Chapter 22 Zill #2
Mauve looks at me like she doesn't believe me, and then back to Kolos. Her gaze narrows, and lines that she pays good money to get rid of appear in the corners of her mouth as she presses her lips tight together.
"Well, that's something to talk about another time," Mauve finally says, moving around her desk to a large plastic tub filled with letters.
"This is the latest batch we've received.
Everything else has been scanned and uploaded here.
" She holds out a small portable drive. "It's a lot, and we have it separated by digital threats and physical threats, and then by date.
Xavier is in charge of all of this, and I asked him to meet you in the conference room if you had any questions for him. "
"Is he there now?" I ask, pocketing the drive and grabbing the plastic tub.
"He is," Mauve says, walking past Kolos and me. She holds her office door open and waits for us to follow her the short distance to the same conference room where I first met Reese.
"Is there anything you think we need to be aware of?" I ask a little too pointedly, watching my mother for any kind of reaction.
Mauve gives me an irritated look, one that tells me that I need to watch my tone.
"You already know I suspect her family had something to do with the leak.
I don't know why or how, but I think they knew she wanted to be done and released her information as a way to stop her.
Or maybe they were offered a lot of money. "
"Stupid plan either way," Kolos mumbles.
"We're going to get through as much of this as we can while Reese is doing her photoshoot. Are we good to use the conference room?"
Mauve swipes around on her comm. "The only meeting scheduled already happened. I can't promise another won't be scheduled, but for now it's all yours."
"Thank you," I tell her. "If we find anything, I'll make sure to let you know."
Mauve gives me a quick nod before turning on her heel and leaving to head back to her office.
If I know my mother, she's going to be sifting through the same threats and death notes we are, looking for someone who genuinely seems like they might come after Reese.
She's probably been doing it ever since we learned about the stalker.
"Xavier?" I ask as I step into the conference room. I hold my hand out when he stands from his seat. "I'm Zill, and this is Kolos. We're here to go through everything. Is there anything in particular you think we should be aware of?"
Xavier's jaw muscle flexes once, twice, and he releases a long breath. "How long are you guys here for?"
"As long as it takes," I answer, looking to Kolos, who crosses his arms over his chest and nods. "Preferably not too long, though, so if you have something you think might be useful, we're open to it."
"Even better if you give us permission to just sift through your mind. It makes everything go by faster," Kolos says, his smile making him look unhinged instead of pleasant.
"Oh, I kind of thought you already were," Xavier starts, rubbing one hand with the other. "You hear about Sombrans and what they can do, so I just assumed. But yeah, if you need my permission, go ahead."
"I already did, but Zill here likes to follow the rules," Kolos says, smirking when I let out an irritated little growl because he knows he's not supposed to go rooting through people's minds without permission. "I'll start going through what Xavier was thinking about while you get caught up."
He pats my shoulder as he walks past me, and then plops into one of the conference room chairs, kicking his feet up on the table as he does. I take a deep breath, forcing myself not to give Kolos the fight he's so desperately looking for.
"Thank you for letting me in," I tell Xavier, and then take a deep breath, listening to what he's thinking.
I'm trying really hard not to think this was a waste of time, but it's starting to feel like it's been a huge waste of time.
Not only am I becoming increasingly upset by the awful things people have tried to send to Reese, but also by the sheer multitude of them.
One or two people being upset enough about her singing, dancing, and enjoying herself to tell her to kill herself seems like a number I would expect.
A reasonable number would be zero, because what is she doing that is so awful as to warrant this kind of attention?
But that's not the point, because the number isn't zero, it isn't just a couple, it's hundreds.
Based on the number of letters, both digital and physical, the total could be in the thousands.
I'm being optimistic and saying these were all sent by hundreds of unhinged people who sent multiple letters instead of facing the reality that thousands of unhinged people hate my soulbond for the audacity to…
What? Wear skimpy clothing? Sing about enjoying sex?
It's ridiculous, and the longer we sit at this table going through them, the angrier I'm getting.
"How about you go take a break," Kolos says, looking at me out of the corner of his eyes.
"I'm fine," I tell him through gritted teeth.
"Whatever you say. I was just offeri–" Kolos stops talking, and I look over at him, knowing he never misses his chances to give me a hard time. He's frowning as he zooms in on something, scrolling back and forth, side to side.
"I think I might have something," Kolos says, setting the comm down and sliding it down to me.
I grab the comm, not caring at all about whatever he thinks I might be upset about. The message is one that was sent to one of Empress's social media accounts, and the sender is one of those generic, randomized names if someone can't think of one.
'You're a fucking dead bitch! All of that fucking money and you think you're so much better than us! FUCK YOU! Send the fucking money or you'll regret it!'
"She wasn't sending money to anyone but her family," I say, confused about what this person wanted from Reese. If she were being blackmailed by someone, my shadows would've already figured that out since they've been in her mind, learning everything there is to know about her.
"No, that's why I stopped on it," Kolos says.
He motions for me to give the comm back and changes the screen to a different site.
"The thing is, the person who sent this was stupid enough to use an account they'd had before.
They changed the name to something basic and the profile picture to something they probably downloaded.
What they should've done is made a whole new account, but again, they were an idiot. "
As Kolos talks, he's typing on his comm, pulling up something else. I'm trying really hard not to get my hopes up. But it's difficult when we've spent all day sitting here, looking for anything to work with.
"Here," Kolos says, turning the comm back around to face me. "And I think we should pay him a visit before we tell Reese about this."
My shadows tighten around me as I look down at the comm screen.
I'm not surprised by the old profile name or the previous profile pictures.
No, it's one of the least surprising things, but it doesn't make the roiling in my stomach settle.
If anything, I'm even more upset because Reese truly deserves to have a better family.
I set the comm back on the table. The old profile belongs to Jeremy.Martin10, and the profile picture depicts a younger version of Reese's brother.
I'd been giving him the smallest benefit of the doubt because Reese so badly didn't want to believe that her family despises her as much as they do.
Whatever small amount of goodwill I was willing to offer the other man is gone.
If he's lucky, I'll be gentle when sifting through his thoughts.