Diesel clapped him on the back. “Let me show you the file the gulag sent me on Indigo’s escape. I didn’t notice anything helpful, but maybe you’ll see something I missed.”
Raphael followed Diesel to his office, looking over his shoulder one last time, wishing he could still see Francine’s cinnamon hair moving through the crowd. Five minutes out of her sight and he already missed her. Did that make him a sap? Probably. Did he care about that? No.
After being with her for the past ten days, he felt empty without her nearby, like he was forgetting something important.
“Come on,” Diesel said. “It won’t take long. You can read through it, memorize it like you always do and think on it for a while, at least until Indigo shows his face here on Earth. Then perhaps we have a chance. Once you look through the file, you can get back to Francine, where I know you’d rather be.”
“Yep.” Raphael followed Diesel to his office and visually scanned the file, thinking about Francine most of the time.
Before he finished reading, Axel and Cam came in to heap additional praise on him to ensure he understood that they wanted him to work for them all.
“You were invaluable when we caught Indigo the first time,” Cam remarked.
“That’s the truth,” Axel said.
Cam shook his head. “It is beyond my capacity for belief that he was allowed to escape from a hard-core gulag like XkR-9.”
“Oh, I expect Indigo had this planned long before he ever got caught.” Raphael looked up, surprised to find them all staring as if in anticipation. “Listen, I appreciate your faith in me, but Wyatt Campbell—who was instrumental in Indigo’s capture—should also be consulted, don’t you think?”
“Oh, he has been. Trust me. He has a finer line to walk in the human world, but he’s also on the lookout,” Diesel said.
Raphael finally finished reading the file, but didn’t learn anything he didn’t know from all the news accounts of the daring escape from the gulag. No one had seen Indigo Smith or no oneadmittedto having seen him. Given that Indigo could change his appearance at will and look like anyone, catching him would be that much harder. The gulag had supposedly tried to hamper his ability to shapeshift, but clearly their efforts had been wasted or possibly even nonexistent.
They discussed strategy and ways to find and recapture the infamous criminal.
The next time Raphael noticed the clock, it had been over two hours since he had disembarked from the transport. He said his goodbyes to the Grey brothers, left the private administration area and made his way out into the public part of the facility, still lively with all the passengers from the recent transport giving their custom to the variety of restaurants and shops available belowstairs.
His phone buzzed. Francine’s text said, “I’m very tired, I’m going to sleep. See you later.”
Hmm. Interesting. He hadn’t thought about whether he would stay with Francine once they got back to Earth. They’d been together every night on the trip, but that didn’t mean she was ready for him to move right into her home.
His phone made a dreadful noise that meant it desperately needed to be recharged, so he mentally shrugged and headed for his small apartment. He did need to get his own travel bags squared away and check for any messages and mail delivered in his absence.
Raphael would make it a point to discuss their living arrangements with Francine the next time they were together. He made a note to pick up club sandwiches and chips for them from the Cosmos Café for lunch tomorrow, if she wasn’t working later in the afternoon.
Perhaps he’d suggest they go to the justice of the peace and get married as soon as possible. If it were up to him, the sooner the better. Her mother wanted to help arrange a small, beautiful wedding ceremony, but they could elope.
When Raphael finally laid his head down to sleep, he found it difficult to drift off. He would doze then wake with a start when he subconsciously realized he was all alone in bed. He’d have to reorient himself to his small apartment belowstairs in the Big Bang Truck Stop, where he’d always felt safe and sound. Until now.
After the fifth time he woke reaching out to the empty side of his bed for Francine, he huffed.That’s it!
Tomorrow, Raphael would do whatever it took to convince Francine to elope. He never wanted to sleep alone again.
Early, the next morning
Diesel said good night to Cam, Axel and Raphael, but sat back in his desk chair worrying about there being absolutely no sighting of Indigo Smith. Not anywhere. It was like he’d turned into a ghost. That made Diesel sincerely unhappy. His gut roiled almost continually, apprehension growing like an out-of-control wildfire as each minute ticked by with no word, no sighting, no anything that could be connected, explored or discovered.
He didn’t leave for home until well after midnight. He was back in this exact same seat less than six hours later. Still worried. Still without any new information.
Everyone told him not to worry. It was useless advice that only made him more concerned.
The phone on his desk rang, making him jump. He checked the time, noting it was still pretty early. He shook off his surprise and answered. “Hello.”
“Diesel, it’s Gage. Have you seen Wheeler?”
“No. Where is he?” Diesel answered without thinking. When one brother called asking about another brother, he wasn’t willing to play telephone tree.
