My gaze connects with each of theirs, communicating silent instructions. We’ll meet back at my house to discuss our next move.
A hand lands on my shoulder, and I have to bite my cheek to prevent the flinch.
“We’ll get them, Levi. With you working on this, I know we’ll put a stop to this.”
Shrugging, I roll my shoulders out of his hold and turn to leave. Only my nod acknowledges I heard him at all.
With one last fleeting look at Summer, I make my way back to my car.
Elise is a twisted bitch for this.
* * *
I stareup at the pictures of Summer’s lifeless body on the screen.
Madeline didn’t waste any time sending her missing parts along with pictures of her corpse to her parents, attaching a note informing them that until Ariah’s handed over, Selected girls will keep going missing.
The Livingstons have been calling incessantly, wanting to know what will be done to compensate them for their daughter’s death. Not an ounce of care that they lost a child— just recompense.
We’resitting around the table, working through files. We’ve been at this for hours and are no closer to finding Madeline.
Chair legs drag along the wooden floor as Owen stands abruptly. “We’re missing something, and it’s putting girls in danger— it’s puttingour girlin danger,” he snarls.
He’s right. Whatever it is, it’s mocking our inability to see what’s in front of us.
“We need to do a more thorough investigation into Madeline’s connections with the law firm,” Wes suggests, turning to me before he continues, “Lev, we need you to access the personnel files of every employee to see if there are any lingering ties.”
My face scrunches, even more confused. I thought we already established that there must be more than one insider. This town is riddled with Filiae Bellonae. Shit, there are probably people all over this town who’ve infiltrated the ranks and positions, gaining access to pertinent information. How else could that bitch Madeline know when to kill Lydia and take her place.
“We knew this already,” I reply.
Sebastian sighs like I’m dense and not some high-level coder with a genius IQ. “For someone so smart, you’re blind to the obvious,” he laments.
“What am I not seeing? We know our ranks have been compromised. I’ve been part of the team checking and rechecking everyone’s backgrounds,” I counter.
Owen returns to his seat, a bottle of soda in tow.
“Um, what are we, chopped liver?” Wyatt jokes, snatching the bottle from him.
Ignoring their antics, my attention returns to Seb. He rubs at his stubble-covered face, “You’re looking for connections with Madeline digitally. Whoever is feeding her information is too smart to leave that kind of trail. I think we need to broaden our search out of the law firm and into the school.”
I tip my head back, mulling over his suggestion. There are so many places we can extend our search, but the school happens to be one of the locations Ariah’s been harassed and attacked.
“Okay, I see where you’re going with this,” I admit, shifting my attention back on him. “Expand our target area. Is there anyone in particular that we should be keeping an eye on?”
It’s Wyatt who responds, “Vivian Taylor.”
I look into Sebastian’s angry blue eyes. They’re darker than their usual azure color, to see if he’s on board with this.
The fierce set of his jaw and sharp focus says it was his idea.
“Her return makes no sense. Her divorce makes no sense. And her constant push to get back together makes no fucking sense.”
Hearing his argument and wanting to discuss it from all sides, I counter, “She easily could have moved back for you. She’s been emphatic about wanting you back. Also, people get divorced and move back to their hometowns all the time. Not to mention, being jealous and petty doesn’t make you the perfect suspect in subterfuge. If anything, it draws too much attention to you.”
“True, but her timing is far too fucking coincidental, and she doesn’t seem to give any of the other Selected as much trouble as Ariah. Even on her first day here, she had it out for her.”
Also true. Vivian Taylor has been a thorn in Ariah’s side, but I want to make sure Sebastian is doing this because he genuinely suspects her and not for some lover’s scorned bullshit.
