anyone else, and there are a lot of gamers who resent him for that.” Miles paused, then said, “Travis bragged that he knew exactly how the game was being used to make money and that he was taking care of it.” Miles shrugged, then said, “After he made that post, he went silent on the site.”

Cassidy nodded as some of the puzzle pieces fell into place. “That explains why Travis was kidnapped, but we still need to understand how you got involved. Why were you at the Homerun bar?”

“Turk is a friend of mine,” Miles finally admitted. “We go way back to when Dorian was a relatively new site for gamers. He messaged me privately and said it was urgent that we get to Travis before he could ruin it for everyone. He said the game was incredible, and Travis didn’t know what he was talking about.”

“Wait a minute.” Cassidy held up a hand. “That doesn’t make sense. If Travis didn’t know what he was talking about, then there was no threat. No reason for you to get to Travis before he could ruin it.”

“Yeah, I said that to the Turk,” Miles admitted. “After a few messages back and forth, the Turk finally admitted the money-making scheme was for real and that he would make it worth my while to help him out.” He hesitated, then said, “I knew Travis from the Game and Go store. We shared screen names so we could play each other. I have to admit, he kicked my butt every single time.”

“Back to the money,” Cass pressed.

“Yeah, well, the Turk said we couldn’t discuss it online, only in person.” Miles still didn’t look at his father. “So I went out to meet with him.”

“How much did he offer you?” Bax asked. Cass wondered if he was regretting making the deal now that he knew exactly what was involved.

“Five hundred thousand dollars.” Jina gaped in shock, but Cass tried to keep her expression neutral. “He convinced me I would be halfway to my million-dollar goal if I helped them out. So I, uh, agreed to bring Travis to meet Turk.” Miles finally looked up from the table, his gaze beseeching. “I swear I had no idea that Turk and his buddies intended to hurt anyone. I didn’t even know that the spyware was inserted into the software to illegally access their bank accounts.”

“What did you think?” Gordon suddenly demanded. He took them all by surprise when he cuffed his son on the back of his head. “You didn’t think at all, did you? How many times do I have to tell you that there’s no easy way to make money? Nobody gets rich sitting on their butt playing stupid games. The only way to get ahead in this world is by working hard! A concept you can’t seem to comprehend.”

Miles hung his head, looking miserable.

“Okay, so you agreed to bring Travis to Turkow,” Cassidy said, getting them back on track. “Where did that meeting take place? Who was there, and which one of you hit Gabe Melrose in the head?”

Before Miles could answer, the interview room door burst open. Gabe rushed in, holding a laptop in his arms. The fact that Rhy hadn’t stopped him indicated he’d uncovered key intel to the case.

“Is this Turkow?” Gabe dropped the machine in front of Miles. “Is that the guy who has Travis?”

“Yeah, that’s the Turk,” Miles admitted. “I didn’t know his first name was David, but that’s him.”

Gabe lifted his gaze to hers. “I found him via the intel on the van. Now that we have a positive ID, I’ll run a search on all known properties. From there, we should be able to get a search warrant.”

“Go for it,” she said. “Get what we need. I’ll join you as soon as we’re finished here.”

She sensed Gabe wanted to argue, but he turned away without saying anything. A surge of satisfaction hit hard.

They had a viable lead. She felt certain that David Turkow would lead them directly to Travis.

Please, Lord Jesus, keep Travis safe in Your care!

ChapterFourteen

It didn’t take long to search for property belonging to David Turkow. Not only did Gabe discover the guy’s father owned the Homerun Restaurant and Bar that was currently listed for sale, but Scott Turkow also owned a warehouse that wasn’t far from the location where he’d been dumped the night he’d sustained his head injury.

Using the map application, Gabe zoomed in on the building. Seeing the warehouse up close brought a cascade of memories.

He remembered being there that fateful night. Earlier that week, he and Travis had been in contact about the Sorcerer’s Sword game. His brother had identified the anomaly, and they’d worked together to uncover and identify the malware. Gabe’s plan was to take the information to the feds the following morning, but later that night, Travis had called in a panic claiming he was in danger and asked Gabe to meet him with the information regarding the game’s operating system. Suspicious, Gabe had instead hidden the USB drive in his freezer, then called for a rideshare to head out to meet his brother.

Then Travis had called again, saying not to come because it was a trap. Gabe had ignored the warning since he was already near their designated meeting spot. He’d been glad to see Travis’s blue Corvette parked in front of the warehouse. He’d intended to sneak up to see what was going on when he’d been ambushed. A group of men had rushed out of the building. One, no, two including Miles had held Travis back while the other two hit him with a brick. The last thing he remembered was Travis’s panicked expression.

A chill snaked down Gabe’s spine as he remembered how scared Travis had been. Like fearing his life was over for good scared. The past twenty-four hours proved these guys were ruthless. He understood now that they knew he’d retained a copy of the malware. They’d searched him, taken his phone, wallet, and everything he had on him. But he hadn’t brought the USB drive, and his foresight in hiding it had put a crimp in their plan. He suspected they hadn’t killed him that first night because they figured they’d find the USB drive in his house and would grab it and be done.

Except they hadn’t found it in the freezer.

With an abrupt movement, he pushed away from the computer, snagged the USB drive along with his coat, and left the precinct through the side door.

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