Chapter 45
FORTY-FIVE
G RANT
“I’ve been doing a deep dive into his family, his businesses, all his connections, and I think I might have a lead on something.” Levi comes into my office looking like he’s been up half the night when, in reality, it’s probably been the entirety of it.
“All right.” I motion for him to have a seat before he falls over.
“You see these family photos here.” Levi taps the screen, showing me an image of the governor and his grown children. “This is Abbott with his family. His wife, his two sons, and his daughter.”
“She goes off to college after this photo is taken. Starts studying at VSU, and her major when she goes there is art history.”
“Interesting.” I nod as I lean forward to get a better look at the photos he’s swiping through.
“The first couple of years, she’s clearly coming home, and she’s in the family pictures. She’s there for all the big ones—Thanksgiving, Christmas, Election Day. She’s at her mother’s side, helping hit the fairs with her dad and then again talking to female voting blocks. But then…” He flips through another dozen images. “She suddenly disappears. Not just from the holidays but from everything. It seems like she’s never coming home from college. Or at least she’s not in the photos.”
“Maybe she just got camera shy? Or did she die?” I ask, wondering which of the two extremes it might be.
“I went to the school’s records, and she disappeared from them about six years ago. The same period of time when she’s no longer in the photos is the same time when she stops attending college. I thought death, too, but there’s no record of her death in any of the systems. And there’s an absentee ballot. She’s voting in absentia, claiming citizenship status, but it looks like she’s out of the country. Sure enough, there’s a passport she picks up a little bit before that period where she disappears.”
“Okay…”
“But she always votes absentee when Abbott’s running. The last time was last year.”
“I guess every vote counts,” I mutter, staring at the evidence Levi has gathered.
“So I wondered if maybe she started taking classes overseas, joined a study abroad program, or something like that. Couldn’t find any record of it though. Dug deeper into her social media and saw she also stopped posting. At least on her original accounts. But a couple of her close friends from college started posting their likes onto a new account shortly after her originals went dark.”
“I worry about your ability to dig these things up sometimes. You’re frightening, truly.” I shoot my brother a sidelong glance.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” He gives me an amused look before he returns to his explanation. “The new account has a nondescript name, no details in the bio, and the person who takes the photos never shows their face. It’s just pictures of the countryside—rapeseed fields, rolling hills with some farms in the distance, and then suddenly mountains. One or two photos of a city street in Europe with no signs or anything to indicate a language or location. But it was enough that I could start triangulating the photos to narrow down where it was. Enough hint of the architecture that I could guess where to start, and then a matter of finding these fields with those views of the mountains—the Alps actually.”
“And?”
“The fields are in the southern part of Germany. The city streets are Salzburg and Munich.”
“You think she’s at a college there?” I ask.
“I think she’s up to something there. The timing is just before he asks Dad and Jay to go after the other relic for him. Right around the same time as the Kelly house fire. She goes to a place that’s riddled with churches and abbeys and monasteries. Got to be thousands of relics. What are the chances that’s coincidence?”
“But she’s never reappeared in the photos, so she’s never come home.”
“My guess? She hasn’t found what she’s looking for, or whatever it is he’s sent her to look for.” Levi taps the screen as he looks to me.
“In six years?” I give him a skeptical look. “What sort of study abroad program never lets you go home? It doesn’t make sense.”
“I know. I’m not done yet. Charlotte and her set are trying to narrow down the relic situation. I’m hoping that between the two of us, we can figure it out. But I’m wondering if I shouldn’t fly over there.” He looks to me for my thoughts.
“Right now? I’d rather not lose you. I’d really like to go see Dakota, and I don’t want to leave this place unattended.” I circle my finger around the room. “I don’t think we can both be gone at the same time.”
“Are you gonna bring her back?” he asks.
“I was thinking I should, once we get a report back from Jay on his meeting with the governor.” I rock back in my seat. “Speaking of, how’s that surveillance going?”
While we interrogated him, Levi installed spyware on his phone, and we also put one of our guys on detail as well. I want to believe what he told me, but trust requires consistent, reliable behavior, and we need a record of that first.
“Good so far. Nothing off that I’ve seen. Just his usual routine. He set up the meeting with the governor like he said he would. The governor was furious, as expected, but seemed to understand that some of this was out of his control. They meet tomorrow, and then I’ll meet him here. Easier that way since he’s supposed to be watching us as part of his deal with the governor.”
“Well, that’s promising. I’ll be interested to hear his report back.” I’ll take any good news I can get.
“Agreed.”
“If I fly out to Cincinnati after that, assuming it goes well, would you object? Hudson and Rowan are going back to be with Charlotte tomorrow night. Try to help her with some of the research, and Hudson’s needed to approve some projects he has in the city. I could catch a ride with them.”
“Fine by me. With the increased security measures, I feel much better than I have in years. I still want to talk to you about hiring that MC. We need some muscle who’s not afraid to bend some rules. Their connections with other MCs in the state and outside of it… They’d be valuable. We should discuss it again.” Levi leans back in his chair.
“I want to be easing out of this, not getting deeper.”
“Sometimes, you have to dig the hole to the other side. It’s easier than trying to climb back out.” He offers up some of his brand of wisdom.
“Seems like that’s becoming a metaphor for everything in my life.”
“But go to Cincinnati. Bring her back. You won’t be settled until you do.”
“I just want to be sure they won’t see her as a target.” I have to live with the regret of what happened with Seven Sins, but I won’t let it happen again.
“Jay swears he didn’t report her name up the chain. Didn’t want to see anyone innocent get hurt in the process. He just thought if he could distract you, you’d be too preoccupied to notice what else was happening. I wouldn’t tell you to bring her back if I wasn’t confident.”
“Well, it worked, obviously.”
“It won’t the next time. But you need to make sure whatever she decides to do next, it’s something with a little less public exposure.” It’s a fair point. One I’ve already considered.
“I have an idea. It would keep her in-house. I just don’t know how she’ll feel about it.” I glance out the window because as much as I love the idea, she might hate it. “Did he fire that piece of shit that cut up her legs?”
“He put him on administrative leave. Said he’s trying to find a place to transfer him to.”
“Should transfer him to the fucking ground. He’s a repeat offender. Not with Dakota, but with some other poor woman who doesn’t deserve it. I want eyes on him, wherever he goes.”
“You got it. ”
“All right. Get back to your research. I want to get to the bottom of this so we can breathe easier if things go well tomorrow. But get some sleep in there first, would you?”
He nods and dips out the door, leaving me alone at my desk. We’re not out of the woods yet. Far from it. But that sliver of light in the canopy is slowly turning into a meadow full of it, and I’ll take whatever reprieve we can get.