She looked a little surprised. “Sure. If you are.”
When he parked at the orphanage, he told Tayla she could stay in the car. “It will just be a second. I’ll be right back.”
She looked disappointed. He felt torn up inside. He didn’t know what to say. If they walked around the orphanage together, enjoying the picturesque sea cliffs, she might look at him the way she did earlier . . . and he might change his mind. But he shouldn’t.
Best if she stayed in the car.
He placed the cameras in record time.
On the drive back to The Mandeville, he considered explaining why the date he’d mentioned was never going to happen. But he couldn’t get the words out. He kept the conversation light. She chatted with him about the beauty of the island, and even shared a couple of humorous stories about Leland, but the whole time, she looked like she could tell something had changed.
Chapter 15
Tayla wished she’d plugged her ears. Or left the room.
But no, she’d just sat on the sofa when Leland, Knox, Jason, and Rowan watched the video on Gus’s phone.
They’d come back to the suite after demanding the phone from Frederick much sooner than she’d expected.
She wasn’t sure how they convinced him to simply hand it over. Or if that’s actually what happened. She decided she didn’t want to know the details.
They’d rushed in, plugged a charger into the phone, and started watching the video. She never moved from the sofa. She should’ve thought through what they were potentially viewing and retreated to the balcony.
She couldn’t see the screen from the sofa, and now, she was thankful for that, at least.
But the sound—the sound of Gus being killed—was disturbingly clear. Bile rose in her throat. She ran to her bathroom.
Turning on the faucet, she took several deep breaths and coaxed her stomach to resist reacting to the horrible sounds echoing in her mind.
A few minutes later, feeling less queasy, she returned to the living room.
Leland rushed to her. “Tayla, I’m so sorry. I was so focused on finally getting Gus’s phone, I didn’t think about—”
“It’s okay, Leland. I’m okay.” She glanced at Gus’s phone sitting on the dining table near one of Rowan’s laptops. “Tell me it was worth it. Did you learn anything? Do you know who killed him?”
Leland nodded, but didn’t elaborate.
Jason locked eyes with her. “It was the same guy who shot at us at the cottage. I had him. And we handed him over to the Morghana Police.”
Frustration rolled off him in waves. Her heart hurt for him. The shooter was released from the hospital a day ago. He could be out of the country. Realistically, she doubtedthey would ever find him. That wouldn’t sit well with any of them.
“But he wasn’t the one in charge, right? Didn’t you think someone hired him?”
Jason nodded. “Yeah. And there are two others in this video. Supposedly, if Frederick is to be believed, the two others are the appraiser and the guy who hired the appraiser.”
“Do you know who they are?”
Rowan raised a finger without looking up from his computer screen. “On it.”
Knox lifted his chin toward Rowan. “The kid is running some face recognition software.”
“I’m not a kid,” Rowan stated, eyes still glued to his screen.
Knox cocked his head. “You’re drinking Red Bull out of an Iron Man mug.”
“It’s my lucky mug.”
Jason studied Rowan’s screen. “How long do you think this will take?”
