Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Titan
No one knows I’m here. I’m on an assignment for my employer down in Portland.
When I heard about a Jane Doe showing up at a local hospital, I knew I had to check if it was her.
Using the badge I carry for my job, I’m able to get past hospital security.
After an incident a few months ago in Alaska, where I now live, the head of our covert unit got us badges and shields.
We aren’t officially part of the NSA but work through them, so we can state that when necessary.
Most of the time, we don’t clarify who we are and just use the official government business line.
There are no guards on her door in the ICU. Maybe this isn’t my girl. Maybe they don’t know she was sold to a human trafficker. Or that she is missing from Alaska.
It took only one look for me to know Stormy was meant to be mine. Her pale sky-blue eyes and vibrant purple hair called to my soul. For the first time in years, my heart beats faster for something other than the thrill of the chase, a ride, or the hunt. That one moment sealed my fate.
I quietly slip into the room. The patient in the bed has gauze covering one wrist and a brace on the other arm. One leg is exposed, also in a brace. Her head and eyes are covered with gauze padding. What did she go through? It must have been terrifying.
She senses me instantly, and her body tightens.
“Who’s there?” she asks, her voice scratchy.
“NSA,” I answer, keeping it official since she can’t see me. “We’re investigating a human trafficker. I was wondering if you could tell me what happened to you and maybe help me. I’m looking for someone.”
Her fingers start fidgeting with the edge of the blanket, and I watch as she cringes back slightly. I need to calm her. I can’t see the color of her hair beneath the gauze, so I move closer and spot strands of medium-blond hair.
“Don’t be afraid. Can I call you Jane? You can call me Atlas.” I give her my real first name, not my road name.
“Everyone else calls me Jane.”
“Do you know what your name is?”
I pull out a chair that screeches along the linoleum floor and fold my six-foot-two frame into it. There are days I wish I didn’t still have humanity and morals, so I could hack her medical records, confirm everything she tells me, and maybe find hints as to who she is.
“No. I don’t remember who I am. Maisy said she found me in a park like this. Detectives have been coming every day since I woke up six days ago, asking me questions. I’m starting to think they’re drilling me, expecting me to admit I did this to myself.”
Without thinking, I reach out and touch her arm. She cringes back, and a groan of pain escapes her.
“I’m so sorry. I was just trying to offer you some comfort. I didn’t even think. Please accept my apology.” Something about this tiny woman makes me want to protect her. I don’t know if it’s Stormy, but why else would I react like this?
“I don’t know why I jump whenever someone touches me. I’m scared of everything.” Her scratchy voice has a husky, almost sexy quality.
“Who is Maisy?” I ask.
She turns her head toward me. “Honestly, she’s my friend. She found me. But she says we didn’t know each other before.”
“I’m looking for a woman. If I tell you her name, would you recognize it? Maybe it’s you.”
“Wouldn’t you know what she looks like? Do I look like her?”
“I’ll be brutally honest, sweetheart, you are covered in bandages.
I only met her once, on the day she was taken, when I tried to save her and my sister-in-law.
” I watch her for any sign of recognition.
Her hand tightens, but that could be from pain or something else. My gut tells me it’s important, though.
“What’s the name?” she asks softly.
“Would you like some water?” I reach for the cup on the tray as she nods slightly. “Straw’s in front of your lips.”
She opens her mouth, and her delicate tongue slides out. I shouldn’t be turned on by this. When her lips wrap around the straw, she takes a deep draw, and I wish I could see her neck to watch as she swallows, but the gauze wraps down to her shoulders.
“I’m investigating the disappearance of Virginia ‘Stormy’ Abbott. She also goes by Poison. Do any of those names seem familiar to you?”
She pauses for a moment, and I can’t tell if she’s coming up with a lie, testing the names out in her mind, or something else entirely.
I’m at a complete disadvantage here. I’ve never interviewed someone without being able to read their facial cues, so I watch her body instead.
Her leg twitches ever so slightly. Her hand in the brace clenches before she stretches her fingers as if to relax them.
“No. None of them seem familiar.”
“Okay.” I’m about to get up and leave her be when she stops me.
“Could you tell me about this woman? Or just stay and talk to me. I didn’t realize how lonely it is to not see, and Maisy had to run an errand. The nurse said she’d stay, but then she got called away.” Her fears make me want to calm them.
“I can stay. Like I said, I only met Stormy that one time, but it was enough.” I take a deep breath, thinking of that moment again. “She has a magnetic personality. She’s a bartender in Ptarmigan Falls, Alaska.”
“Wow, Alaska. You came all the way here to interview me from there? How did you find me?”
I notice a slight quiver in her voice. She sounds concerned, afraid.
“My organization was alerted when a Jane Doe was admitted to the hospital. I was in Portland on business. I’m working another case too. I’m looking for a human trafficker who uses money and power to hide what he’s doing.”
A full-body shiver runs through her body.
“Don’t be scared, little one. We’ll take care of him.”
She nods her head. “Does Stormy, is that what you called her, have family?” Her voice carries a hint of hope.
“She does. A brother, a sister-in-law, a niece, and a nephew. She also has another niece or nephew on the way. Her sister-in-law is pregnant.”
“Really?” she asks, and this time I hear both hopefulness and sorrow in her voice.
“Do you think you have family out there?” I test her, watching for her response. My suspicions heighten.
She pauses, taking her time to answer, just like she did earlier when I asked if she recognized the name. I begin to wonder if she’s carefully choosing her words, trying not to give anything away.
“I don’t know,” she finally says. “Wouldn’t they be looking for me if I did?”
“Stormy’s family wants her back. Her friend River, also known as Jinx in her club, is my sister-in-law, and she was with Stormy when she was captured. We saved her, but it was too late to save Stormy. River fought the men and tried to find out who bought Stormy, but they died without telling her.”
“Really?” She turns her head back toward me, a calm settling over her.
“Thad told me his favorite memory of Stormy was when he was getting ready to leave for the military. His sister was only thirteen then, but she made him take a leather braided bracelet with him. He carried it in his pocket throughout his career. It has a silver infinity knot woven into it. He wears it every day now, waiting for her to come home.”
She clears her throat, and that’s when it hits me.
I lean forward and whisper close to her ear. “Stormy, I’ll protect you. I swear it. Your family misses you. All of them.”
“Who are you?” a female voice says from behind me.
I rise to my feet and turn. In front of me is a petite, black-haired beauty with the iciest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. Her dark red lips and pale skin make her look like Snow White brought to life, watching me with quiet authority.
“You need to leave. No one is supposed to be in here.” She crosses the room to the other side of the bed and takes Stormy’s hand. “Jane, are you okay?”
“I’m okay. Atlas was just telling me about a friend of his who’s missing and was wondering if I was her. I don’t recognize the name, though.”
I know she’s lying, but I don’t call her out.
“I work for the government.” I flash my badge for the petite fireball to see.
“Well, Officer Ulrich, you didn’t clear this with the nurses. They told me no one was in here.”
“I didn’t know I had to. There were no guards at her door. If she’s in danger, I can have some posted.” I stand there and wait for Stormy to say something.
“Maisy,” Stormy says, and the woman leans down.
They whisper back and forth, and I know what’s about to happen before it does.
“Please leave and don’t come back. I’ll give you a card for my attorney if you’d like to speak to them.”
“No, thank you. I’ll be back, sweetheart,” I tell Stormy. “I’m not giving up on finding Stormy—or helping you.” I turn and walk out of the room. In my bones, I know this is her.
As I walk to the elevator, I open an app to put a block on Jane Doe’s location. I also make a note to look into this Maisy character and find out what she wants.
By the time I get back to Portland, Jane Doe no longer appears in the hospital records. Not because of me. I call the nurse’s station, and they tell me the patient I’m asking about has discharged herself.
She ran.