Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 139088 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 695(@200wpm)___ 556(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139088 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 695(@200wpm)___ 556(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
But didn’t new identities cost a lot of money?
She introduced herself to me as Cynthia Chambers.
And if she was so keen to stay away from Knox’s dad, and stayed away because she thought he was a danger to her, would she get even as close as Phoenix to him? Especially if Gypsy was talking to her, and shit was going down with that whole crew. If there was ever a hazardous time to be around a Chambers, it was now.
“He needs to get to the boys, Luna. You got any questions?” Tex prompted.
I shook my head.
Byron slammed his laptop closed.
Tito slid out.
“I’ll get you a dirty chai for the road,” I told Byron.
He nodded.
I hustled behind the bar and got started on his chai.
Raye wandered in while I was doing that.
She felt the vibe immediately and came to me.
“What’s going on?”
I looked over my shoulder at Byron then to her. “I asked Byron to look into Knox’s mom. He couldn’t find anything on her. Not a thing.”
“So she disappeared. That isn’t news,” Raye said.
“Nothing, Raye. No trace,” I replied.
“Is that weird?” she asked softly.
“I’m making Byron’s dirty chai to go because he’s going to NI&S. So yeah. That’s weird.”
She pressed her lips together.
I gave Byron his chai.
He took off.
“Hold the fort?” I asked.
She nodded.
I slipped back to the employee room and pulled out my phone.
I called Knox.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he greeted.
“Hey, honey, um…well, just to say, I wanted to maybe get on top of your mom sitch in case something happened with that, so I asked Byron to look into her.”
“Coulda saved you the trouble. Brody did a deep dive into her when they were vetting me.”
Good to know.
However…
“Byron’s coming in,” I informed him. “He, Tex and Tito are tweaked that there isn’t more on her.”
“I know. She erased herself.”
“Entirely?”
“Brody couldn’t find anything, so yeah.”
“You don’t think this is weird?”
“I think Dad was pissed she left. He’s an asshole, but he didn’t marry her because she was good at laundry. He loved her. He didn’t want her to go. I think she probably knew he’d look for her so she took care. I explained this to the guys.”
I didn’t reply.
“You’re tweaked,” he noted.
“I’m tweaked because Tex, Tito and Byron are tweaked.”
“They should have called and asked me. I would have—” he stopped talking abruptly.
“What?” I prompted.
He didn’t say anything.
“Knox?” I called.
“Brody is really good with computers.”
“I know.”
“But Byron ferrets out terrorists.”
A chill slid down my spine.
“Fuck,” he bit off.
“So what you’re saying is, if he can’t find her…” I started it.
“…shit is hinky,” he finished it.
“Byron’s on his way,” I promised.
“Gotcha. I’ll tell the men.”
“I’ll let you go.”
“All right, baby. Love you. See you soon.”
“You will. Love you too, Knox.”
We hung up.
Willow came into the locker room.
“Raye’s dealing with some customers, but she sent me in to see if you’re good.” She studied me. “You good?”
“There’s something hinky with Knox’s mom.”
Her eyes rounded then they got pissed. “You guys don’t need any more nonsense.”
She could say that again.
“I asked Byron to look into her. He didn’t find anything. That’s weird, so he’s going to NI&S to talk to them about it,” I shared.
She came to me and slid her arm along my waist. “That’s good, honey. It’s in the right hands then.”
I hoped so.
But something was off.
None of it fit together.
Okay, sure, a woman escapes a dangerous husband, that tracks.
But a Jason Bourne-level disappearing act?
I had no answers. I just had feelings.
So the only thing I could do was go to work.
And that was what I did.
I circumvented the whole “pick me up outside” thing of Knox’s by leaving work extra early and driving downtown.
I parked under NI&S’s building, made sure I had my ticket so Marjorie could validate it (their parking cost a whack), and headed up to the offices.
The minute I entered the mothership was the first time I felt okay all day, or all day after my chat with Tex, Tito and Byron.
That was because, between the kickass lighting, the bronze statue of a Phoenix in the corner, and the sleek, expensive furniture, the offices of Nightingale Security & Investigation screamed, We have a shedload of money because we earn your money because we get the job done!
They got the job done.
I blew out a breath.
Marjorie, behind the receptionist desks, snapped, “He’s been here all day.”
I walked up to the desk. “Hey.”
She didn’t return my greeting.
“I know you’re here to take him to his follow-up appointment, but I’ll have it on record that means his follow-up hasn’t happened yet, and therefore he’s still not officially cleared for work, and he’s been here six hours.”
“I feel your pain, sister,” I lied.
Her face got pointy.
The door to the bridge of this particular Enterprise (that being the door that led to the inner workings, including Mace’s office, Shirleen’s office, the control room, the shared office the men used that only had two desks because the men hated desk work so avoided it like the plague, a conference room, their workout room, which was the room the men used the most and was the size of three of Mace’s offices—and his office wasn’t small—a locker/shower room, a kitchen/break room, an equipment room, along with several empty rooms that were “room to grow—and yes, the Angels had previously been given a tour).