Page 13 of Deliverance

“It’s possible,” Alexander mused, “but I agree with Evelyn. It’s not likely. I think we should proceed under the assumption that Kingfisher is still free and making moves.”

“So how do we find him?” Sebastian asked. “Where do we start?”

“Well, we know the rail yard is important,” Adrian pointed out. “We can keep monitoring it with the cameras we have up.”

I shook my head. “We’re going to have to take those cameras down. We’ll need them in other places, and renovations are starting at the yard this week on the new development. If we leave them up, they’ll be discovered.”

“What about approaching Nathaniel Drake and seeing if we could get access to his camera system?” Alexander suggested. “He’ll definitely install a security system at the construction site. We could even offer to cover it as SDS; that way, we’ll retain access.”

I hesitated. “I don’t really want to open SDS up to that kind of liability. Plus, if clients learned you knowingly let a third party have access to their systems, that could ruin SDS’s reputation. We should try to keep this as separate as possible.” I looked at Marcus. I’m sure he wanted to keep things separate as well.

“Who said it had to be knowingly?” Sebastian asked. “We could unknowingly let a third party have access.” He winked at me.

I rolled my eyes. “I think that ship has sailed.”

“I see your point,” Marcus said. “But maybe we approach it from a philanthropy angle. If we let him know what’s happening, he may be open to help.”

“I’ll arrange a meeting,” Alexander said. “We can start with the client angle and then pivot to the philanthropy angle if he’s not biting.”

I would still rather keep SDS separate from this, but it wasn’t my decision to make, so I moved on.

“We should also figure out where the truck originated,” I said. “Traffickers often have way stations or halfway houses where they stash the women in between moving them. If we can track the truck back to where it originates, we may find other women or something they left behind.”

Sebastian nodded. “I can help Liam with that tomorrow. It had to have been somewhere close, so we should be able to find it.”

“I wish we could talk to the girls,” Marcus said. “Maybe one of us should try asking SID if we can?” He gestured between himself and Alexander.

“He may be more amenable talking to you or me,” Alexander agreed. “We should let the dust settle first, then we can reach out in a day or two.”

We needed the information now, but I knew from experience that the girls probably wouldn’t be up for answering questions right away.

“That sounds like a plan,” I said.

This all helped us narrow down Kingfisher’s trafficking operation, but it wasn’t getting us closer to his identity. But maybe we would get lucky.

“We also need to get your insurance claims filed,” Marcus said.

I rubbed my temples. “I know,” I said. “I need to talk to the others tomorrow and get a full list. And go through the rubble to see if anything’s salvageable.”

“We’ll help,” Adrian said, rubbing circles on my back.

“I know,” I said softly, flashing him a small smile.

“Okay,” Sebastian said, clapping his hands together softly. “That’s a great start to a plan and all stuff we can get started on tomorrow. Tonight, we have a movie to finish and more snuggles to steal.”

“I can get out of your hair and leave you all to it,” Dominic said, rising from the table.

“Nonsense,” Sebastian said in a fake posh accent. “You must stay. I insist.”

Marcus stared at Sebastian. “I swear Mom dropped you on your head when you were a baby.”

“You’re just jealous I’m cooler than you are.”

“Cool is not the word I would use,” Marcus shot back.

I smiled, but my brain was racing. Sebastian was right. It was the start of a plan, but was it enough? I had a sinking feeling that Kingfisher was already planning his next move.

CHAPTER 7