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“Yes, you can,” Molly said in a no-nonsense tone. “At least enough to go through the papers that Sylvi brought. Phin’s going to sit with Elijah until Lucien and Chelsea get here. Now, let’s go. The staff said we could use a family waiting room.”
Smiling wryly, Phin held up a deck of cards. “Got these in the gift shop. Kid’ll probably kick my ass, but it’ll keep his mind off you. Go. I’ve got this.”
“Thank you,” Kaj said, gratitude washing over him.
He followed Molly to a small room with a lumpy sofa and a few hard plastic chairs. Sylvi stood against one wall, trembling, two boxes at her feet.
“How’s Elijah doing?” Sylvi’s voice broke, her eyes red and puffy.
Kaj cleared his throat. He would not cry. If he did, he might not stop. “Much better. Thanks for bringing these. We’re hoping that there’s something in Van’s records that will help direct us to the property.”
“Aaron really said that my brother owned the land?” Sylvi pressed. “Why would Aaron help us? He killed my brother.”
Kaj had sent Molly to Sylvi’s shop to tell her that Val had been taken. Sylvi had been in shock but had rallied quickly. The younger woman was as strong as her sister.
Molly had a key to Val’s house, and the two of them had retrieved the boxes of papers.
“He did,” Kaj confirmed. “Aaron’s angry that Corey tried to kill Jace and Rick. Whether he was telling the truth remains to be seen.”
“Let’s find out.” Molly handed them sterile gloves. “Put these on.”
“Shouldn’t we give these papers to the police?” Sylvi asked.
“Technically, we are handing them over to law enforcement,” Molly said. “Kaj’s the ADA.” She moved one of the boxes close to the sofa. “Kaj?”
He blinked, realizing he’d zoned out, worrying about Val. “Sorry.” Kaj pulled on the gloves and took the other box. “My mind is racing.”
Molly shot him a look of sympathy. “I get that. Rein it in. Get to work.”
Her tone was exactly the shove that Kaj needed. He pulled out a stack of papers. “These are financial records,” he said after a few minutes. “Ivan seems to have had a few aliases.”
Sylvi took a tablet from her purse. “Tell me what they are. I’ll take notes.”
The list of aliases was ten long by the time Kaj had made it through the first stack. “These names are listed as owners of bank accounts. I wonder if the accounts are still active.”
“Does that matter?” Sylvi asked. “I don’t want his drug money. Neither will Ingrid.”
“If these are still active, they could be autopaying things like property taxes or insurance,” Kaj explained. “I need a laptop.”
Molly dialed her cell phone. “Antoine, we need one of your laptops.” She listened, then told Antoine where they were. Two minutes later, Antoine joined them, his three laptop bags hanging from his body.
“You rang?” he asked, his eyes haggard and worry-worn.
“Have a seat,” Kaj said. “We need you and your machines to do internet searches.”
Antoine opened his laptops, typed in the passwords, then gave one to Molly and another to Kaj. He glanced at Sylvi. “I have my own Wi-Fi. I’ll send you the password so you can use your tablet. What are we searching?”
“Property records,” Kaj said. “The property that Aaron thinks Corey’s using as a hideout is west of Lake Cataouatche, which is in St. Charles Parish. Look up their property records website and start searching on the Ivan aliases we’ve found so far.”
“Makes sense,” Antoine said. “Let’s do this. What’s the first name?”
Sylvi grimaced. “John Smith.”
Kaj typed it in the search page. “Less than ten results.” He plugged the addresses into Google Maps. “None of them in the bayou. Next name?”
Thirty minutes later, they’d found no properties in the bayou or elsewhere under any of Ivan’s names, and Kaj’s anxiety was ramping up.
“Back to the box,” Molly said and pulled out another stack of papers. A folder of photographs spilled onto the floor, and Sylvi knelt to pick them up.
