Chapter 31

Mason ignoredthe reheated bowl of chili in front of him, eyes fixed on Paul as he recounted his ordeal. The team had gathered in Bridger’s spacious living room, the air thick with tension and anticipation as they listened to Paul’s story.

“Except for the guy that locked me in the container, I never saw their faces,” Paul said, his voice shaking slightly. “They kept a hood over my head until just that one guy was left. He had tattoos, like gang tattoos, on his arms.”

Mason exchanged a glance with Tai, his brow furrowed in thought. It wasn’t much to go on, but it was something. He turned to Avery, expecting to see the same look of determination on her face, but instead he found her staring off into the distance, her expression preoccupied.

“Avery?” he said softly, his voice tinged with concern. “Everything okay?”

She blinked, seeming to come back to herself. “Yeah, sorry,” she said, shaking her head. “I just … I don’t understand. Why go to all the trouble of kidnapping Paul if they were just going to lead us to him with that text? It doesn’t make sense.”

No. It didn’t.

“These folks haven’t been sloppy so far, so why start now?” she added.

Tai tucked a hank of hair behind his ear, his gaze on the middle distance. “Maybe it was a distraction. You know, like a magician waving his right hand so you don’t see what he’s doing with the left.”

While the others nodded in agreement, Avery stared at her hands.

Mason watched her closely, his suspicion growing with every passing moment. She was onto something. He recognized the energy radiating off her.

Before he could question her further, Paige looked up from her computer. “Guys, I found something.”

The team gathered around her, their eyes fixed on the screen as she pulled up a series of files and documents. “I’ve been digging into the backgrounds of the Rain Bay executives,” she said, her voice tight. “Lars Stenberg about drove the company into bankruptcy two years ago, and then, all of a sudden, the place jumps into hyper-mode.”

“Can you trace the new funds?” Mason asked Paige. They’d failed to get into the onsite computer, but maybe there were public records available.

She shook her head. “Nothing obvious. I’ll keep searching, but …”

“How about checking tax records?” Kate prompted.

While the rest of them converged on Paige, Avery stepped away, heading for the far side of the kitchen, phone to her ear. Mason stared at her back while she talked––or most likely listened––her body growing more tense with each second. The call ended quickly, but when she turned back around, the grim set to her face told him plenty.

He stepped in front of her. “Avery, what’s going on? I know you’re onto something, I can see it in your eyes.”

She hesitated, her gaze darting away from his. “It’s nothing,” she said, her voice unconvincing. “I just … I have a bad feeling about all of this.”

“You and me both. You’re holding something back. Tell me.”

She sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. “I called in a favor. From an old friend at the FBI. I asked her to look into some things for me, off the record.”

“What kind of things?”

Avery’s eyes met his, her expression pained. “I think someone in the agency is leaking info to Stenberg.”