Page 36 of Exhale
“Come sit at the table, I have some iced tea ready.”
“We can’t stay long,” Jordan said, “but I’d love some. This is my friend Sam.”
“Hello,” Owen said quietly and smiled.
“Hi, Sam,” Mrs. Danner said and made her way to the refrigerator.
“Can I use your bathroom?” Owen asked after exchanging a glance at Jordan.
“Of course, it’s down the hall, second door on the right.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
She beamed, it seemed manners went a long way with her.
When Jordan slipped into a chair at the table, Owen walked out of the kitchen. He did a thorough search of the house, but there was no sign of the kids, and as far as he could tell, there had never been any kids there.
Half an hour later, he and Owen left the Danner’s house and returned to their SUV.
“I can’t believe you know all that stuff you were talking to her about,” Owen said.
Jordan could tell that Owen was astonished, and he grinned, glad he could show off a little bit.
“Stuff that I read stays in here for a long time.” He tapped the side of his temple.
“So, like photographic memory?”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but I can retain a lot of information at once and recall it not long afterwards. I just needed to get my hands on records from Danner’s past.”
“You’re amazing,” Owen said.
Their comms chirped, and Ace’s deep voice came through.
“Any leads with the mother?” Ace asked.
“According to her, she hasn’t seen him in almost two years. She didn’t like his lifestyle and he didn’t like her meddling, so she asked him to leave.”
“Go, Mama,” Dalton chimed in.
“It’s a wash here, the druggie we were tailing is camped inside of a crack house,” Ace said, the frustration clear in his voice.
“What now?” Dalton asked.
“We can sit on this all night,” Ace said.
“I’m good with that,” Dalton replied. Dalton sounded content even though he was on an all-night stakeout. Which wasn’t all that surprising because his husband, Adam, was there with him. You never saw one without the other.
“Owen?” Ace said.
“Copy,” Owen said.
“Take Jordan and get some rest. You both are on shift starting tomorrow morning.”
The comms went quiet, and Jordan turned in his seat.
“So, what now?” Owen said.
“Since we know that Danner is not coming here, I want to take you somewhere.”
