Chapter 3 #3
I shove away from my desk, drop my headphones, and head for the door. Alerts flash across the screen notifying me that Thad, Hermes, and even my brother, Klay, have all tried to get in to see me, but I ignore them. There’s only one person I need answers from. Riddler.
I leave my jacket and storm out. The receptionist calls after me, but I don’t slow down. I have to know if Stormy ever wore glasses. Her eyes were covered in the hospital. Maybe she sustained some kind of damage.
Out here, traffic is light. I don’t even have to pause to cross the highway.
I head for Riddler’s office at her shop.
Riddler doesn’t just own the saloon, she also runs a car and motorcycle restoration business.
The sun beats down from above, and when I glance at my watch, I realize it’s already two in the afternoon.
I reach her office and see Thad sitting in her chair with her in his lap, his hand resting on her belly. She’s due in August. My sister-in-law, River, just had my nephew, Justice, two weeks ago.
That thought makes me pause. I glance around the room.
“Was my brother here?” He shouldn’t have left his wife’s side. He’s been glued to her for months now.
“Yeah. I couldn’t get in to talk to you, so I called him.” Thad’s voice is gruff, edged with anger.
“I was working.” I defend myself, but honestly, I don’t want Thad to know how deep my obsession with his sister runs. I can’t let it slip that I saw her. That she was right there, and I let her slip through my fingers.
“Did Stormy ever wear glasses?” I ask.
“No. Never.” Thad’s voice is firm, and I watch Riddler shake her head.
“Nope,” Riddler answers.
“Hmm, okay. I thought I found her, but the girl has glasses on. I’ll keep searching.” I know it’s her though.
“Is there a reason she would be wearing glasses? Aren’t there special ones that interfere with facial recognition software?” Riddler asks in her mellow, soft voice.
I pause, thinking about that for a moment. It’s possible that’s what they were for, but I wasn’t running facial rec, and her face still looked different.
“Hermes wants to talk to you. Something about Cronus.” Thad’s words confirm my fears.
“Yeah, I figured. I’ll call him later. I’m heading back, going next door to the saloon to grab a steak sandwich since I missed the diner.”
I head out and walk toward the saloon, which is also on the property. The Devil’s Handmaiden’s Clubhouse sits off to the side. Both the clubhouse and the garage are behind a tall razor-wire fence. Outside the fence are two more businesses. The saloon and the diner that Riddler’s mom owns and runs.
Riddler’s family is one of the founding families of Ptarmigan Falls. The small community runs along the Elliott Highway and originally catered to truck drivers hauling to the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay. Only in the past few years has it become a mecca for motorcycle riders and clubs.
Riddler’s father converted the saloon into a biker bar in the hope she would come home. She had intended to eventually, but after he was murdered, she returned to take care of everything he left her.
Stormy grew up in Fairbanks, but I’ve heard she loved Ptarmigan Falls for its close-knit community.
You have to be strong of mind and body, and even stronger than the elements, to live out here.
In winter, the wind can blow through the hills and freeze your skin instantly.
Summers can hit the 80s or higher, but that’s also fire season, when dry lightning can decimate entire areas.
When Klay and I decided to settle down here, we built a home where we could raise our families together.
It’s a duplex but still has shared communal areas.
I have my own office with an attached SCIF room.
This sensitive compartmented information facility has reinforced walls and prevents unauthorized access, allowing me to do highly secretive intelligence work for my job.
I sit at the bar with a spiked coffee while waiting for my sandwich, then head across the street to lock myself in my office. Just as I’m closing the door, Hermes pushes it open and steps inside.
“We need to talk.”
“Figured.”
“Dial him up,” Hermes says, shutting the door behind him and engaging the lock.
I take my sandwich over to my desk that isn’t attached to my computer and set it down, then move to the computer desk and log back in. I dial Cronus, and his face appears on several of the screens.
“Hello.” He tilts his head down slightly, like he’s looking down at me even though he’s thousands of miles away, staring at me through the monitors on the wall.
“Let me guess, you have an assignment for me. I’m not done with this one.”
He takes a deep breath, his brows drawing together. “I’m not going to tell you to stop looking for her. I get it. You might not think I do, but I do.”
There’s a truthfulness in his tone, and I see the hurt in his eyes. He does know what I’m talking about.
“I need you in Chapelville to prep for an assignment. The whole team is being called up.”
I turn to look at Hermes, and he gives a small nod.
I suspect he’s not happy about leaving. He’s been trying to get a date with one of the Devil’s Handmaidens, but Ginger hasn’t shown any interest in him.
She doesn’t like me much either, mostly because I set my brother up to help him keep his cover back in Widow’s Creek.
She saw another woman sit on his lap after he’d already married Jinx, though no one knew they were married, just that they were together.
It was a ploy to throw his enemies off Jinx’s trail, but it backfired, and Ginger told Jinx that he’d moved on.
Klay had to grovel to get her to give him a second chance.
And of course, he threw me under the bus and told her it was all my idea.
I shift my attention back to Cronus. “I’m close. I think I found her. She was with another woman. If I can identify her, maybe I can figure out where they’re headed next.”
I don’t mention Maisy’s name. I want to keep that information close until I know who she really is. Is she helping my girl or going to hurt her?
“This is more important. We’ve been called in to go after that billionaire who’s been linked to human trafficking.
He’s using high level political figures to stay under the radar and get away with it.
Rumor is it goes as high as the White House.
I need you to dig into this fucker’s background and find anything we can use to get to him.
He’s trafficking underage women for other powerful players and keeping slaves of his own. ”
“That sounds like a Feds case.” I’m going to do everything I can to avoid going to Chapelville. The only place I want to be is back in Seattle, trying to find her again.
“No, it’s an us case. He’s got connections with foreign terrorist organizations. I want you here next week,” he says. I shake my head, ready to push back. “You can do this the easy way or the hard way, Titan. Don’t make me do it.” His jaw locks. He knows he’s got me by the balls.
My teeth grit. I hate the threat. I hate that I have no choice in this. Then I see a look cross Cronus’s face. It’s fleeting. Regret? It can’t be. In all the years we’ve worked together, he’s never shown weakness.
Cronus is only a year older than me, but he’s had a focused life.
Military, foreign intelligence, and training.
He also has a family name that gives him the ability to do whatever he wants.
I’ve tried to search him, but he’s got his shit locked down so tight that I finally had to ask him directly.
Cronus told me that his family expected him to go into politics like his father and grandfather before him, but he hated the corruption and instead became what he is today.
He fights human trafficking and goes after anyone he considers bad, even the politicians his family rubs elbows with.
“Fine, the easy way. But when I get there, you had better explain what you meant about understanding.”
“Hermes, arrange everything. I’ll have Poseidon handle transpo from Nashville.”
“On it, boss.”
Hermes walks from the room, and Cronus pulls a hand through his dark hair, which is starting to show a touch of grey at his temples and in his beard.
Some days he’s dressed in black jeans, a T-shirt, and his leather cut.
Other days he’s in a suit or fatigues. He changes it up.
Today he’s in a suit, which tells me he’s been meeting with our higher-ups at the current alphabet company that took us over.
Because we work with the NSA, we can be bounced around to other organizations as needed.
I suspect we are now under someone who makes deals behind closed doors and then smiles for the press, acting like a good little politician.
Cronus doesn’t like this, but he has very little choice in the matter.
“I don’t need to explain myself to you, Titan, but I will tell you this much.” He pauses as if he’s gathering himself. “A few years ago, someone I cared about and shouldn’t have disappeared. I’m the only one who’s still searching. Their family won’t even look.”
“I can look if you want me to.”
“No, she needs to stay hidden to protect herself from whatever sent her running in the first place. When I figure it out, then I’ll need your help. Until then, we are hands off. Plus, that’s personal, and we have work to do.”
I notice he slipped up and revealed her gender, but I don’t say anything. He clicks the button, ending the call before I can respond.
I stay in my office until late, searching every angle I can to get a license plate.
The longer I stare at Stormy in the wheelchair, the more I wish I had put my foot down back then.
It explains why the moment I saw her in that bed, my heart and body reacted.
They knew what took me a bit to confirm.
Maisy is the key, though. Without her last name, it’s almost impossible find out who she is.
And facial recognition software isn’t picking her up. Maisy is a ghost.