Page 19 of Hollow Trace

“Brea’s race. That’s where she got the watch and the patches. I don’t know who gave them to her. She didn’t say, and I didn’t ask.” He didn’t add that he’d been too messed up to think. To ask the kind of questions he normally would have. “But it would have been one of the sponsors, right? Someone at the race. And there’s got to be some sort of digital record of who was there. If we can get a name…”

Zadie grinned. “We can hack our way into some intel.” She headed for the door. “C’mon, Mountie.”

Zadie rushed past, Gideon close behind. Scout moved aside and waved Quinn forward. He stepped into the main room, waiting until she stopped beside him, brow arched, looking adorably confused.

He offered his hand, striding forward once she’d slid her palm across his. He wasn’t sure why he needed the anchor. Just knew that his heart wouldn’t stop racing until her skin touched his, brought him the sense of peace he thought he’d lost.

Gus mumbled under his breath as they crossed the main living space then through another door. A blast of cool air mixed with ozone and orange cleaner washed over Quinn as he walked into the room, a bank of computers and monitors lined across the far wall.

Zadie took a seat with Gideon settling in beside her before she tapped on the keyboard, bringing the machine to life. She typed in a password, then glanced over at him. “Let’s start with the race. Do you know what it was called or where it located?”

Quinn leaned in. “It was called the Crucible 100 out of Squamish. Brea was pretty stoked because it was by invitation only. They chose the highest-ranking runners over a series of previous races. She thought it was an honor.”

His throat closed around the last few words, the memory of her on her ass, hands raised in defense nearly taking him to his knees. If she died because he hadn’t reached her in time…

Scout squeezed his hand without saying a word, just pressed her side against his as if she knew he was slipping. Grinding his teeth together, he used the pressure to keep from shouting as Zadie continued typing, the constant noise grating on his last nerve.

A clock ticked in the background, every strike jacking up his nerves until he wanted to put his fist through the damn thing.

Zadie finally stopped, chewing on her bottom lip before leaning back. “I’ve scoured the web, and I can’t find any official race called the Crucible. Are you sure that’s right?”

“She had a running shirt with the name and logo on it, so yeah, pretty confident.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “What about searching for permits? In order to get the distance they need, these races encompass a huge area. No way they accomplished that without crossing onto crown land.”

Scout shifted closer. “And check social media for photos the participants would have posted. I mean, even if the race, itself, was a ploy to bring in a certain clientele for these trials as Gideon called them, the runners have likely been to enough legit ones, they’d know if it was sketchy, which means whoever organized it had to make it look and feel legit.”

Quinn nodded. “Scout’s right. And there’s usually a photographer who posts images on a website where participants can purchase copies, and the sponsors all have tents. And they’d need security.”

Zadie smiled, glancing at Gideon. “Already running algorithms to search for all of that, but it’s going to take time. Why don’t you all get a drink, change out of those wet clothes, and I’ll shout as soon as I have anything.”

“Thanks, but I don’t really care about wet clothes, right now.” He gestured toward the other computers. “I can search the police database. Look for any tickets or disturbances out that way around the same time, maybe cross-reference⁠—”

“Quinn.” Scout stopped him from shifting over. “While I realize you’re an action sort of guy, we can’t have you digging around in an unsecured database.”

“It’s highly encrypted.”

“That’s not what I mean.” She blew out a breath, mouth pursed tight, a hint of red on her cheeks. Just like in the forest when she’d pulled her hand away — as if she wanted to disappear. “We can’t risk that the wrong person might get alerted to what you’re searching for.”

Quinn frowned. “The wrong person? Like who? Another cop? Because those are the only people who have access.”

“Finch has people everywhere. Hell, he turned our newest recruit, and Kane nearly died because of it. We all did.”

“Are you implying he has dirty cops in his pocket?”

Scout schooled her features, and he knew that was exactly what she thought before she said a word. “All I’m saying is, until we know how far his reach extends, we need to keep everything we do on the down low, and you scouring police reports outside your jurisdiction is definitely a red flag we can’t afford to have flapping in the wind.”

Quinn inched closer, forcing her to look up to maintain eye contact. “I already told you. I’m not standing down on this one.”

“I’m not asking you to. But we’re a team, and that means that sometimes you trust someone else do the heavy lifting if they’re better suited for it. This is Zadie and Gideon’s dominion. If there’s anything out there, they’ll find it.”

“Except that I’m not really part of the team, am I?”

Scout flinched. Not a lot, but he noticed. Hell, he’d notice if she breathed funny.

She clenched her jaw, eyes narrowed. “That’s not fair.”

“What’s not fair is spending the last three months putting flowers on an empty grave. Driving up to that godforsaken mine and staring at the rubble, believing you were buried beneath it.” He leaned in. “Wondering if you had even a moment’s pause before shutting me out.”

Her jaw quivered, the spark in her eyes that he’d always admired, dimming. “It wasn’t just my life on the line if I went rogue, and you know I’d never risk my teammates just so I could be happy. That’s not who I am.”