Page 81 of A Simple Mistake
“Don’t make that face, Flynn.The wind might change.”Jack kept his eyes on his screens, but he knew what he was doing to Gareth.“Daniel remembered something and I’m trying to piece it together.”
“Care to share?Or do you want me to leave you in peace and ask him?”
Jack spun his chair around.“Maybe not a good idea.We might be in for another rough night as it is.”
Gareth had expected as much.“I didn’t think they’d be up to discussing it yet.”
“In a lopsided kind of way, I think they are.Nico distracted himself with Aidan’s case, but now he’s stuck and—”
“About that.”Gareth hesitated, unsure where to start.
“What is it?”
“I asked Conrad if he knows a tracing agent who’d be happy to spend a few days teaching Nico the basics,” he said.“The legal techniques, I mean.When Nico asked you to teach him to hunt, you handed him Aidan’s case instead of one of yours, which made me think you wouldn’t mind.”
A smile curved Jack’s lips.“That’s a genius idea!Of course, I don’t want him to hang out in chatrooms or rifle through some pervert’s porn stash.That’s why I jumped on Aidan’s case.And Nico and Daniel found a significant piece of the puzzle without having to do anything illegal.So… yeah, go for it.If Conrad can’t help, we can ask Raf, or Lisa.”
“Yes, that might work, too.”
Jack’s gaze flicked back to his screens, reminding Gareth where that conversation had started.“I thought you were trying to work out how Pavel found the boys, but you said Daniel remembered something?”
“What?Oh, yes, he did.A comment Goran’s brother made.He’s even been watching the recordings from the security cameras to make sure he heard what he thought he did,” he said, admiration plain in his voice.“He thinks maybe Manville put Pavel onto them.”
“Manville?”
“Yep.I’ve been trying to come up with a way to trace a connection between the two.”He waved at the mess on his screens.“Haven’t got far yet.”
Gareth parked half an arse cheek on Jack’s armrest.“Are you trying to prove they know each other?”
“Some kind of interaction.Why?”
“Because I’m thinking about that town hall you did at work.When you showed us how much of our confidential information is spread all over the web for anyone to use.Couldn’t this be what happened here?Maybe someone posted a picture of Nico and Daniel, and somewhere else Goran’s brother saw it.”
“Normally, I’d agree.But happenstance can’t account for Pavel using a phrase that Daniel was used to hearing in their dance lessons.”He quickly summarised what Daniel had told him, and Gareth nodded.
“You have a point.So… how do you prove they’ve exchanged information when they may have never run across each other in person?”
“Patience and perseverance.”Jack pointed at the mess on his screens.“The answer’s in there.It’s up to me to find it.”
Gareth set the teapot on his desk and yawned.It was not even five o’clock yet, but he had too much going on to sleep any longer.They’d resurrected many of their original safety measures, and ensuring Daniel and Nico went nowhere alone meant Gareth and Jack were away from their desks for part of the day.An early start—for Gareth—or a long night—for Jack—ensured their Nancarrow jobs didn’t suffer.Even if it meant he didn’t see as much of Jack as he liked.
They’d had a few wins.Daniel had gone back to working at the deli, and Nico loved every minute he spent at Kinnor and Gold, the tracing agents Aidan had introduced them to.Jim Gold, the older of the two partners, was training Nico himself, and he was using the McTavish case for Nico to practice.Nobody was surprised when Nico came home enamoured with the idea of finding missing people.
Gareth poured tea and settled at his desk and—at five o’clock exactly—his phone rang.
“Good morning,” Julian said when Gareth answered the call.“I have good news.How are things at your end?”
“Getting better.Jack’s sorted the insurance, and we’re done with the police interviews.”Those had been difficult for them all and were—at least in Gareth’s mind—the reason for most of the current crop of nightmares.“Oh, and the appraisals for my team are all with HR.”
“So I heard.”Julian sounded amused.“I have a few department heads lining up to hear what you did.”
“Listen to my guys?Truly, Julian, this isn’t rocket science.”
“For you, it isn’t.You don’t shy from pulling the weeds.”
“Well, if you have the good news I imagine, then you don’t either.”
Julian Nancarrow chuckled.“The auditors’ report is in your inbox along with a draft of a letter I’m planning to send to Ronald and Cecily.Aidan and Alex have copies, too.Let me know what you think.”
