Page 64 of Forged in Secrets

Ben cleared his throat. “Thanks, man. I guess you’re right.”

“Always am,” Asher said, giving him a final friendly slap on the arm before brushing past him toward his own room.

Ben paused for a long moment as several older guys in business suits sauntered past, deep in a quiet conversation he couldn’t make out.

As soon as he was alone, he took a few steps, crossingthe distance to the window that looked out at the Mistflower Resort complex stretching out before him.

Despite his confidence in Patrick’s loyalty, even the hotel no longer felt safe. It was likely that Grace had been taken from her room somehow, and whoever had done it had pulled off the feat without being detected. Whoever they were up against clearly had even more power and resources than he’d first assumed.

Fortunately, he knew that FBS didn’t have to take on their enemies alone.

“Jesus, Grace loves You,” he started, clasping his hands together as he looked out at the darkening sky, thankful for the beauty of the place, despite everything. “And I know You love her even more. I beg You, watch over her tonight. Make sure she knows that we–that I–love her, and that we won’t give up on her, no matter what it takes. Grant me the wisdom to find the information I need to ensure her safety. Thank You, Lord Jesus. Amen.”

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FIVE

BEN

Aknock sounded at the door of the hotel room as Ben stared at the computer, his eyes roaming over the rows of text until the words all seemed to bleed together. It was after two in the morning, and he was already eager to procure a morning coffee.

He pushed himself to his feet and looked through the peephole before pulling the door open.

“Find anything?” he asked the waiting Asher, who had kicked off a sandal and was examining a nasty looking blister on his toe.

“No. I’m sorry. I must have talked to at least a hundred people,” he answered. “No one knows anything. I checked out the statue again, just in case, and then I went back to every place you’ve eaten since you guys landed here. And then a few more.”

“Thank you.”

Ben forced the words from his lips despite his rising frustration. South Padre was a small island, but not thatsmall, and his brother was clearly doing all he could to find her. The truth was, there was no one to blame.

Not yet, anyway. He feared what he might do to whoever had taken Grace when he figured it out.

“What about you?” Asher asked, pointing at the laptop and the separate monitor that sat on the plain hotel desk.

Ben shook his head. “I think Gabe’s confidence in me might be misplaced. I’ve been at it for hours, and so far, there’s no concrete answer. Whoever sent the email is very technically skilled.”

“Like someone from Craig Gorsky’s company,” Asher said. “Someone who works at Lumen would know how to spoof an email.”

“Or who to pay to do it,” Ben added. “Then again, so could someone from AveroTech, though I’m not sure what motive Donald Fairman would have, unless Katie’s in on the whole kidnapping thing and it was a ruse to kidnap Grace for ransom. But he couldn’t have known she was going to be part of the investigation, so that doesn’t make sense, either.”

His head hurt. There were so many people that could be involved, and yet so few concrete clues to go on.

The time was passing far too quickly. He hadn’t even gotten a chance to dig deeply into Lumen’s recent acquisition of Senera Pharmaceuticals, and for the time being, he wasn’t going to get the chance.

“We need about ten more people on this case,” Asher observed. “Seriously, we need to convince Jacob to join the team. We need more people at FBS that we can trust.”

“Right.”

Ben didn’t want to say more about the possibility of their brother coming home and joining the familybusiness. It was a long shot, and he wasn’t in the mood for making wishes right now.

“So what’s next?” Asher said, reaching over for Ben’s half-empty bottle of water and draining it in a few sips. Ben pulled a face but said nothing.

“I think we need to go to the exchange point with Gabe,” Asher declared without waiting for Ben’s opinion. “We can stay hidden, of course, but at least we could act as backup. Why do the kidnappers want to meet the Hintons near La Pesca, anyway? I Googled it earlier. It really is in the middle of nowhere, along the coast. It’s basically a fishing village with a few cheap hotels.”

“Is there an airport nearby?” Ben asked.

Asher shook his head, his bright blue eyes flashing what almost looked like excitement. “That’s the weird part. There is a small local airstrip, but it’s been crawling with federales for the past three weeks. You’ll never guess why.”

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