Page 11 of Justified Fear (TFH Team Bravo #2)

Six

R yan walked into TFH early the next morning, frustrated with the situation. They couldn’t find out any more information about Keely’s “abduction.”

There was considerable speculation in the original report that she was mistaken. Another idea was the insinuation that she was throwing a fit. They claimed that she’d had a fight with her parents. There was no basis for this, just a rumor from one of her friends.

But something was bothering him about it. Keely said she wasn’t feeling well after having a snack. She was also reportedly confused by some of the simple questions at first. The EMTs took her vitals, but the cops didn’t order a blood test. The investigation was shoddy at best.

Maya trotted over to Rami to get her pets in for the morning. His partner had always been aloof to most of his teammates back in LA. He should have known that the team he worked with was dirty when she wouldn’t even let them pet her. Maya was a good judge of character.

“Hey,” Ryan said. “Have you seen Charity?”

He shook his head, and the elevators dinged.

Drew strode out. “Hey, Ryan. I heard you wanted info on those earlier abductions. Charity has an appointment this morning, so she had me pull them in and compare them. You were right. The five who survived all reported the same thing. Eating or drinking something, and then they felt funny.”

“What are you thinking?” Rami asked.

“I think they were all drugged. They were all in malls where teens congregated once upon a time. They all had some kind of food or drink before being abducted.”

“Keely?” Rami asked.

He nodded. “Thanks for the update, Drew.”

“No worries. Ping me if you need anything. Charity will be back after lunch today.”

“You’re thinking they were roofied?”

He nodded. “It would be easy to target all of them. They were preteens or teens, just hanging out with their friends.”

“But what does that have to do with this?”

He sighed, frustration filling the sound. “Not sure. It’s just an odd thing.”

Kap and Nikki walked in at the same time, chatting. When they saw Rami and Ryan, they walked over.

“Do we know if the boss is in?” Ryan asked.

“He’s in some kind of closed-door team leader meeting.”

Ryan nodded.

“What’s up?” Nikki asked.

“Ryan thinks the kidnapped kids could have been drugged,” Rami said.

“That would make it easier,” Nikki said. “You think there’s a connection?”

“Not sure. It’s just odd that Keely was at two different crimes, both of which seemed to be about her.”

Kap was eyeing him. “I get that you have a thing for her, but what do you have to tell you this is about her? She survived. Everyone else is either dead or missing.”

“Mainly because she ran out into the jungle and hid. Who knows what would have happened if she hadn’t done that?”

Actually, that thought made his blood ice over. He wished they had a pic of the perpetrators.

Seth came striding into the room. “We might have a hit on a connection to the Yakuza. If this were a hit, we need to start running those leads down.”

“Ryan has another idea,” Nikki said.

Seth turned to him. “You do?”

He nodded and explained about the kidnappings and what they had discovered. Seth pursed his lips. “I’m not sure I see a connection, but since you do, you start digging into those abductions.”

“Why don’t you see a connection?”

“She’s an adult, and she wasn’t drugged.

And she was at work and not at a mall. It just seems like it isn’t, but I don’t ignore hunches.

There is always a chance that your hunch could lead to their real motive.

Review those reports to see if there is anything of interest. The rest of us will start running down our own connections to see if there’s any chatter about the Yakuza putting a hit on any of the dinner guests or hosts.

They might not have had much experience with them or been directly involved.

They might have just pissed off one of their bosses.

We just need to find something…anything to run down. ”

He heard the irritation and worry in his captain’s voice. There seemed to be no motive, and without that, they really had no way of finding the killers or their missing bartender.

Keely’s nerves were vibrating as they walked up to TFH headquarters.

“I don’t know why we had to come here. You could have sent the muffins,” her father grumbled.

She knew he was right. It would have been really easy to hire someone to pick up the treats and deliver them to the TFH. If she did that, she couldn’t try to find out what was going on with the investigation.

Also, there was the added benefit of seeing Ryan. Just thinking his name made her entire body light up.

“Mama taught me better than that.”

He said something under his breath, but it was so low she didn’t catch it. When they reached the door, he opened it for her. She smiled.

“Don’t give me that smile. I married the woman who taught it to you.”

She chuckled. Riki Templeton was the biggest, baddest linebacker in his day. But the women in his life knew he was a pushover. Her mother and she shared the same dimpled smile, which they had been using to get him to do things forever.

After checking in at a front desk, they waited for an escort. She hoped it would be Ryan, but was disappointed when Nikki Kekoa stepped into the lobby.

“Hey, Keely. You’re looking better this morning.”

“Thank you. I feel so much better. Dad, this is another one of Ryan’s team. Nikki Kekoa.”

“Ryan’s team,” Nikki said with humor.

“Thank you for saving my daughter.”

“You’re welcome. My brothers are all going to be jealous that I got to meet you. Are those for the team?”

“Yes. Is it okay if I come back? I would like to thank everyone.”

Something that looked like approval lit her gaze. “Of course. Come on.”

There was a buzz of activity, but the massive screen was dark.

Glancing around, Keely smiled at everyone.

Some she knew from the night, some who looked vaguely familiar.

Others she didn’t know at all. But finally, her gaze settled on Ryan.

He looked even prettier today. How did he get better looking every time she saw him?

She wanted to slip her hands through all that golden brown hair.

“Hey, everyone. Keely seems to have brought us a lot of goodies,” Nikki called out.

A woman with amber hair stepped forward. “Please tell me you have some of those banana Mac nut muffins in there.”

Keely blinked. “Yes.”

“I’ve been wanting to make them since I saw your video, but I’ve been forced to work.”

“Yeah, I’ve been rude making her do her job,” a tall man with dark hair and dark eyes said. He strode through the office with an air of command. “I’m Commander Delano.”

She smiled. “I hope it’s okay that I brought in some treats for the team. I can’t do much, but I can cook and bake.”

“She’s modest,” Kap said. “I told my mama about that French toast you made. She’s begging me to get the recipe from you.”

“No problem.” Then she saw a big, bald Hawaiian standing behind Del. He was huge and just as her Aunty Lulu had described him. “Mr. Lee?”

He nodded. “Please call me Adam.”

“I’m so sorry about Aunty Lulu. I didn’t think she would start a ruckus with your mother.”

He smiled, making him look less fierce. “Don’t worry. I’m accustomed to the Aunty Network.”

“Well, is there a place to put all these?”

Her father was holding four boxes of muffins and cookies. Insomnia had her baking all hours of the night. Every time she tried to sleep, she heard gunshots. She knew that it was probably some form of PTSD, but one way to deal with it was to bake.

“Of course. We have a break room.”

Keely watched her father be led back by Adam as she made her way over to Ryan.

“Hey, wait, why does he get something special?” Autumn asked.

“Autumn, love of my life, you’re doing it again.”

She sighed and looked at Ryan’s captain, Seth, then back at Keely. “Sorry.”

She didn’t sound very sorry, but Keely nodded in her direction. “This is actually for Maya.”

She handed the bag to Ryan, who opened it. Maya cocked her head. Keely stepped closer and slipped her fingers over Maya’s head, scratching her behind her ear.

“You said she didn’t have any allergies, and I’ve made a lot of these before when I worked at a bakery. There’s peanut butter, an apple, and oat varieties. I hope she likes them.”

“Thank you. You didn’t have to do it.”

“That’s why I did.”

Then a long, drawn-out silence until some whispers reached her. She glanced at Ryan’s team, who were all watching them.

“Did you need anything else from me?”

“Excuse me?”

“Yes,” Seth said. He picked up a device and clicked a few buttons. “You don’t know these men?”

The pictures of the dinner guests filled the screen.

She discovered that the two white dudes were Walt Reynolds and Ted Mason.

Then she looked at the other two. “They were the guests last night, but those aren’t the names Mrs. Kelly told me.

Well, for two of them. The white dudes didn’t tell me their names, which I thought was odd, but sometimes rich people are jerks.

But those other two aren’t the names I was given. ”

“What?” Ryan asked.

She pointed to the picture labeled Victor Quan. “Well, that one was Mr. Pak. He ate a lot. Like he asked for seconds the moment Yasmin put down the plate in front of him. My mahi mahi is very popular. Then, the one with the dead eyes was Mr. Sato.”

“Dead eyes?” Ryan asked.

She nodded, pointing to the man whose name was Akio Ito. “He just gave me the creeps, but it was my hang up. I didn’t want to deal with him. I think it’s because he didn’t really talk to me.”

They all shared a look. “Did the Kellys seem to know them?”

“They were their guests. Of course, they knew them.”

Again, silence filled the room. She looked at her father, who had just returned to the room. He wore a bleak expression. “Keekee, if they lied about their names, that’s not a good thing.”

Keely looked around the room, then her gaze locked with his.