A knock on the door interrupted their conversation.
Eric Kitts identified himself, and Tayla opened the door for him.
Eric arrived sooner than she expected. He briefly checked in with Rowan, then spent the next several minutes apologizing to Tayla for everything she’d been through the past few days.
“I was shocked you came all the way out here to look for Leland. I wish you’d called me first.”
She glanced at the camera feeds on Rowan’s laptops. Nothing but an empty pier. “I realize that now. But, at first, I had no idea the men looking for Leland had anything to do with WhiteRock.”
Eric pushed a hand through his hair. “I know. I understand. But from now on, if you’re ever worried about Leland, will you please call me before chasing after him?”
“Of course.” Her response was polite, and automatic, but she wasn’t sure she meant it. Eric Kitts was hard to read. He seemed genuinely concerned about her, Leland, and the entire situation, but something was off about him.
But, to be fair, she wasn’t one of his employees. He probably wasn’t supposed to share too much with her. Maybe he was upset that Leland and Jason let her know as much as they did.
She took her seat next to Rowan so she could divide her attention between Eric and the camera feeds. If he had a problem with that, he would learn how stubborn she could be.
He didn’t react when she glanced at the screens. Good.
He cleared his throat. “And I’m so sorry about Gus. All of WhiteRock will grieve his passing, but I know he and Leland were especially close.”
“Yes, they were.”
“I know you knew him. I’m very sorry for your loss.”
He was definitely stressed about Gus’s passing. But she didn’t sense as much grief as regret . . . and something else . . . fear? That didn’t quite make sense.
“Hello,” Rowan said, staring at his laptop.
Talya’s and Eric’s attention jumped to the screens.
Two of the four cameras showed a partial view of a boat arriving at Rock Point Pier. A minute later, a third camera also showed a partial view.
“The Sea Queen,” Tayla said.
Eric leaned closer to the screens. “What?”
“The name on the boat. It says ‘The Sea Queen.’” She pointed to the name painted on the side of the boat.
“Oh. Huh. Well, it might be stolen, but we’ll look it up later.”
That’s when she sensed it. She couldn’t articulate exactly what it was, but Eric’s reaction to ‘The Sea Queen’ sent sirens blaring in Tayla’s head. Rowan seemed surprised at Eric’s response as well, but he didn’t say anything.
Suddenly, she didn’t feel safe around Eric. She didn’t know why. It was either gut instinct or an over-active imagination.
Frozen in her chair, all she could do was stare at the camera feeds and try to figure out whether or not she was losing her mind.
“Here we go,” Rowan said, zooming in on four men disembarking The Sea Queen.
About the same time, the cameras showed men walking up to the pier from the road. Rowan scrambled to zoom in, and, well, she wasn’t exactly sure what all he was doing with the images, but he was typing furiously on his keyboard.
“I’m going out there,” Eric announced. “Rowan, do you have extra comms?”
“Um, you mean to communicate with the team? No. We only brought four headsets.”
Eric held out his hand. “Give me yours then.”
Rowan’s face went slack. “Um, I won’t be able to—”
