“I know. It’s fine. I need to be out there and I need comms.”
Eric’s words held so much finality that Rowan didn’t seem to know how to respond, except to slide the headset off and hand it to the director of WhiteRock.
Tayla’s confidence in Eric Kitts plummeted. “But if we see anything important on the cameras, we won’t—”
“Tayla, please.” His patronizing tone did him no favors. “I know you’re worried about Leland, but this isn’t your area of expertise.”
He grabbed the backpack he’d brought with him.
Everything about Eric felt unsettling. But she didn’t know what to say. She had zero authority in this situation, and no actual proof—beyond her gut feeling—that Eric was doing anything wrong.
She looked at Rowan. She knew he was working hard on . . . whatever he was doing, but she suspected he was intentionally avoiding eye contact with Eric and her.
She watched Eric walk to the door. “Jason also has a sat phone, in case—”
“Yes, I have the number.” He opened the door. “You two stay put. I’ll see you later.” The door shut. And a disturbing foreboding prickled her skin.
“Rowan?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know Eric very well. And I know I’m not a WhiteRock employee, but was that normal? Was he acting strange to you?”
Rowan’s fingers slowed on his keyboard. He paused a beat. “He’s my boss.”
“I know. And you’re being very professional. I just thought he was acting weird. Does it make sense that he took your headset? Now you can’t communicate with the guys if you see something on the camera they need to know about.”
Rowan looked uncomfortable for a micro-second, then shrugged. “He’s myboss.“ His typing resumed lightning speed.
She shouldn’t press him. He was young and probably a new employee. On this assignment, he reported to Jason, who reported to Eric, so Eric Kitts was actually his boss’s boss. She didn’t want to stress him out.
But she couldn’t help worrying about Eric deciding to drive out to the pier. And taking Rowan’s headset. Why had he acted so strange? Should she call Jason on the sat phone? And tell him what? That Eric gave off a weird vibe, then headed to the pier?
Nope. That sounded ridiculous.
She tried to focus on the men in view of the cameras. The men from the boat spoke briefly to six men who approached from the road. Then, all but two walked back to the road.
“Are those two staying behind to guard the boat? Maybe the others are going to the orphanage?” Tayla asked.
“Looks that way. We’ll know in a minute.”
That minute turned into four. But sure enough, the same men appeared on the orphanage camera feed.
“Okay,” Rowan said. “Now we know the location of the pier wasn’t a coincidence. They’re definitely after the stuff in the basement.”
A ding sounded on Rowan’s laptop. He opened a different tab and clicked around some more. Tayla focused on the other screens—until Rowan’s posture went taught.
“What’s wrong?”
“Whoa,” was all he said.
“What is it?”
“Um, the face recognition got a hit on one of the guys in Gus’s video. The man who met with the appraiser—his name is Dylan Kitts. According to this, he’s Eric Kitts’ cousin.”
So, she wasn’t being paranoid. Eric Kitts knew more than he was sharing. And he might be putting Leland, Jason, and Knox in more danger.
“Oh, no,” Rowan said.
