Page 89 of Capturing You
She recognized Nathan’s voice, though she’d only spoken to him a handful of times. He was about two years her junior, in his mid-twenties. Brooklynn remembered him as a shy, chubby kid, but the last time she’d seen him, he’d turned the extra weight into muscle.
“Do you have some news for me?” she asked
“I got a message that you called. Are you safe?”
“Yeah.” They reached the office, and Ford stepped aside so she could enter first. She nodded her thanks, then said to Nathan, “I’m safe.” She didn’t mention that she’d spoken to Lenny and he’d refused to tell her anything.
Ford touched her arm to get her attention.
She looked at him, ignoring the zing of energy that tried to distract her.
“Can you put it on speaker?” Ford kept his voice low.
She did, keeping her gaze on the phone so she could concentrate. “Can you give me an update?”
“We’re looking for the boat,” Nathan said, “using your photograph to ask around. As far as we can tell, it doesn’t belong to any of the local fishermen, but we’re hoping one of them will remember it. The images of the people were too grainy for us to get anything helpful, but we sent them to the state police lab. Unfortunately, they’re pretty backed up, so we won’t hear anything back for weeks.”
Ford’s eyebrows lowered. He didn’t like that.
“We’ve also been keeping our eye on the Haunted Inlet. There’s been no activity there since you reported the incident a few days ago.”
“Do you think they just…moved on?” She couldn’t help a little spark of hope.
Shaking his head, Ford settled in the leather chair on the opposite side of the desk.
“Unfortunately,” the cop said, “what happened to Mrs. Whitmore last night tells us they haven’t.”
“Oh, right. Of course.”
“The guys who broke into her house demanded to know where you are. You were wise not to tell anybody, and I don’t mind that you haven’t told us. However, I would like to know if you’re alone or with someone.”
“I’m with someone. I’m not alone.”
“Good, good. Name?”
That had Ford’s head shaking hard enough she feared he’d give himself a headache. In case she didn’t get the message, he mouthed,No.
“Sorry,” Brooklynn said. “The person who’s helping me doesn’t want anyone to know…they’re involved. They’re worried they’ll get pulled into this.”
“Multiple people, then?”
“No. I’m just trying to honor his or her privacy.”
“I see.” His tone told her he didn’t see at all. “The problem is, if I can’t get in touch with you, I won’t know where to start looking.”
“Someone knows where I am. Someone not in my family, and not the person I’m with.” Brooklynn wasn’t about to put her sister in anyone’s crosshairs. Not that she didn’t trust Nathan, but police reports could be hacked or stolen or leaked.
And maybe she was paranoid, but as the daughter of a CIA agent and a sister of a former computer hacker, she knew nothing was truly private.
Nathan said, “If I don’t know who?—”
“If something happens to me, this person will know where I’ve been, and he or she will contact you.”
“Could you give me your friend’s contact information?”
She didn’t have to look at Ford to know what he thought about that. “Sorry. I’m trying to honor everyone’s wishes.”
Nathan blew out a frustration-filled breath. “No problem. I understand. Is this person you’re with someone you know well? Someone you know you can trust? Because whatever happened at the inlet obviously wasn’t a one-time thing, and if that’s the case, then… I have a gut feeling that people in Shadow Cove are involved. I mean, if not, then why here? There are a thousand inlets on the coast of Maine. Why that one?”
