“Unless he suppressed them.”
His response made me growl, involuntarily. He wasn’t wrong, though. Roman’s stormy gray eyes stayed focused forward, as I digested his point.
“If they begin releasing information…”
“They won’t,” I countered. “Theo’s not reckless; not like Hollis and Jameson. He loves his father too much. He also knows what’ll happen, the second he goes public.”
The former intelligence contractor folded his well-manicured hands neatly in front of him. Roman was all business, all of the time. He wore no jewelry, sported no flashy watches. Even the weapons I knew were secured snugly against his body remained invisible beneath the contours of his tailored, charcoal suit.
“Theo Lachlan is definitely the weakest link,” he agreed. “If there’s a crack to widen, to apply pressure to, it all starts with him.”
“Good.”
“Speaking of cracks, we may have something.”
It was the first good-sounding news in a week. I stood up and put my hands on my desk, totally forgetting the blood on my fingers. Roman did an adequate job of pretending not to notice it.
“It’s unconfirmed as of now,” he added quickly. “So of course—”
“Just say it.”
“Wehave a reported sighting in one of the tourist districts in Belize. Ambergris Caye. Three men matching general descriptions, with a woman in a straw hat.”
“A straw hat,” I repeated skeptically.
“And sunglasses, yes,” Roman confirmed. “As I said, the report is low confidence. But our local contact flagged their movement as suspicious.”
“Suspicious as in how?”
“Their movements in town seemed almost military. Not like tourists.”
Belize.
It made sense, on the surface. Especially after all Peyton’s doom and gloom complaining about Nantucket.
“Think it’s her?”
“I wouldn’t put it past her,” I admitted. “But Belize is a pretty big jump. An international stretch.”
“Not for Colson Hollis,” Roman countered. “He’s got contacts for miles.”
Yes. Yes, he did.
And that was a problem.
“Send a team to Ambergris Caye,” I ordered, with a wave of my bloodied hand.
“Already done. They’re in the air now.”
My face registered my approval. He was efficient, I’d give him that.
“There have to be ways to incentivize the other two,” I said coldly. “Find them. In the meantime, we lean a little harder in the direction of Lachlan’s father.”
Roman shifted his weight from one long leg to the other. I saw his jaw tighten, but he ultimately nodded.
“You said you gave Theo seventy-two hours to respond?”
“Yes.”
“And this was before the locket’s encryption was broken?”
I bobbed my head slowly.
“Maybe this is his way of replying to you.”
