to know her again last night proved they shared more than a past. They shared a future that never found its feet, but two separate paths had become one again.
Josh hoped like hell when Captain Redding said he filled Ghost’s boots, that didn’t include a repeat of history like the bloody ride of terror Kayla and the admiral had endured.
Chapter Six
Five minutes later, and after Austen’s diversion tactic of exemplary proportions, Nina finished peppering the admiral with questions. Ditz had seated himself at the control console with the video playback equipment. Josh, Captain Redding, and the admiral stood behind the comm specialist’s chair to watch the Erotic Bean’s recording.
“Ditz, start the playback before Dixie opened for service,” Josh asked.
“Yes, sir.”
They watched as her staff worked behind the counter. Dixie was in and out of camera view doing whatever the hell she did as the boss. Then at zero-seven-hundred hours, she unlocked the front door.
A line of seven people waited outside. Dix held the door open as customers poured in. No one appeared suspicious. Other than a brief hello, no one lingered to talk with her before they lined up for their morning brew. On three times fast-forward speed, the video was slow enough to watch the movements of the customers, but quicker than real time.
The clock on the bottom right corner of the playback screen showed zero-seven-thirty.
Josh and the admiral saw it at the same time.
The admiral said, “Slow the video.”
Ditz reset the playback speed to real time.
A man wearing a ball cap, keeping his head down, walked up to the counter. Tall guy. Lean build. Maybe six feet, wearing a blue cotton shirt and jeans, kept looking around while Sabrina, one of Dixie’s employees, took his order and turned her back to pour him a regular coffee from the commercial-sized carafe. Meanwhile, the guy kept his head down but surveyed the coffeehouse.
“Could just be looking for an acquaintance,” Ditz said.
“Maybe,” Josh responded. The guy paid Sabrina with a bill, waved off any change and wandered toward the bookshelves. “Is there a video feed in there?” he asked as the guy disappeared into the second aisle. The shelving units were taller than the man and camouflaged his movements.
Ditz clicked through the different camera views. “Nope, unfortunately not. She’s got three views that encompass most of the store and one down the hall toward her office, but none located in the book aisles.”
“Shit.” Josh glanced at the timer on the feed.
A few seconds later the man reappeared. Looked around, then headed straight for the exit, the brim of the cap shadowing his features.
Ghost glared at the monitor with a gaze only a professional hunter could pull off. “That’s your man. When you review the other tapes, you’ll find he came in, ordered coffee, detoured into the bookshelves, delivered the note and departed.”
Josh had good gut instincts as well. “You’re probably right. Ditz, play back when he’s at the counter and zoom in on his hands.”
Ditz nodded and reversed the video. This is where their equipment excelled. Alpha Squad’s comm expert zoomed in for a closer look. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough.
“He’s wearing a ring,” Josh said. It was too blurry to make out the details, but he wore it on his right-hand ring finger. “Can you clarify any more than that?”
“Sorry, sir. Even with our equipment it still relies on the quality of Dixie’s security system, and this is definitely a cheap model.”
Nina bowed closer, her long, red ponytail dripping over her shoulder. “Ditz, can you capture the ring and send me a copy?”
“Sure.”
He quickly typed out the commands and a square appeared around the guy’s hand, then he sent Nina the pic on a secure server.
“What is it?” Rayne asked, following Nina to another console where the redhead quickly sat and logged in, then brought up the picture. Her fingers were like gunfire over the keyboard. “Just going to see if I can—”
When Nina stopped mid-sentence, both Josh and Ghost turned. Wasn’t often Mrs. Callahan interrupted herself. Nina wheeled her chair backwards so they could see the screen. On the left was the blurry image of a gold ring with an engraved symbol. On the right side of the screen was the same ring, but the image appeared crystal clear.
Josh crossed the dimly lit room. Ghost and Red followed.
Finally, a solid clue.
“So, we have ourselves a privileged psychopath,” Josh said.
The fraternity ring, identified as a secret society from one of the best universities in the country, sat boldly on the