“What if someone hurts her? It will be my fault!”
“Go. Give them the box. Help them find Sapphire. Don’t think about anything else.”
“But . . .”
“Hayden!” Latifa’s voice was deep and filled with authority. I’d never heard her use that voice before. She reminded me of Grandmother. “Take the box. Find Sapphire. Worry about the rest later.”
I brought the box downstairs and took it into the dining room, where everyone had converged. I placed it on the table.
“I’m sorry I didn’t show it to you sooner, I was trying to protect--” I started, but Grandmother interrupted.
“Explanations later. Do you recall what I taught you about Caldwell women? We keep our emotions in check. We get focused. You are a Caldwell woman, are you not?”
I swallowed and nodded. She still called me a Caldwell woman, even after my failure. There was hope.
As Jaxson was the only non-family member, and a law enforcement professional, he remained unruffled in the middle of this hurricane. He stepped in and took charge. “Open the box. Tell us what you know of its arrival and its contents.”
“The box was delivered right after someone attacked the mail carrier.” I looked at my father and he nodded. He recalled the delivery.
“It was from the ferry office. It was packed with a mess of files and papers as if someone had overturned a drawer into it. I’ve been sorting everything and putting things in order.”
“What have you learned from the contents?” asked Jaxson.
“Most documents pertain to the ferry travels. The most unusual are these lists of names.” I pulled the files out of the box and laid them on the table. “There are several of these folders. There are about fifty pages of names. None are dated.
“The names are printed, followed by what appear to be signatures. Each name is labeled either Approved or Denied, but by whom, I don’t know. All the amounts are excessively large for a ferry trip. There is a column that shows the name of an agent, and one that indicates each has been paid and to whom, but that is just labeled with initials.
"Jaxson told me this morning that he discovered the captain was involved in an illegal transport scheme. I surmised that what they were transporting illegally was passengers. Specifically, the people on these lists.”
I could see Axel out of the corner of my eye. He looked furious, but he was focused and tightly contained. It made me sick to my stomach, but I continued talking.
“I have been at the library, learning more about the island of Gladstone. I believe that people would pay sizable sums to achieve the rumored magic from there. There may be a connection.”
Everyone remained silent, listening. Since there was no great gasp after my bombshell about Gladstone, I surmised that they all were familiar with Gladstone and the myths.
“I found this note at the very bottom of the box.” I placed the oddly cheerful, yellow post-it on the table and shuddered at the hastily scribbled words: Hayden—I’m sorry. I tried. Be careful. N.
Everyone clustered around the table. They were listening attentively and scanning the documents.
“I want to show you one other very strange finding.” I glanced at my father. He was standing up, listening intently, and looking at the documents. I wasn’t sure how he would handle this next piece of news. I flipped through the pages and pulled out the one I had looked at over and over again. I pointed.
“I found this name on the page. Emily Caldwell. The last column says Denied.”
My father fell back into the chair behind him. His eyes opened wide, and he turned ghostly white.
Eleanor turned to Leonard and spoke loudly. “Leonard. Keep your focus. We must find Sapphire. Examine your emotions on this point later.”
My father shook his head, flexed his shoulders, and sat upright. With a valiant effort, his expression cleared. He looked at Jaxson. “What is the process?”
Jaxson gave each person a handful of papers and files and instructed us to read carefully and look for any clues to where they might be holding Sapphire. He said any mention of a location or address could be a lead.
“Two other things,” Jaxson said, as was handing out papers. “We have suspicions about the ferry helmsman, Kerbie Gomez, and two mechanics, known as Gronk and Shrek. They are brothers, actual names Jared and Herman Serano. Keep your eye out for those names.”
I was eternally grateful that he left out the reason he suspected them was based on the photo I took on the day of the package delivery. That would give the family one more reason to be furious with me.
“Also, watch for names with the initials of A, K, V, L, or M—those that are on the ledgers. Obviously, Kerbie could be the K, but that’s not a given. Watch for these names also—Lester Wright, Archibald Zimmerman, and Vito Stallone.” He grabbed a piece of paper and wrote done the names and initials.
“I have two officers scouting the ferry area and the general downtown area. Obviously, we can’t search all of Destiny Falls, so any tips could be critical. I’ll head to the ferry myself. Call me immediately with any locations mentioned and text me any addresses you find. Our goal is to find her as soon as possible. We don’t want to wait until the appointed time tomorrow morning. It’s to our advantage to catch the perpetrator off guard.”
With that, Jaxson left to begin his search for Sapphire. We all gathered our stacks of papers and folders and took seats around the dining table.
A minute later, Cleobella entered the room, pushing a cart of sandwiches and beverages. In keeping with the somber tone of the gathering, she was dressed in relatively normal clothing. Though I did get a glimpse of her mile-long eyelashes and sky-high heels.
34
The dining room was silent, except for the shuffle of papers as we read through the files in front of us. The
