Ember nodded, “Oh, like Council.”
“What?” Reese and I asked at the same time.
Ember turned toward Reese. “You know, like those student council meetings they had at school?”
Reese nodded and let it go, but I didn’t believe a student council was the council she referred to. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to press her for more.
We had church once a week, twice if you were an officer. The officers met around lunchtime to go over anything from finances and business issues to potential threats to the club. Meeting earlier in the day gave us time to tie up any loose ends or gather more intel, if needed, before church with all of the members at 7 pm. That was our usual anyway. If we were waist deep in shit, Phoenix would call church anytime he deemed it necessary.
Phoenix wasted no time informing those who didn’t already know about Ember’s presence in the clubhouse. He went over the events of the day, leading up to him suspecting her to be his daughter. The room erupted in shouts of disbelief as well as cheers and congratulations. Phoenix gave everyone a minute to quiet down. When they didn’t, he slammed the gavel down hard and barked, “Shut the fuck up! I’m not finished.”
The room fell silent immediately. “Ember said she grew up in an orphanage across town. I thought the only thing out that way was the dairy farm, so I asked Byte to find it.” Phoenix held up what looked like an aerial view of some land. He pointed to a building on the picture, “This right here is what we believe to be the orphanage.” He used his finger to circle most of the picture, “...and this is the dairy farm. As you can clearly see, the orphanage is on the dairy farm’s land. I would also like to know what these other buildings are, but that’s neither here nor there at the moment. Do any of you know anything about the orphanage?”
Heads shook, no one had anything to offer except Badger. “One of the prospects, Jamie, I think, grew up in Croftridge. We could see if he knows anything about the orphanage or the dairy farm.”
Phoenix shot Badger a look, “We grew up in Croftridge, too…”
“Yeah, but there wasn’t an orphanage, it really was just a dairy farm back then, far as we knew anyway. Plus, we were gone for over 10 years.”
“Fine. Bring in Prospect Jamie.”
Jamie walked in, eyes wide, his nerves on full display. That boy was going to have to toughen up if he was going to survive around here. Phoenix got right to the point, “You know anything about an orphanage on the other side of town?”
“Not much, sir,” Jamie shakily answered.
“Tell us what you do know.”
“Uh, the kids from there, they don’t talk to the other kids at school. They always stayed together, ate lunch together, came to school together, and left together. They only spoke in class if the teacher asked them something. Other than that, I’ve only heard things about the place,” he explained.
“What’d you hear?” Badger asked.
“Uh, well, the other kids at school said it wasn’t really an orphanage. They said it is part of that dairy farm, that’s why everyone at school called them the farm kids. People have said all kinds of things about the place, human trafficking, drugs, child labor camp, a religious cult. The list goes on and on, but that’s all just what people say.”
Phoenix asked, “You know Ember?”
He shook his head, “No, sir. I mean, I’ve seen her before, but I didn’t recognize her until I heard her name. She didn’t look like that at school and like I said, they didn’t talk to anyone outside their group.”
“What do you mean she didn’t look like that?” I growled. She just graduated. So did he. How much different could she look?
“She had really long hair. Like down to her butt long hair and it was a different color. She didn’t wear any makeup and always had on those weird clothes the farm kids wore, sort of like school uniforms.”
Phoenix shot me a warning look, then returned his eyes to Jamie. “Thank you. That will be all.”
When Jamie left the room, Phoenix continued, “Let’s table this for now. I’ll see what other information Ember can give us. Byte, have you found anything useful?”
Byte stood and cleared his throat, “No death records found for Annabelle Burnett. Can’t find anything indicating she is alive either. As for Ember, I was able to get into her birth records. She was indeed born to an Annabelle Burnett on today’s date, 18 years ago, here in Croftridge.” He paused and faced Phoenix, “There’s no name listed for the father.” He turned back to the room. “I have more recent satellite imagery of the farm property. The newer images show a large number of buildings on the property. It looks more like a compound than a dairy farm. I tapped into some financial records for the dairy farm and it is barely turning a profit. The rumors around town have suggested the farm was being used as a front for something else, this pretty much confirms it.”
“Who owns the farm and the property?” Badger asked.
Byte looked down at his notes, “Octavius Jones.”
Phoenix and Badger cursed at the same time, “Motherfucker!” “Son of a bitch!”
Duke asked, “You two know him?”
“Not really. We went to high school with him. He was a little punk that was always causing trouble and starting fights. I beat the piss out of him one day for shoving a girl to the ground. Didn’t see him around much after that,” Phoenix explained.
“I’ll see what else I can find on him,” Byte added.
