“Well, Caleb has to go now,” Basia says with a stiff smile.
With a giant grin, I haul her in and kiss the top of her head. I’m going to milk this situation as much as I can—it’s the closest I’ll ever come to being with Basia in the waking world.
“Later, darling,” I purr, winking at her when she gasps in surprise.
Even though Greg chatters at her, I can feel Basia’s eyes on my back as I walk to the elevator.
∞∞∞
Outside Aegis Ironclad, I stride to Coleman’s side, getting back to business.
“You have the identity yet?” I ask him.
He lifts an eyebrow at me. “It just came in.”
“Good.”
Teddy scoffs. “That’s all you’re going to say? Good? Like you’re not psychic or something?”
“Yeah,” I grunt. “So who is she?”
“Just some poor girl. Not sure how she ties in. No criminal record, no big family name. There’s only one odd thing, I guess.”
I stare him down, waiting for him to continue.
Coleman changes the pitch of his voice. “What weird thing, Teddy? Oh, well, thanks for asking, Caleb.”
Running a hand down my face, I give him what he wants.
“What weird thing, Teddy?”
Like we’re not talking about a likely deceased woman killed by the stalker that’s terrorizing my temporary girlfriend.
“Well, she didn’t have a birth certificate until she was twelve,” he finally says.
I stiffen, on high alert. Coleman instantly notices, growing serious.
“That means something to you,” he guesses.
“Yeah. It means something.”
He gives me a long-suffering sigh. “You gonna share with the rest of the class?”
I debate keeping what Ethan and I found to myself. But in the end, I decide that the more eyes on this, the better.
“The cult mentioned in the notes? It was real. Or still is. Wherever it was mentioned, kids popped up with no birth certificates.”
Teddy gives a low whistle. “Like they were born in this cult? That means…”
“They kept women, possibly men, as slaves, creating new subjects for whatever sick rituals they practiced,” I finish when he trails off.
Coleman’s quiet for a moment, the honks of taxis a background noise to his visible thought process.
“I don’t get it,” he finally says. “How do the governor and his daughter tie in? She would’ve been just a kid herself then.”
I’m already taking my phone out, ready to send a text to Ethan.
“She’s collateral,” I murmur. “A way to punish the governor, back then senator, for letting the investigation drop. Much like it’s being dropped now.”
