Page 42 of All He Sees
Nicky zoomed out. "It's not far from Vale. It's... near the coast. Like maybe a thousand miles south."
Ken frowned. "That's a hell of a commute. I've always wanted to take a vacation to get away, but that seems a little extreme."
Nicky reached for her coffee and took another sip. "I don't know. Maybe Medina is a hermit. Maybe that's how he likes to live."
Ken nodded. "Makes sense. Maybe he's hiding the girls there."
"Yeah," Nicky said, thinking. "That's possible."
She stared at the locations on the map for a long time, neither of them talking. Then, Nicky went back into Medina's file, hoping to learn more about the mysterious, reclusive man.
There was a boat registered to his name--a large yacht, a borderline cruise ship. Medina had two docks for the boat: one at his island...
And one at the docks just down the beach from where the church was. From where Mira went missing.
Nicky held her breath. This could be significant. Even though Mira was taken in the Onlooker, it seemed too coincidental that Medina would also dock his boat at the very place she was taken.
Still, Nicky needed more, so she continued through his file.
He had a son, Chad Medina, born to his late wife, Francesca Dubois-Medina. Nicky opened up each of their files; Chad was a Harvard dropout with a DUI on his record from ten years ago but seemed harmless enough. Francesca, on the other hand...
She had died.
Nicky paused, taking this in. She opened up a photo of Francesca.
And her blood ran cold.
Staring back at her was the spitting image of Mira, Clara, and Erica.
Francesca had brown hair, freckles, and a slim, athletic build.
Nicky showed Ken the picture, and he frowned. "Walker, this is Medina's late wife," she said.
At that moment, it registered on Ken. "Shit."
"We need to go to this island," she said.
Ken nodded. "I'll call in a helicopter."
Nicky pulled the car up to the lot outside of town and killed the engine. The rotors of the helicopter they had ordered churned as they coasted to a stop in the gravel lot. Ken opened the door and leaned out. Nicky did too, and they waved as the helicopter settled to a bouncing stop on the rocks.
This case just kept getting more interesting, Nicky thought. She hadn't expected to be taking a helicopter ride to a rich guy's remote island, but here they were.
They got out of the car. The August sun was hot on Nicky's skin, and she could feel the wind from the helicopter blowing at them. The pilot turned it off, and the rotors slowly stopped spinning, allowing a calm silence to take over the field.
A man and a woman stepped out of the helicopter, wearing jumpsuits and goggles. These were the pilots--FBI-trained, trusted pilots who Nicky was sure would get them safely over the water.
The man nodded at Nicky, and then Ken. "Agent Walker, Agent Lyons, I'm Danny, your pilot, and this is my co-pilot, Rachel. You ready for this?"
Nicky nodded. "Let's do this."
Nicky and Ken climbed into the back seat of the helicopter. Danny strapped them in while Rachel got settled into her seat in the front.
Nicky and Ken settled into the seats, getting comfortable with the safety belts. George's list was in Nicky's pocket. She had looked through it one more time when they had been ready to leave and had decided that Charles Medina was worth focusing on.
The helicopter's engine growled and it was soon lifting off, sending wind scurrying across Nicky's face. The helicopter rose higher and higher, and Nicky stared out the window at the town of Vale below them. It was so small from this height, trees and fields surrounding the buildings. The ocean glittered blue, and Nicky could see for miles.
Nicky thought of the women she had met, and the girls she had seen in photos. She hoped that she could save them.
