"True."
"Get her out of there. I'll get her a ticket on the first flight out tomorrow. Tell her we'll do what we can to locate her cousin, but make sure she leaves the island tomorrow. We don't want a civilian getting caught in the crossfire if this thing turns south."
"Will do. And one more thing."
He told Jason about the fire. And the man on the camera feed.
"I'm glad those kids are okay." Jason groaned. "I had a feeling this wouldn't go smoothly."
"I'm thinking it was a planned distraction, but forwhat, I don't know. I'll check the other cameras I have set up and see if they caught anything suspicious during the fire."
"Okay. Keep me posted. And hey, good job rescuing the boy. He's lucky you were there today. Let me know if you want some in-person backup. Knox and I are in Houston, but we can be there in a few hours if you need us. Our client has offered the use of his private jet if we need to get there quickly."
A second voice called out on Jason's end. "Find a reason to need us. I want to ride on the jet."
"That was Knox," Jason said.
Nash chuckled. "Yeah, I heard him. Tell him I'll try my best. But for now, I just need tech support. Can you figure out who our arsonist is?"
"We'll work on it. Send me the file."
"Already done. Oh, and hey, congratulations. When I checked in with Knox yesterday, he told me you and Tayla got engaged. That's great, man."
"Thanks." The smile in Jason's voice was clear. "The wedding is going to be at a friend's beach house in Galveston in a few months. We're still trying to figure out a date, but you better be there."
"Wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Good." He cleared his throat. "Back to our plan, make sure you get Lena off the island tomorrow. I'll send you her ticket information in a few minutes. After that, are you still planning to get aboard Emil's yacht? Got an idea for that yet?"
"Working on it. I'll be in touch."
Jason laughed. "Not trying to micromanage you. Just keep me posted."
"Will do."
Nash disconnected the call and took a bite of his sandwich. It needed pickles. And tomato. The small grocerystore he'd found near the ferry didn't carry much, but he'd made do with much less on previous assignments.
He surveyed his apartment, reminding himself to be grateful for such luxurious accommodations on this mission. The garage apartment was part of his compensation package when he was hired as Emil Van Horn's personal driver. Pretty swanky digs for a chauffeur's apartment. It boasted an espresso machine, a treadmill, and a pool table.
On his last mission, he slept in the cab of a truck for a week. And survived mostly on beef jerky.
Yeah, he could tolerate a turkey sandwich without pickles.
The setting sun splashed streaks of orange and pink through the living area via the oversized, west-facing windows. Gorgeous sight. The view was his favorite perk of his temporary home. Initially, he'd hoped this assignment wouldn't last too long. But he could easily get accustomed to the nightly spectacle of the sun dipping into the palm trees.
He carried the pickle-lacking sandwich and his laptop to the large desk at the edge of the living area. He'd planned to spend his evening studying the drone footage of Emil's yacht that Jason had sent over that morning. Emil'spreference for his yacht—and the fact that he brought security guards with him every time he stayed overnight on his yacht—convinced Nash he needed a look inside.
He just needed to figure out how. Without garnering suspicion from Emil.
The visiting arsonist redirected his evening plans, though. Now, he needed to comb through the footage from the hidden cameras he'd placed around the property the day before. Hopefully, he'd see something that would help explain why the stranger wanted to set fire to an obscure fishing pier on the Van Horn property.
His task was important, of course, but scanning hours of footage in fast-forward hardly held his rapt attention. Especially since Lena Ashworth's face kept flitting through his mind.
She'd helped him fight the small blaze with determined fierceness. And he was thankful. If the sea breeze had carried any sparks to the lush area beyond the sand, their day would've ended very differently. Could that have been the arsonist's intention? To burn the whole property to the ground?
Lena's face drifted into his thoughts again. She'd seemed genuinely concerned about Kai, and even about Victoria'sdog. But she'd lied to him. Though, probably for good reason.
The fear in her eyes had been real—painfully real—as was the tug on his conscience.
