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But they also needed to work right now. “Breakfast? I’ll get SWAT to meet us there. We can compare notes while one of my guys waits for the judge to get into work this morning so he can get a signed warrant for Aaron’s house.”
She eyed him. “They did fill you in, didn’t they?”
“Hungry?”
Clare blew out a breath. “Not exactly, but breakfast is probably a good idea.”
She drove behind him, and when they were seated at a circular booth big enough for eight, she slid in beside him. Gage didn’t like being boxed in but got to turn and face her. “The guys aren’t here, so…”
He took a breath while she studied him with a soft expression. Gage put his arm up on the back of the seat. “I met my father yesterday.”
She gasped.
He told her about finding his birth certificate—a different copy from what he had—in his mom’s things, and how he’d found the old man’s name. Then his address. “I went to see him. Alistair McCauley.”
“As in…Captain McCauley?” Her eyes widened.
“Dennis is, I guess, my half-brother.” He could hardly believe it. “He doesn’t know. I haven’t decided how far I’ll go announcing my father’s sins to anyone it concerns. But I saw him. He knows who I am. Alistair.”
She gave him a small smile, lifted her hand, and touched his cheek. “That’s wonderful, Gage.”
He nodded. “God gave me a gift I never would have had.”
Someone cleared their throat.
“Don’t mind us.” Liam slid into the other end of the bench, smirking. Blake pulled out a chair. Peter and Bob were two tables away, drinking from white stone mugs and waiting for the detective.
Jasper sat down on the other side of Clare. “Good morning.”
“Morning, guys.” She smiled.
They all stared at her, captivated.
Gage said, “Okay, coffee and down to business.”
Ten minutes later he swallowed his first bite of hashbrowns—officially making all right in the world—and said, “Anything from Steven Phoenix overnight?”
Blake nodded. “Third shift sergeant had him in the box for two hours. Steven gave up his real last name, and we confirmed his online persona. He did good keeping it all disconnected. Gave us the runaround.”
“Vanguard would have found out soon enough,” Clare said.
Everyone paused what they were doing. More than one mug stopped before lips. They all stared at her.
“I’m just saying,” she added.
Liam snorted. Blake actually grinned. Gage said, “So would the PD.”
“Yeah, but Vanguard would’ve been faster.” She grinned and took a sip of coffee.
Gage was pretty sure they’d have looked better doing it, but no way he was going to say that to her. Not in front of the guys. “And we have Aaron’s name.” He turned to Clare. “What about what Katrina told you?”
She nodded, setting her cup down. “That Aaron is insane? She has no idea what—if anything—he has planned. Just that he beat her and tied her to a chair. She didn’t see anyone else. She might be able to confirm it’s the place she was held after we find it, but she can’t tell us where it is.”
Jasper grunted and took another bite of his omelet.
“Until Alex wakes up, we’re at the end of intel we’re able to gather without pressuring everyone we’ve already talked to again.” Clare paused. “Or talking to my mother.”
Gage didn’t want to go there.
