Page 88 of Building Courage

“Okay, thanks.”

Once inside the garage, he got her overnight bag out of the car, opened the door leading into the kitchen, and stood back so she could proceed him.

He poured them both a glass of iced tea, even though he craved something stronger, and joined her in the living room. He hated to pile it on, but they needed to deal with things and make a plan. He waited until she’d taken a drink of tea and set the glass aside, then said, “I have to meet Jordan’s parents and brother at the Del for breakfast at zero-nine-hundred. I’ll only be a couple of hours. The service starts at fourteen hundred, but I’ll have to be there at least half an hour early. Think you’d be up for meeting me for lunch?”

She nodded and reached for his hand. “I’m sorry about your friend, Tucker.”

He looked away. “I am, too.”

“Is there anything I can do for you or your friend’s family?”

He shook his head. “No, but I appreciate you asking.” Shifting his attention back to her, he said, “Whoever stole the SSD may contact you about it, Brynn.”

Color flared across her face and, with it, anger. “I’ll tell them where to stick it, too.”

He grinned. She might have had the wind knocked out of her, but she still had some fight left. He was relieved to see it.

“Did you save the photos you’d enhanced onto the drive?”

“No. I save off-site every time I do something, but I back up everything once a week.”

So, they wouldn’t realize she’d enhanced the photos to make the man and woman visible. If they were able to access the photos on the drive in their original state, they’d think she had nothing. “I think we should check in with Ahmad and see if he has any more information.”

“I’ve been concerned about him since the night he showed up at my apartment,” she admitted.

He felt the same. “I’ll give him a call and see what’s going on.” He pulled out the burner phone and hit Ahmad’s contact number. The phone rang and rang, and finally, a man answered, his voice deeper and more heavily accented than Ahmad’s.

“This is Tucker Giles. Can I speak with Ahmad?”

“Ahmad has not been home in three days. We do not know where he is.”

Shit! Concern ricocheted through him. The man on the end of the phone seemed dismissive. “And he didn’t take his phone?” Tucker asked.

“When we returned home from work, his phone was here, but he was not.”

“Have you spoken to his boss?”

“Yes, his boss said he has not been to work.”

Tucker drew a deep breath. “Have you called the police and reported him missing?”

“No. If we did that, and he comes home, he may be deported.”

Jesus. Had they already killed him? Would his body wash up on the beach?

“Have you called his father to tell him he’s missing?” Tucker asked.

Silence stretched on the opposite end of the line.

“What is his father’s name?” Tucker asked, his tone more insistent.

“Siraj. Siraj Balil.”

“If Ahmad should call or come home, can you tell him I need to speak with him?”

“Certainly.”

The man hung up before he could say goodbye.

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