Page 90 of Hold Me Down
“No, same thing. It’s pretty clear he stopped working with them a while ago. Ash’s statement of what Kade told her pretty much tells us they only contacted him to do their dirty work, and the few calls logged onto the phone that were unfamiliar were from burner phones.” He taps his fingers on the table, like he’s thinking something through. “I don’t think he has a back-up plan, D. Everything on those devices was set up for him to actually get away with this. There was no preparation for a ‘what-if.’ He’s scrambling right now—probably trying to get as far away from usandthem as possible.”
I take a deep breath and glance at the background of my computer. A picture of Ashia and I stares back at me, reminding me that I have to think differently now. I’m not letting this go. I could never do that, but that doesn’t mean I have to put the people I love through anymore wild goose chases. Until we have something concrete, and we can come up with a solid plan, I’m not chasing after a ghost.
“Okay. What about Saconne and Avery?”
“Well, Avery’s officially back in D.C. from his trip to Seattle, and shockingly, he’s been a little harder to keep track of since.”
I snap my head up from my laptop.
“Really?”
“Really. He hasn’t attended a couple of rallies like he had previously announced, there aren’t as many sightings from the media, and any interviews he’s done have been conference style. His public presence has definitely gotten smaller since he returned.”
“I guess the Society isn’t too happy with Daddy Avery right about now,” Zeke adds, making a good point. If they were notonly expecting Victoria, but Elizabeth as well, and lost both of them, they’d surely blame Avery.
My question is why? Why haven’t they come for them? DeLuca and Saconne might have been training her, but she wasn’t anyone important to them quite yet. She was nothing but payment, as their threatening text suggested. If they were willing to take a four-year-old girl, they certainly weren’t planning on putting her in charge. If anything, by losing out on both of his daughters, the Society gave Avery free work—and a group like that wouldn’t take that well.
“Anything on them? Since Avery is scared, maybe they’re lingering in D.C.?” I suggest, but Carter only shakes his head again.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have much to go off of.” He just shrugs. “Even with Victoria’s intel, we don’t know who runs it or who to look for. If your father’s files on Saconne and DeLuca are a testament to how they run, they’re extremely hard to find.”
“Yeah, it’s not like they roll in with ‘We’re the Society’ bumper stickers,” Alex drones, and Zeke’s jaw drops.
“Oh my God, pookie. That was actually funny!” he teases Alex, and I freeze. I’m not sure any of their banter will ever affect me the same way again after what Alex told me in his drugged-up daze. Alex just slaps him on the back of the head, thankfully breaking the imaginary tension, but then he groans in pain from the movement.
“Shut the hell up!” he seethes through gritted teeth. Zeke just laughs and rubs where he was hit.
“Do I really have to separate you two like children?” I stare at them, just completely baffled. We’re trying to end this shit once and for all, and attempting to figure out a way to do it without getting us all killed, andthisis how they want to act?
“Nope. Nope, all good.” Zeke shakes his head, but he doesn’t bother to get rid of the smirk on his face. I have half a mindto lash out and punch him in the jaw, but I focus on my laptop instead.
Zeke being my wife’s brother really complicates shit sometimes.
I read over the notes again, trying to find something that probably isn’t there. Now that we know Satori was the missing link we’ve been looking for, I was hoping that solving this would be easier.
I guess I was wrong.
“Maybe we should take a trip up to D.C. and see what we can find for ourselves. If he’s keeping to himself, maybe they’re there looking for him. We could do a little recon at night and see what happens?” I suggest.
“Well, we haven’t gotten any new—” Carter stops and pinches his brows together. “Oh, shit!”
“What?” I ask him as he starts to type erratically. His eyes almost bug out of his head, and the shade of red that overcomes his face is concerning.
“We reset the system!” he screams, and it hits me then. Disappointment and ignorance flood my veins in an instant. I lean over and hold my head in my hand, feeling like a complete idiot.
“So, all of the database access we had needs to be reset?”
Carter groans so loudly that Zeke flinches.
“Yes, shit! I’m sorry. I didn’t even think of it after we got back into the city’s system. It was just so easy…”
“It’s fine. It’s my fault, too. Just get us in there and pull it back up so we can check for anything we missed.”
“It’s only been…what? Ten days? How much could wereallyhave missed?” Zeke throws his hands up, trying to shrug this oversight off. I’m shocked, really, because when does henottake the chance to bust someone’s balls? He’s right, though. It’sprobably not a big deal. Most of the searches we run come from the media, anyway, since Avery is in no legal trouble, and…
“Interpol clocked Saconne!” Carter screams, and I snap my head up.
“What?! When?!”
