25. The Phantom
The Phantom
Chapter 25
The glare of the monitors seared my eyes as I scoured the dark web, chasing ghosts. What I really needed was sleep, but Caroline was out there somewhere, so I had to find her. There was no time for sleep, not until she was safe in her own bed.
My fingers moved across the keyboard, jumping from one encrypted site to the next. Dead ends and empty leads taunted me at every turn, an aching pit of failure in my chest growing bigger with every hour I did not find her.
As I searched through The Underbelly for more posts by ShadowRunner, a notification flashed on the bottom of my screen. I clicked it to find a grainy video clip waiting from Legacy. My mentor had been digging through surveillance footage since the day before looking for signs of the black SUV that was used in Caroline’s abduction.
Pulled from the nearest city from where she had been taken, the new clip showed a black SUV with blacked-out windows cruising down a main thoroughfare before turning onto a side street. I held my breath as I ran the plates, but nothing pulled up in the system. It was likely the correct vehicle, but with no other camera footage to determine where they went from there, it was another dead end. Still, I forwarded the clip to Ethan.
Slamming my fist on the desk, the sting barely registered through the haze of desperation that clouded my mind. Caroline needed me to be at the top of my craft, but I had never felt so useless.
My fingers trembled as they returned to the keys, not knowing where to look next, when the door creaked open behind me, pulling me from the dark web’s endless maze. I turned to see Evie’s small frame silhouetted in the doorway, holding her stuffed llama in her hands.
“Hey, Captain,” I said, opening my arms to her. She rushed over, burying her face in my chest. I stroked her head, wishing I could take away the pain and fear I knew raged inside her.
“Is my mommy going to be okay?” she asked, her voice quivering.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I hugged her tighter. “We’re going to find her. I won’t stop looking, no matter what it takes. Your mom is so strong and brave, so we just must be brave for her.”
Evie nodded, her thin arms tightening around my neck.
We would find Caroline. We had to believe that, because I would not let Evie lose her mother, not after everything they’d survived together. Caroline’s love and strength flowered through the child in my arms, so I had to keep going, for them both.
“Come on,” I said, reaching for her hand. “Since Auntie Scarlett is sleeping, let me get you something to eat.”
Taking my hand, Evie allowed me to lead her from the surveillance room, and into the small kitchen, fixing her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She picked at it silently, her eyes downcast and shoulders slumped.
For several minutes, I sat beside her, my own sandwich sitting on the table before me. I was so lost in thought that my phone buzzing in my pocket caused me to flinch. Standing and taking a few steps away from the table, I fished it out, my pulse quickening when I saw it was Ethan.
“Boss,” I answered, my voice low. “Please tell me you have something.”
“Maybe,” he said, his voice sharp. “I’m heading to Marcel’s now. I heard there were some out of towners there last night talking about a grab.”
My grip on the phone tightened. “Do you think it’s them? Could they have Caroline?”
Ethan sighed. “I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think she’s here in the city. That camera footage you found—the SUV. If they were coming back to New Orleans, I don’t know what they would have been doing on that stretch of road."
My mind raced. If she was not in New Orleans, she could be anywhere, but that also meant she could still be somewhere in Alabama.
“I’ll work on expanding the traffic cameras out—west and south,” I said, already sending a message to Legacy. “Hopefully they didn’t change vehicles on their way out of town.”
“I can’t even consider that possibility,” he said, sounding a bit defeated. “I’m going to head to Marcel’s, see if I can find out anything more. If there’s no reason to suspect she’s here, I’m heading back to you.”
Glancing up at the clock, I shook my head. “She’s been gone too long already.”
I did not miss Ethan’s sharp intake of breath. “I know. Watch over Evie and Scarlett and let me know if you find anything. I’ll let you know when I am on my way back.”
“I will.”
Without saying goodbye, we hung up. I braced myself on the kitchen counter, exhaling slowly, doing my best to hide how worried I was from Evie. When I turned around, Scarlett was heading toward us, having just exited the bedroom. She had been sleeping for a few hours, but her eyes were still heavily shadowed from exhaustion.
“Hey,” I said, setting the other plate of food I had made for Scarlett on the table and then lowering myself back into the chair. “I made sandwiches.”
She gave me a knowing look, one that said she could see straight through my act. “We haven’t heard anything new?”
I shook my head. “All we have so far is a grainy video with an SUV heading west. Ethan’s still searching down south, but I have a feeling he’ll be heading back this way soon. We are concerned that she may not be there at all.”
If I were being honest, I was not sure who I was trying to convince more—her or myself.
For the next few minutes, I tried to force food into my stomach, watching as Scarlett and Evie did the same. Worry hung over us like a storm cloud, dampening even Evie’s usual vibrant spirit. I hated watching her light dim.
Suddenly, a sharp chirp from the other room made us all jump, but I was out of my chair before I could explain what the sound meant. I dropped into the chair in front of the monitors within seconds, Scarlett and Evie running in behind me. I stared at the computer screen for a moment, hardly daring to believe what I was seeing. The tracking software had lit up with a notification.
“What is it?” Scarlett’s panicked voice pulled me out of my daze.
Grabbing the mouse, I opened the notification. My heart slammed against my ribcage as I scanned the map on the screen, unsure if I believed what I was seeing. “Caroline activated her tracker. She’s still in Alabama.”
Scarlett gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “Oh, my gosh. Do you think… Is she…”
Hope and fear warred within me, and I was too scared to allow one to win the fight. “I don’t know yet, but we’ve got a lead. Finally, a real lead.”
My fingers flew across the keyboard, homing in on the signal, calculating the location. Once I had it, I grabbed my phone, my fingers fumbling to dial Ethan’s number. He answered on the first ring.
“Tristan? What’s up?” There was the distinct sound of scraping in the background, making me wonder what I had interrupted, but I didn’t question it. I was not sure I wanted to know.
“It’s Caroline,” I said, the adrenaline pumping through my system making it difficult to sit still. “She activated the tracker I gave her. She’s still in Alabama, a few hours from here.”
There was a grunt, then a loud thump in the background, and I did not need Ethan to tell me he’d been in the middle of an interrogation, and that whoever was in the room with him was no longer breathing. “Where? Can you pinpoint it?”
Zooming in on the screen, I scanned the maps and data. “I’m trying. The signal is coming from a heavily-wooded area northwest of here—near the state line. But it’s deep in the southern Appalachians, so from the map I can’t even make out any buildings or dwellings of any kind.”
“Text me the exact coordinates the second you have them,” he said, and then I heard him already moving, keys jangling. “I’m leaving New Orleans now. I’ll get there as fast as I can.”
When the call went dead, I turned to Scarlett, and there was an unspoken understanding between us before she nodded, pulling Evie closer to her. “Go,” she said, stepping away from the doorway. “Evie and I will be safe here. Bring our girl home.”
I was not an assassin like Ethan, or a violent person, but I knew how to shoot a gun, and I couldn’t sit around and wait five hours for Ethan to get back. Not when I knew where Caroline was.
Pulling Evie and then Scarlett into a hug, I did my best to settle the fire burning inside me just enough to process my thoughts. “I’m going to find her. I promise.”
Scarlett pulled away, her dark eyes glazed with unshed tears. “Be careful, Tristan. Don’t take any unnecessary risks. Scope the place out but wait for him to move. Please.”
Reaching for my bag, I shoved my laptop and a few other pieces of tech inside, not knowing what I would need. “I’ll be okay. I need to do this.” I glanced over at Evie, who was watching our exchange silently. “For her.”
Scarlett followed my gaze and nodded. “Hurry back. All of you.”
With one final look at Scarlett and Evie, I threw my backpack over my shoulder and headed out of the safe room, staying only long enough to hear the locks click into place.
When I was sure they would be safe, I headed into the room where Ethan kept his weapons. I grabbed a 9mm from the locker, checking the clip and sliding it into its holster before connecting it to my belt. I had spent enough time in a gun range blowing off steam to know how to use it, although I hoped I wouldn’t have to. With the gun secured, I armed myself with backup ammunition and a few more weapons, including two knives, and headed back up the stairs.
Doubt flitted through my mind as I checked the exterior cameras and motion sensors from my device, making sure no one was on the property before slipping out of the cabin and heading toward the barn where I had parked. Ethan expected me to stay at the cabin with Scarlett and Evie until he returned, but I did not stop walking. I knew he would probably be pissed that I’d left, and maybe I was doing the wrong thing, but I knew the cabin’s security measures would keep Scarlett and Evie safe. They would be fine without me there, but Caroline’s safety was not known. She needed me more, so even with Ethan’s instructions lingering in the back of my mind, I turned the key in the ignition and headed northwest.