Page 4 of Knight Watch

The businessman gave him a curt nod before setting his phone on the table. Taking out a card and pen, he jotted a few notes on the back of it. “Here is the number of my secondary phone as well as my assistant’s. I also added my phone code and the bank account numbers I can remember. Give me your contact information, and I’ll send you everything else as soon as I get back to the office.”

Kingsley gave him his card, and then Emme and Shane escorted him out.

Immediately, Cleo peeked inside, almost as if reading his mind. “Need anything, Kingsley?”

“Yeah, call the team in. We have a mission.”

Emme and Shane walked back into the conference room, their eyes on him. “You good to lead this one?” Shane asked, his head tilted as he assessed him.

Kingsley felt pride and a little anticipation at them putting their faith in him. “Absolutely.”

“Good. You have this from start to finish. You call the shots and the teams. Emme and I need to know we have someone who can lead things when we’re away.”

“I won’t let you down,” Kingsley said with pride as the team began to shuffle in.

* * *

It wasweird having a meeting without Shane and Emme there. They had left for their meeting as soon as Rutherford had left and were then spending a couple of extra days in DC following up with other contacts, and as he understood it, it was something that would often happen, so he’d better get used to it. They’d put him in charge of their very first case. Now, he had to prove he was worthy of it. The entire team was around the table, ready to participate or offer advice. That was what Alliance was about—teamwork and collaboration. Their skill sets and experience would come in handy or even be indispensable at some time or another.

“Hey, guys. We have our first case. It’s a kidnapping. Details as follows. Sydney Rutherford, thirty, niece of Raymond Rutherford, wealthy businessman, known in the area. Missing for three weeks now. Kidnappers made contact and threatened to harm his niece if he didn’t pay them or if he informed the authorities.”

Malco leaned back. “And let me guess, he did exactly that.”

Kingsley winced. “Yep. More than half a million dollars transferred into bank accounts so far. The only reason he’s reaching out is that the kidnappers wouldn’t allow him to talk to his niece the last few times they called and requested money. The change in procedure made him fear for her and her life.”

Alex sighed. “Malco’s the hostage expert here, but if they didn’t put her on the line, it doesn’t bode well for her. Especially after three weeks.”

Everybody around the table seemed to agree to some extent.

“Mr. Rutherford hasn’t been that forthcoming about his niece. He’s given us very few details about her or her life so we’ll need to do the digging ourselves.”

Kingsley tapped a few keys on the laptop, and two pictures of a blond woman with blue eyes appeared side by side. The first was taken as she looked over her shoulder. In the second she was laughing. Seeing the woman’s smiling face made something squeeze in his chest, and he absently rubbed the spot to ease it. It wasn’t only her beauty, but something in her eyes. It was the pain she hid under the sheer light in them that drew him. He hadn’t realized he’d been surrounded by darkness for so long and craved a connection with someone who understood it too. It was a silly thought, but he was unable to look away. “Sydney Rutherford. We need to know everything about her, inside and out, secrets and all. And we need to do the same with her uncle.”

Caitlin frowned. “You suspect him?”

“I suspect everyone except the people in Alliance. And after what you said earlier about him, I’d prefer not to leave any stone unturned. One team will be assigned to dig into Sydney, and one into Rutherford. While he couldn’t give us much information on her, he was able to give us her address.”

“Don’t you find it strange that he knows so little about her? How does he not know anything about his damn niece?”

Kingsley thought that Cain had a point.

Mercy groaned. “Not everyone knows everything about their family members. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t care, or that he’s the villain in the story either.”

“Do I sense some family trauma, Mercy?” Wolf elbowed James who laughed. Mercy, on the other hand, flipped the cowboy the bird.

Mason Bentley looked at the girl on the screen before nodding at Kingsley. “You’re thinking foul play.”

Kingsley turned to look at the image that haunted him. “It’s only a gut feeling. I need hard facts. So while you guys get started on the digging, I’m going to her apartment. Maybe there’s something there that will help us find her kidnappers.”