Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 76812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
"That motherfucker stopped outside the shelter house last week," I voice. "He's shaved."
The images they have been getting of him, tracing his steps back to him getting on the bus here in Farmington, show he has smooth skin.
"He stopped outside of the house to ask directions to a gas station when I was keeping an eye on Beth."
I shake my head, regret swimming inside my gut. I'm a trained professional. I'm meant to be able to get a read on folks and know just from looking at them if they're a danger to me or anyone else.
I'm questioning my place with Cerberus and my failure at not recognizing the man as the son of one of the most notorious crime bosses who's currently active in the United States.
"So this is about Brielle Adair?" I ask, knowing she was placed at the shelter here in Farmington while she waits for the case to be built against her stepfather.
Max presses the earpiece a little deeper into his ear.
"Hemlock says he recognizes him as the guy he had to stop from going into the postal drop-off store a few weeks ago."
"That tells me they've been lurking around your town for a while," Wren says. "I'm honestly surprised they haven't made a move. Do you guys keep security on the house at all times?"
"No," Max answers, a level of disappointment in his voice. "Victoria, the director of the organization, doesn't feel like it's necessary, but we have Cerberus there anytime one of our own is there."
"It's weird they haven't gone in and pulled Brielle out," Max adds.
"She doesn't even poke her head out of the door. She stays a hundred percent inside. I don't know that she's left the house since the day she arrived," I say.
"How long has she been there?" Wren asks.
"Just a little over a year," Max answers. "There have been no incidences since her arrival."
"Is she monitored?"
"Not at all times, but she hasn't made any contact with anyone that we know of. We have keywords flagged on her computer. She hasn't even once looked up anything in regard to Ohio or the Adair family," Max explains. "She struggled for a while. It's a huge change for her, but it's my understanding from what Kincaid has mentioned that she’s done better the last couple of weeks since Beth arrived."
Silence fills the room, and I can already guess where Wren's mind is going.
"Do you think Beth was sent here by the Adair family?"
Max looks at me as he pulls in a deep breath. "It's not something I considered, but I can't rule anything out," he answers.
I want to shake my head, but honestly, Beth met Oracle at a bar in Lindell, Texas, and married him less than a handful of hours later. After being here only a couple of days, she was at the shelter "helping" the students there, including Brielle Adair, with schoolwork. Brielle insisted from day one of her arrival that she wants her high school diploma rather than a GED, despite her being nearly twenty-one years old.
"Now that we know Xan is in town, I've run Nathan through the facial recognition software. I can't find him anywhere in Farmington. He hasn't been flagged once, but he also hasn't been in Columbus for weeks either."
For Wren to know all of that, it tells me that he has gained access to more than one database that he probably doesn't have permission to sort through. Max doesn't ask any questions, and it's not my place to ask either.
"We just have to sit around and wait for them to make a move?" I ask, feeling helpless and more than a little responsible for not recognizing a bearded Xan Adair when he was right outside of the shelter. I imagine Hemlock is also internalizing the fact that he didn't recognize him as Xan Adair outside of the postal drop-off place either. If something terrible happens to Beth, there are several men who won't be able to forgive themselves, including me.
"I've sent some guys to the shelter," Max says. "They're en route right now."
"I'm still trying to figure out where they could've gone from Santa Fe," Max says. "I imagine they'll head right back here, but we haven't heard a damn thing yet."
I wince as I use my injured hand to grip the armrest of my chair.
While all of this was going on, it was discovered by the team in Santa Fe that some teenager picked up Beth's phone outside of the gas station. It was clear that he had nothing to do with her abduction, but that still leaves Oracle, her husband, hours away from home, with no answers.
Knowing the Adairs are involved makes everyone a little more on edge.
Nathan Adair has managed to evade charges for decades. No one will speak up against him, and those who have tried in the past have all ended up dead or have vanished off the face of the earth. It doesn't surprise me that they're willing to abduct someone they consider close to Brielle.