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“I believe you,” she said, wanting him to hear the truth in her words.
“It may not seem like a lot, but I know Cass will have obtained footage from the highway cameras and will be trying to get as much information as she can about who was driving the car.”
“How can she do that?” Astrid was surprised that Cass would have that much pull with traffic management to obtain what she needed.
Growler smiled, a confident, smug one. “Cass can do anything. I’m not sure where she got her skills, but I’ve been involved in situations where she’s managed to pull things out of a digital hat that not even a magician can do. I don’t know how Ox found her, but she’s an asset to Alliez, and her skills have helped my former teammates out when trouble found their partners.”
Astrid’s mind twirled, like the spaghetti around her fork, at the information he’d just given her. There were a ton of questions she wanted to ask but kept them to herself. If Growler was convinced Cass could help them, then she would believe him and pray that in a few days, this horror movie she’d been dumped in the middle of would be over.
Chapter Fourteen
Growler strode into the office of Alliez smiling at Yolanda, who was on a phone call. His skin itched and he wished he was at the studio with Astrid, but he needed to have a meeting with Ox and Cass to find out if they’d made any progress.
The only reason he was here was because Angel had agreed to watch Astrid. Otherwise, Growler would’ve dragged Astrid to the office with him, where he knew she’d be safe.
Stopping by the staff room, he made himself a coffee and grabbed a donut from the box that was sitting on the counter before heading to the conference room. He stopped in the doorway. Irish and Cass were sitting at the table. Irish had the back of his palm resting against Cass’s forehead as if checking for a fever. Cass’s eyes were closed, but she was leaning close to Irish.
Growler felt as though he was interrupting a private moment and quietly twisted so that his back rested against the wall by the door.
During his short time with Alliez, he hadn’t had much to do with Irish, but he’d heard whispers about him from his former teammates. How he’d been dishonorably discharged from the Army for a situation involving his former Delta team. How he’d been the only one to come back alive from a mission. Only the truth of what happened on that particular one was locked behind military walls and in Irish’s soul.
If Irish was that heartless, would he be as gentle as he had just been with Cass? Clearly, Ox believed in the man and Growler trusted his boss.
Deciding that he’d given the couple enough time to do whatever it was they were doing, Growler straightened away from the wall and walked into the room. This time, Irish was standing by the window, and Cass was tapping away on her keyboard.
“Morning, how are you both?” he asked jovially as he sat at the table.
“Hey, Callum,” Cass said, looking up briefly from her screen before turning her attention back to it.
“Growler,” said Irish.
He was a man of few words, his blue eyes intense and shadowed as if he were hiding a lot of secrets. Perhaps he was. As a Delta, Irish would’ve seen and done things that even he, as a former SEAL, hadn’t been tasked to do.
“Good morning, everyone. Irish didn’t expect you here, but it’s good to see you.” Ox breezed into the room, carrying two tablets, placing one in front of Growler. “Should’ve given this to you before you started your job with Astrid. Sorry. I’ve got no excuses except that I messed up.”
Growler took the device, surprised at Ox’s candidness. “All good. It’s been a hectic few days. Things have happened quickly and unexpectedly.”
“Your thumbprint has been programmed into the device. All you need to do is press the button on the side to wake it up and then place your thumb in the middle of the screen,” Cass commented as she sat back in her seat.
Growler followed her instructions, and the tablet unlocked and the Alliez logo popped up on the screen before fading away to become the background. He expected the company to have some hi-tech gadgets, but this was impressive. “Are you going to give me some lessons on how to work this?” he asked Cass.
The woman smiled. Her eyes, hidden by dark frames, glittered mischievously. “I will and afterward there will be a test to make sure you’ve taken it all in.”
Even though Growler figured Cass was joking, his stomach turned a little at the thought of being quizzed about how well he could handle the device. “Right. Do I get to take notes?”
“Cass is teasing. She’s programmed these tablets so that it almost knows what you’re thinking before you’re thinking it,” Ox interjected.
“Now that’s a scary thought,” Growler muttered but studied the screen, noticing the folder with Astrid’s name under it. Touching the icon, it opened and listed Astrid’s details, like home address and phone number. The studio details. It also listed her parents' names and their dates of death. All the information he’d seen in hard copy form.
“Everything we have so far is in that folder you’ve opened,” Cass said. “When I update it with anything I’ve found that’s pertinent to the case, or if you do, everyone who has access to the file will be notified via email.”
“Who has access?” he asked.
“Everyone. It’s a safety measure in case anything happens while on a job. Everyone is able to see what has been happening and, therefore, able to get help to you as quickly as possible.”
Growler liked the idea of having backup at hand if things went to shit. At least when he was a SEAL, he was part of a team and someone always had his six. This new job, he was basically on a solo mission, having no one to rely on but himself, his skills, and his wits.
“I take it I need to have this on me at all times?” As much as he liked knowing his back was covered, carrying around a tablet all the time was going to be a pain in the ass.
