Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Dragon
It’s my private investigator, Alayna.
“Dragon Locke,” I say into the phone.
“Dragon, it’s Alayna. I’ve got a lead on this Order of the Serpent.”
“Is it some kind of cult?” I ask.
She pauses. “Yes and no.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I found a group with that name. It’s a mysterious group with immense power and dangerous reach. They aren’t exactly a cult. More like a secret society. They’ve got their fingers in everything, from politics to crime. I’ve heard rumors about them, but this is the first hard lead I’ve had.”
“Sounds shady,” I say, my voice heavy with skepticism. “What’s the connection to Griffin?”
“If they have her…”
“Just say it, Alayna.”
She sighs through the phone. “Here’s the thing, Dragon. They buy women. Men and kids too, for that matter.”
“But why? What for?” I ask, though my own experience tells me I already know the answer to the question. It’s something I don’t let myself think about.
“You’re not going to like this, Dragon.”
She pauses, and I can almost hear her grimace through the phone.
“It seems they’re using them for rituals. Dark ones.”
My stomach churns. Rituals? Like some twisted version of human sacrifice? God, I can’t go there.
I gulp. “So what do we do now?”
“Whoever had Griffin before probably either sold her off, or someone saw her and arranged for her abduction.”
“But why would—” I stop myself.
Why would whoever had her sell her off? Or have her someplace where these lunatics could see her and abduct her?
Easy.
Whoever has had her all these years is a kidnapper himself, and God only knows what he’s done to her.
The thought makes me sick.
Because I know.
I know what horrors can be done to a small body.
“Dragon?” Alayna’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I force the lie out. “How do we find these Order bastards?”
“Leave that to me for now. I’m going to grab some colleagues and check out a compound in Albuquerque.”
“I’m in Taos now. I’m not too far from Albuquerque. I need to be in on this, Alayna.”
She pauses again. “It’s better if you’re not.”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass. I’m going to be in on it.”
“You know how to shoot a gun?”
I let out a light laugh. “Hell, yeah.”
That was one of the first things I learned to do when I turned eighteen. No way was I going to be anyone’s victim again.
“Do you have one on you?”
“Well…no.”
My gun is in a locked case back in Diana’s penthouse. Why I didn’t think of bringing it with me, I’ll never know. I was so laser-focused on finding my parents, I guess I glossed over some of the details.
“Leave it to us pros,” she says. “I’ll be in touch as soon as I know anything.”
“All right. Thank you.”
“Not a problem. You’ll hear from me soon.”
The call ends, and I call the number that was left for me in the metal box. To my surprise, someone answers.
“What is it?” the voice on the other line says.
“I need your help,” I say.
“I’ve given you all the help I can.”
“Are you the person who had my sister all these years?”
No response.
This is so bizarre. In some warped way, I think he cares for Griffin. Cares that she’s gone and is trying to get me to help him find her.
“I need to meet you,” I say.
“Not going to happen.”
“Look. If you kept my sister alive all these years?—”
“What makes you think I’m the person who had her?”
“You’ve made that pretty clear. You had that fabric from her pajamas that she was wearing the night she was taken.”
I don’t know for sure if she was wearing those pajamas, but I’m assuming so. They were her favorites, and she probably wore them because they reminded her of me.
Griffin loved me. Griffin probably missed me. She did miss me, according to my mother. She kept asking about me.
“You wouldn’t have answered the phone if you didn’t want to help me,” I say.
No response.
“Look. If you help me find her, I can keep your secret. No one will ever find you.”
“Right.” He scoffs.
But he just gave me the information I needed. He is the person who had Griffin all these years. He kept her alive. Perhaps he’s feeling some remorse. Especially now that she’s gone. In his own warped way, he cares for her. Maybe he’s feeling some kind of guilt, which is why he went to the trouble to contact me. And why he doesn’t want a PI involved. He’s afraid of being caught. Maybe he wants Griffin to be able to go back to her regular life now. But he’s not too keen on going down for the part he played in her abduction.
But I’m giving a lot of good qualities to some stupid degenerate who probably stole my sister from her room. Who probably tried to do it the first time and ended up cutting her when she screamed, which alerted me.
I want to accuse him of all these things. I want to shove myself through the phone line and beat this man to a pulp.
But I must keep my cool. If he stops talking, I’m sunk.
I draw in a deep breath, forcing myself to be cool.
“I miss her so much,” I say. “Do you miss her too?”
No response. But at least the line hasn’t clicked dead.
“Help me find her. Please.”
“I’ve done all I can…”
“That’s not true. You can help me find her. Help her reunite with the only family she has left.”
He doesn’t respond. Minutes pass silently, but the call still doesn’t end.
When he finally speaks, his voice is no louder than a whisper.
“When you do find her, tell her that her daughter needs her.”