Finding Carly (SEAL Team Hawaii #5)(32)

“So his alibi is bullshit,” Slate observed. “He said he was with his girlfriend.”

“Yes,” Baker agreed. “But since he was recorded driving his car at the time Keyes was standing on the beach with Kenna, he couldn’t have been the pickup guy in the ocean.”

“Shit. Okay, what else?” Mustang asked.

“I talked to Rebecca, the girlfriend. She tried to bullshit me with the story she and Luke had come up with, but I quickly convinced her that wasn’t going to fly. She admitted Luke hadn’t been with her, but she swore she didn’t know anything about the plan to kidnap Carly. And honestly, she doesn’t seem like the type. Very mousy, zero self-esteem, no close relatives to look after her, and Luke’s alienated her from her friends. She’s also young. Just turned eighteen a few months ago. I advised her that it was in her best interest to get away from Luke; that the first chance he had, he’d throw her under the bus to save his own ass.”

“Like he already attempted to do,” Midas said dryly. “By involving her in this shit and using her as an alibi, and getting her to lie to the police.”

“Exactly,” Baker said with a nod.

Jag wanted to feel bad for Luke’s girlfriend, but at the moment he didn’t have it in him. “Who else?” he asked, still pacing. He wanted to do something. Standing around talking about what had happened, and what had almost happened to Carly, and guessing who might still want to harm her wasn’t sitting well.

“I tracked down the three friends,” Baker said. “Jeremiah Barrowman was Keyes’s closest friend, best I can tell. The two did a lot together. They were thick as thieves and he’s on the top of my list of suspects. Of course, Barrowman denies being involved. He told me that Keyes was always bitchin’ about one thing or another, and Carly had become his latest whipping post. When they got together to play poker, he was constantly complaining about her. About how he’d worked hard to ‘train’ her—again, his words, not mine, Jag. Settle the fuck down.”

Jag realized that his fists had clenched and he’d taken a step toward Baker as if to beat the shit out of him. That would be a mistake. Even though Baker was in his fifties, the man was definitely still in shape and could quite possibly win in a hand-to-hand encounter.

“Sorry,” Jag said. “I just hate hearing anything derogatory about her.”

“I get that, but I’m just relaying what these other assholes said. You want to hear this or not?”

“Yes,” Jag said simply.

Baker nodded and continued. “Barrowman admitted he knew what Keyes had planned, but swears he didn’t have anything to do with it. Told me that he wanted nothing to do with a kidnapping plot, even if he didn’t like Carly.”

“Do you believe him?” Midas asked.

“It doesn’t matter if I believe him or not,” Baker said. “His alibi checks out. He was at work, or at least his timecard says he was. He works at the Waialae Country Club and he didn’t clock out until well after everything went down.”

“That’s by the coast, right?” Pid asked. “He could’ve gotten someone to clock him in and then taken a boat from there. It’s not too far from Waikiki.”

“Right,” Baker agreed. “Which is why I haven’t ruled him out.”

“What about the others?” Jag asked. The more Baker talked, the more Jag wanted to get to Carly right this second and make sure she was all right.

“Gideon Sparks and Beau Langford are Keyes’s other two close friends. I guess the four of them got together at least once a week to play poker or watch football, and drink. Sparks doesn’t have an alibi. He’s not married, has no kids. He’s employed at the Honolulu Zoo. I guess he works with some of the bigger animals. He’s kind a loner and the people I talked to who know him didn’t have much to say, just that he keeps to himself. Anyway, he had that day off. Told me he was doing errands. He was able to produce a few dated receipts, but I haven’t had time yet to verify his location on any of the surveillance cameras at the shops where he claims to have been. Beau Langford is the youngest of the three friends, at forty-five. The others are all in their fifties. He works at a marina.”

Jag abruptly stopped pacing. “Yeah?”

“Yup. But I scoured the surveillance videos at the marina from that night and haven’t found evidence that he took any of the boats out,” Baker said.

Jag felt nauseous. He’d been hoping Baker would immediately solve this shit. Help them figure out the threat and neutralize it. He now realized this wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d thought.

“But Langford would know where all the cameras were, since he works at the marina. He’d easily be able to go undetected if he wanted to,” Baker added. “He also doesn’t have anyone to back up his alibi. Says he was stuck in traffic on the interstate. With all the rain that moved in so quickly that night, we all know how easily the interstates flood around here.”

“Cell phone activity?” Slate asked.

Baker shrugged. “Langford said he dropped his phone when he was running to his car. Landed in a puddle and fucked it up.”

“Convenient,” Pid muttered.

“I checked into Wes Schell, Keyes’s landlord, and while they seemed to be friendly enough on the surface, apparently the two men hated each other. Keyes had a bad habit of paying his rent late, which pissed off Schell. I’m ninety percent sure if he had the chance, Schell would’ve turned Keyes in for pretty much anything, just to get him out of his apartment complex.”