One other thing. I’ve run the floppy disk—do you know how hard it was to locate that kind of antique computer??—and it’s all code. And the few words that are on there are in Russian. I’ve sent it to CRRU—with my translation of the Russian words—to see what they can do with them. The newspaper clippings—also in Russian—seem innocent enough until you notice the little marks on certain letters. CRRU also has the clippings because, again, I think it’s a code. I’ve been tinkering with it off and on myself and think I’ve figured that code out, but I’m still playing with it. Hopefully, CRRU will figure it out faster than I do. I’ll let you know when I have something more. Until then, I’m headed to bed for a few hours. I’ll text when I’m back online.
Thanks, Daria. You’re killing it.
A heart emoji flashed at him and he smothered a laugh. She might be a genius, but she was still a very young one. He’d done a little investigating on his own and was surprised to learn that Daria had been taken in by Linc and Allie St. John. When she was just shy of eighteen years old, she’d helped them put her organized crime boss of a father out of commission. Linc was in a field office in Columbia and they’d worked together on several cases in the past.
Zane hadn’t responded, so hopefully that meant he was sleeping.
Caden pressed his thumb and forefinger to his suddenly gritty eyes. Sleep would be nice, but—
But why not? The puzzle pieces were starting to blur and his mind was fogging. He’d be no help to anyone in his current fatigued state. With a sigh, he set the alarm on his watch and lowered his head to his forearms.
Two hours later, the buzzing on his watch woke him. Or maybe it was the tantalizing smells of coffee and cinnamon. Instantly awake, he sat up and spotted Ava across from him, bent over the puzzle. She’d managed to finish a good bit of it, which told him she’d been awake about as long as he’d been asleep. A coffee cup and a plate containing a few crumbs sat to her left. How had she managed to do that without waking him?
She glanced up. “Hey.”
“Hey.” The word came out on a croak and he cleared his throat. “How are you feeling?”
“Like a truck ran over me, but at least a little rested. How about yourself?”
“Like I could use another six hours or so, but grateful for the two I got. I must have been really gone.”
“Yep. You were snoring.”
He chuckled. “At least I didn’t drool.” He checked to make sure and Ava let out a short laugh. He picked up a puzzle piece and fit it into its spot. “Any idea what it is?” The section he’d just added to was still a good-sized hole.
“There’s a lot of black and white, but it’s still missing too much to figure out what that part is. I see a few words, some animals, which is where the color comes in, part of a blueprint—which gives us some blue lines to match up.” She frowned. “I think it’s a collection of different things.”
“But no password?”
She sighed. “Not yet, but I decided it was time to bring out the big guns.” She pointed to her desk and he noticed she had the laptops hooked up to each other. “I tried a lot of different combinations with no luck, so I’m putting my hacking skills to work.”
He covered his ears. “I didn’t hear that.”
A laugh bubbled from her and she shook her head. “Not to worry, Mr. Agent Man. It’s all legal. I have some software on my laptop that can scan for passwords on his computer and—” She shrugged. “Anyway, when it finds the right combination, it’ll beep. Unless . . .”
“Unless?”
“Unless it doesn’t. There’s no telling what he used or how long it is. It could be a fifty-letter phrase or something. But I figured I’d let it run while I worked on the puzzle and thought. Puzzles always help me think.” She ran her fingers over a portion they’d finished. “And I’ve been thinking how special this one is. He had to have had this made shortly before he died.”
“I’m honored I get to be the one to put it together with you,” he said, his voice soft.
She smiled once more. “Thanks.”
“Could I ask you a question?” he asked. “A personal one?”
Wariness flashed in her eyes, but she shrugged. “Sure.”
“Whatever happened to that guy you were seeing?”
A blank expression replaced the wariness. “What guy?”
“I don’t know. I was over at Brooke and Asher’s house a few weeks ago and they mentioned you had a date.” The announcement had sparked something in him. Since that night, he’d made it to the memory care home as often as possible.
Her brow furrowed and she shook her head. “I have no idea.”
“They said you met him at some coffee shop?”
A light flickered in her gaze. “Oh, Ryan.” She laughed, a short burst of sound that died quickly. “He was a nice guy, but not for me.”
Relief crashed over him like a tidal wave. “Okay, well. Huh.”
“What made you ask about him?”
“I was just curious. Wondered if you were still seeing him.”
“You know I’m not.”
“Well, you hadn’t mentioned him to Sarah, so—”
“You asked Sarah about him?” Her brow arched on the question.
Busted. He hesitated. “Yes. She said she didn’t know what I was talking about.”
She studied him a moment. “I don’t talk about my . . . dating life. Mostly because I don’t have one. I didn’t say anything to Sarah because there wasn’t anything worth saying. The only reason Brooke knew about it was because she was in the room with me when I took the call and accepted the date.”
“Oh.”
She eyed him, her gaze making him want to squirm and very sorry he’d brought up the topic.
“Caden?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t really date much.”
Well, that was good news. For the most part. Or was it terrible news? “Okay.” He was ready to put the awkward topic to rest.
“My father’s job pretty much ruined dating for me.”
Caden blinked. “What do you—?”
“Never mind. It’s not important. I shouldn’t have said that.” A sigh slipped from her. “Did you hear anything from Zane while I was sleeping? We still don’t know what those newspaper clippings were or what was on the floppy disks.”
Should he let it go or push his agenda? Letting it go seemed to be the better idea. “I had a text conversation with Daria, one of our analysts,” he finally said. “She’s still working on that and has others doing the same. They finally dug up an old computer to see if they can read the disks.” He picked up his phone and tapped the screen. “Zane was supposed to be getting a few hours of sleep, but he texted that he’s up, so I’ll call him and see what the plan is for him today.”
“Don’t you have an eight o’clock meeting?”
“It was supposed to be with the task force, but I’m going to request we postpone it—or that they meet without me and fill me in later. I have an idea I’d like to chase down first.”