Page 21 of Tracing Her Stolen Identity (Secure Watch #2)

“Established,” Sky said with an eye roll. “The thing is, I’m not sure he has the skills to do all of this.”

“From what I can see, he doesn’t,” Iris agreed. “I’m still digging to see if he has friends who do.”

“Miles has friends?” Skylar asked the question with such shock that Reece snorted.

“None I’ve found so far, but I’ll keep looking.”

Skylar froze and turned to Reece. “Camille Castillo.”

“Who?” Mina asked, but Sky never took her eyes off Reece.

“Camille Castillo. They were tight, like two peas in a pod.”

Reece noticed Mina patiently waiting for him to get the information for her and nodded. “Is Camille from Duluth, and is she as aggressive as Miles?”

“I don’t know if she’s from Duluth,” Sky answered, turning to the rest of the team as though she had just remembered they were there.

“But she’s been part of the art scene for…

” She tossed her head back and forth as though trying to sort things out.

“At least a year now. She’s always the first to come to Miles’s defense, but when asked if they’re together, she vehemently denies it. ”

“So they’re friends but not lovers?” Mina asked.

Sky gave her the palms up. “I can’t answer that, but I know they’re friends.

Iris jogged my memory on that, so thank you.

” Iris gave her a nod before she stared at the table again.

“I’m not her favorite person, either.” Sky gave him a cheeky smile, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“That said, I haven’t had the same hostile interactions with her that I’ve had with Miles.

Camille does stained-glass art that’s gorgeous and all original.

She sells well in all the galleries, so I haven’t figured out why she hangs with Miles.

Not that I’ve spent too much energy thinking about it. ”

“Camille Castillo.” Mina spelled the name aloud, and Sky nodded when she finished. “Do you know her age?”

“Not her exact age, but she’s close to mine. There can’t be that many Camille Castillos in Duluth.”

“Iris,” Mina said, “I’ll hand you this to look at since you’re digging on Miles.”

“Yes, boss,” Iris said, scratching on her pad of paper.

“She probably has nothing to do with this,” Sky said, glancing between everyone while chewing on her lip. “I just thought maybe you could learn more about Miles through her.”

Reece gently rubbed her neck. “She won’t know we’re looking into her. This is purely information gathering.”

“That’s correct,” Mina said with a reassuring smile.

“If they’re friends, maybe he’s staying at her house or working together on a project.

It’s important to check out the people close to him so we can eliminate them as part of the problem.

Now, that brings us to the videos. Did you find anything, Iris? ”

Iris shook her head. “As you know, it’s nearly impossible to reverse engineer a voice like the one Binate is using.”

“I don’t understand,” Skylar said, glancing around the table. “Reverse engineer it?”

“They’re trying to decipher Binate’s voice to see if you can recognize it,” Reece explained.

“I tried everything, but as expected, I couldn’t hear the original voice,” Iris replied.

“That’s another thing,” Skylar said. “The fact that he uses ‘Binate’ rather than ‘Binary’ is telling. Miles would never use something so overly used as ‘Binary.’ He’d find something close that means the same thing.”

“Wow, he really stretched himself going with ‘Binate,’” Iris said with an eye roll to which no one could hide their snort.

“That’s Miles for ya,” Skylar said.

“Well, I got this sound when I started playing with the recording. Do you recognize it?” Iris asked.

She held up her finger and then pressed a button on her computer. A sound filled the room, and Skylar glanced at Reece. “That’s a ship’s horn.”

“A laker,” Reece agreed. “He has to be somewhere by the lake to pick that up.”

“Lakers honk going in and out of a harbor, right?” Cal asked.

“Yes, and occasionally if they pass another ship, but you’d be hard-pressed to hear that on the shore from the middle of a shipping lane, especially loud enough to be picked up on a recording.”

“You’re saying our best bet is to search areas around a harbor?” Mina asked, and Reece nodded.

“You can eliminate any harbor that can’t accommodate the big lakers, but my bet would be on Duluth/Superior or Two Harbors. That said, I don’t know how it helps.”

“We’ll look for any property owned by Miles or his family. If we find any, it’s a place to investigate. In the meantime, I want you to take Skylar back to the cabin and comb through those videos,” Mina said.

“What are we looking for?” Skylar asked.

“Anything that might give him away,” she explained. “Something he might say that jogs your memory about a conversation you had with him or something you know about him. That kind of thing.”

“I can do that,” Skylar said with a nod. “Cal, will you get in trouble if the police find out I’m here? Or do they already know?”

“No and no,” Cal said. “If they learn you’re here, they’d need a warrant to enter the property. That said, there’s no way they’ll find out you’re here. We all know you aren’t responsible for the vandalizations. Even my cop friend knows that, but they’re being pressured to find you.”

“I can understand that,” Skylar said, shaking her head sadly. “I’m just upset that anyone thinks I’d ever damage anything, much less an art gallery.”

“What matters is that none of us here believe it,” Reece said, squeezing her hand gently.

“What he said,” Mina agreed. “Not only would it be physically impossible, but it doesn’t make sense. Whoever thought this up isn’t the brightest bulb in the pack.”

“Miles.” Iris coughed the word, bringing a smile to Reece’s lips.

“I hate to agree with her, but I do,” Skylar said. “As long as no one is going to get in trouble for me being here, we’ll watch those videos repeatedly if it helps you guys figure this out.”

“You’re safe here,” Cal said, squeezing her shoulder.

“Considering the day you’ve had, I don’t want you to worry about anything.

This is a security company, and even if the cops suspect you’re here, they’d have to prove it, and that’s going to be hard when I don’t have to let them on my property.

” He gave her a wink and then stood. “I need to touch base with the rest of the crew, but Mina, keep me posted on anything you need my help with.”

“You got it, boss.”

“Charlie, out,” he said, leaving the room.

“I’ll take my leave as well,” Iris said. “I’ve got some other cases to get back to, but once those are caught up, I’ll dig into Miles and his friend.”

“Iris, wait,” Mina said, standing, too. “The Miles angle is urgent. Let’s figure out who can take your other cases while you focus on this.” She turned to Reece. “Take Skylar back to the cabin and let her rest while she listens to the videos. You can keep searching, too.”

Reece nodded, knowing without her saying it whom he should keep searching for—Silas Sullivan.