“Because, to everyone else, I am. Question is, can I trust you with the truth?”
He doesn’t look the least bit offended, which speaks volumes. “A 9-1-1 call was received yesterday morning. A woman claiming to be Tessa Lane said she was being held at the Southeast Environmental Commission.”
Hope floods my system, and I pull the door all the way open so he can come in. “You found her?” I close the door behind him, and he crosses his arms.
“We searched the building and found no sign of her. As soon as I finished, I hopped on a plane here because none of you were answering your phones.”
“We’ve been a little busy,” Weston quips.
“I see that. I’m assuming she’s not here?”
“No. Someone gutted Garrison to get to her,” Ryker growls.
Jack’s expression turns furious. “Is he?—”
“You said she wasn’t there?” I quickly change the subject. I may trust him with the knowledge that we’re alive, but Garrison can’t defend himself. And that makes him a different story.
“Not that I saw. But that doesn’t mean she wasn’t there. Or?—”
“That she isn’t still there, just hidden.”
He pinches the bridge of his nose. “We scoured that place, but it’s a big building. They saw us coming, and that means they could have hidden her.”
“She’s alive. That’s what matters,” Anastasia says.
“She was alive yesterday,” Weston says.
“No, she’s alive. I can feel it.” It’s the same feeling I had over the last eighteen years she was missing. Despite what everyone said, what the police said, I knew she was out there somewhere. This time, I won’t stop looking until I find her.
“Then maybe you can—” His cell rings, so he pulls it out of his pocket and groans when he sees the readout. He turns it to face me, and I see Brenda’s name on the screen.
“She can’t know we’re alive.”
“Yeah, I got that.” He answers it, then puts it on speakerphone. “Weathers.”
“What are you doing in Stormwatch Landing?” she demands.
“Excuse me? I didn’t realize our relationship warranted location tracking. Did you chip me?” he jokes, but there’s no humor on his face.
“I make it a point to know where people are.”
Jack arches a brow. “To what do I owe the honor of this call?”
“Have you heard from my team?”
“I have not. Was I supposed to?”
“They’re not answering their phones. The building they were watching is nothing but rubble, and I received a troubling update this morning about one of them. Garrison Holt was murdered last night.”
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that,” he replies.
Anger burns in my gut. She wouldn’t have known that any other way because no one reported it.
“I assumed that was why you were there.”
“Actually, no. I’m here to check in on Tessa Lane.”
Brenda goes quiet. “Oh?”
