Eve leaned forward, listening intently.
“I decoded them,” David continued. “And what I found was that someone was using Moore Shipping Lines to sell classified military intelligence to foreign governments. Weapons specifications, communication systems, cryptographic equipment. My father’s company was being used as a cover for espionage and arms dealing.”
Mia’s hand flew to her mouth.
“The man behind it was named Malcolm Kincaid,” David said, his voice hardening. “He’d embedded himself in defensecontracting circles and was using our shipping routes to move classified materials and information.”
“Did your father know?” Eve asked.
“No,” David said firmly. “My father, Harold, was furious when I told him. But when I tried to report it through proper channels, I discovered that Malcolm had corrupt officials in the FBI, CIA, and Department of Defense on his payroll. The people I reported it to were the very people protecting him.”
Everyone around the table was quiet, staring at David. This was like being in one of the true crime podcasts Eve loved so much. Suddenly, she wasn’t too keen on them anymore.
David nodded. “They sent people after me. After the agent who was trying to protect me. After my father. And when they couldn’t get to me directly...”
His voice grew rough.
“A few days before your eighth birthday, Mia, your mother was on her way home from the hospital when she was carjacked.”
Mia’s eyes widened, and Eve felt her own breath catch in her throat.
“Nancy was resourceful,” David continued, a ghost of a smile touching his lips. “She stabbed Malcolm’s man in the leg with a scalpel at a gas station, took the car, and sped home.”
“Mom did that?” Mia breathed.
David nodded. “Then three days before your eighth birthday, you were riding your new pink bike.” His voice broke slightly. “Malcolm himself came for you. He tried to grab you.”
Mia’s dream flashed through Eve’s mind. She was right, it hadn’t been a dream but a memory brought back by her arrival back in the town where it had happened.
“Your dog, Tyson, attacked him,” David said. “Bit his forearm badly. But Malcolm got away, and I...” His voice cracked. “I pulled you out of the pond after you went over your handlebars. After that, I knew I couldn’t risk your lives anymore,” David said, his eyes distant. “Malcolm had too much protection. Too many people in high places covering for him. Until I could bring him down, the life I had to lead wasn’t one I could impose on my wife and daughter. Or my father. Or my uncle.” He swallowed. “You see, I became the villain in the story and was suddenly the one being hunted.”
“Oh no,” Mia’s eyes filled with despair. “They thought you were doing what Malcolm was?”
David nodded. “So William set it all up,” he continued. “He got Nancy and Morgan new identities. New lives. Moved them across the country where Malcolm couldn’t find them.” His eyes moved to Mia, dark shadows hung heavily in the. “Where not even I knew who or where you were.”
“And Malcolm?” Eve asked. “What happened to him?”
“He disappeared too,” David said bitterly. “Changed his identity. Rebuilt somewhere else. We’ve been hunting him for twenty-eight years. Tracking him. Removing his corrupt protectors one by one. Waiting for him to make a mistake.”
“And he did,” Dan said from where he stood near the door. “He came back to St. Augustine.”
“After William sold Moore Shipping Lines a few years ago,” David explained, “Malcolm saw an opportunity. The Moorefamily was no longer watching. He could restart his operations using the smaller boats that leave from St. Augustine’s harbor.”
“We’ve been tracking the operations for months,” Nolan added. “We know he’s here. We know he’s staying at the Christmas Inn. We just don’t know what he looks like now or what name he’s using.”
“That’s why you’re taking photos of all the guests,” Mia said, understanding dawning.
“Yes,” Nolan confirmed. “We’ll run facial recognition and try to find Malcolm Kincaid under whatever new identity he’s created.”
Eve glanced at the clock on the wall and reality crashed back.
It was getting late. Past eleven.
“What are we going to do?” Eve asked, looking around the table. “It’s too dangerous for us to go back to the Inn, but very suspicious if we don’t.”
“I’ll go back with them,” Milly said from the doorway.
Eve turned to see her and Dan standing there, having finished their perimeter check.
