I’d hoped that my team had found something I’d missed, but Eli was right—the investigation was solid, but there just weren’t enough leads. “Has anyone heard from Kee?”

“She was fine when I left a few hours ago,” Anja said. “We found the data store, so she’s probably still looking at it.”

“If she’s found something interesting, Varro will have to pull her out kicking and screaming,” Lexi said. She and Nilo were at separate desks, but they appeared to be working together without stabbing each other.

“Varro says they’re still in the workshop,” Torran confirmed. “Kee’s been staring at her slate and grumbling ever since she and Anja connected to the data.”

“Kee, have you found anything?” I asked over the comm.

I got a long sigh in return. “Maybe,” she said. “The vehicle logs were wiped but not completely. Recovery is slow and finicky, but I think I’ll be able to piece together the data once I’m done.”

“Are you at a place where you can stop for the night?” I cut off her grumbled protests. “It’s after midnight standard and I need you sharp. Downtime will do you good.”

“It’s still light outside!”

I turned to the window. So it was. The long shadows meant the sun was low in the sky, but it was definitely still light. My body clock didn’t care and demanded sleep. I’d been up for too long.

“Fine, you have until sunset,” I agreed, “then I’m letting Varro drag you out.”

I could hear her smirk. “That’s not the threat you think it is.”

I let my own smile seep into my tone. “If it gets you out of the workshop, I’ll call it a win. One hour, Kee. I mean it.”

“Aye aye, Captain.” The sarcasm was heavy, but then she added, “Thanks for looking out for me.”

“Always,” I promised.

I turned back to the rest of my team. “I’m going to work for another hour to ensure Kee doesn’t stay up all night, but the rest of you are free to bow out whenever. We’ll start again in the morning.”

They all turned back to their workstations. I plopped down next to Torran. “Let’s go over it again.”

We did, but the facts didn’t change. In the first video snippet, the kidnappers emerged from an underground garage in the middle of the night. No one had been able to trace their whereabouts before that, or how they’d accessed the garage. Pieced together traffic footage showed that the transport came straight to Torran’s property, dropped off a team of eight, and then took a wide, circular route that brought it back just in time for the pickup.

Then they went straight to the edge of town and disappeared into the trees.