Page 30 of Tracing Her Stolen Identity
“That’s another thing,” Skylar said. “The fact that he uses ‘Binate’ rather than ‘Binary’ is telling. Miles would never use something so overly used as ‘Binary.’ He’d find something close that means the same thing.”
“Wow, he really stretched himself going with ‘Binate,’” Iris said with an eye roll to which no one could hide their snort.
“That’s Miles for ya,” Skylar said.
“Well, I got this sound when I started playing with the recording. Do you recognize it?” Iris asked.
She held up her finger and then pressed a button on her computer. A sound filled the room, and Skylar glanced at Reece. “That’s a ship’s horn.”
“A laker,” Reece agreed. “He has to be somewhere by the lake to pick that up.”
“Lakers honk going in and out of a harbor, right?” Cal asked.
“Yes, and occasionally if they pass another ship, but you’d be hard-pressed to hear that on the shore from the middle of a shipping lane, especially loud enough to be picked up on a recording.”
“You’re saying our best bet is to search areas around a harbor?” Mina asked, and Reece nodded.
“You can eliminate any harbor that can’t accommodate the big lakers, but my bet would be on Duluth/Superior or Two Harbors. That said, I don’t know how it helps.”
“We’ll look for any property owned by Miles or his family. If we find any, it’s a place to investigate. In the meantime, I want you to take Skylar back to the cabin and comb through those videos,” Mina said.
“What are we looking for?” Skylar asked.
“Anything that might give him away,” she explained. “Something he might say that jogs your memory about a conversation you had with him or something you know about him. That kind of thing.”
“I can do that,” Skylar said with a nod. “Cal, will you get in trouble if the police find out I’m here? Or do they already know?”
“No and no,” Cal said. “If they learn you’re here, they’d need a warrant to enter the property. That said, there’s no way they’ll find out you’re here. We all know you aren’t responsible for the vandalizations. Even my cop friend knows that, but they’re being pressured to find you.”
“I can understand that,” Skylar said, shaking her head sadly. “I’m just upset that anyone thinks I’d ever damage anything, much less an art gallery.”
“What matters is that none of us here believe it,” Reece said, squeezing her hand gently.
“What he said,” Mina agreed. “Not only would it be physically impossible, but it doesn’t make sense. Whoever thought this up isn’t the brightest bulb in the pack.”
“Miles.” Iris coughed the word, bringing a smile to Reece’s lips.
“I hate to agree with her, but I do,” Skylar said. “As long as no one is going to get in trouble for me being here, we’ll watch those videos repeatedly if it helps you guys figure this out.”
“You’re safe here,” Cal said, squeezing her shoulder. “Considering the day you’ve had, I don’t want you to worry about anything. This is a security company, and even if the cops suspect you’re here, they’d have to prove it, and that’s going to be hard when I don’t have to let them onmy property.” He gave her a wink and then stood. “I need to touch base with the rest of the crew, but Mina, keep me posted on anything you need my help with.”
“You got it, boss.”
“Charlie, out,” he said, leaving the room.
“I’ll take my leave as well,” Iris said. “I’ve got some other cases to get back to, but once those are caught up, I’ll dig into Miles and his friend.”
“Iris, wait,” Mina said, standing, too. “The Miles angle is urgent. Let’s figure out who can take your other cases while you focus on this.” She turned to Reece. “Take Skylar back to the cabin and let her rest while she listens to the videos. You can keep searching, too.”
Reece nodded, knowing without her saying it whom he should keep searching for—Silas Sullivan.
Chapter Fifteen
It had been a long day, but it wasn’t over yet. Thankfully, the recliner in the cabin was a comfortable place to sit and watch the videos from Binate while Reece worked on whatever Reece worked on. She had finally convinced him that it was wiser for her to watch the videos while he worked on finding more information on Miles to help Iris. He didn’t know Miles, so he wouldn’t catch something on the videos that would give him away. Only she could do that. If it was there to find, she would.
However, her focus was split, making it hard to concentrate on the videos. What had happened today at Secure One weighed on her—both the health and personal implications. Autonomic dysreflexia was a dangerous condition that could turn deadly. Her level of spinal cord injury made it more common, but the episodes she’d had so far were few and far between. It probably wasn’t fair to compare anything she was going through right now to her day-to-day life. This was anything but that, the least of which was being in a tight space with Reece Palmer for days on end. While she thought about him every day, it was easier to pretend she didn’t care about him when he wasn’t protecting her—when he wasn’t sleeping next to her in a buttery-soft, king-size bed.
Her body was…not attractive, to say the least. After years in a wheelchair, gravity had taken its toll, and while she was able to work out her upper body to a degree, there was nothing she could do for her paralyzed abdominal muscles. She didn’t want to think about her legs. They used to be what she was most proud of. She’d had lean, strong, long legs that did everything she asked of them on the field without hesitation. They were still long, but they were also thin, weak and shriveled. The skin and bones reminded her every day of her choices, the good and the bad.
