He knows what I mean. For not asking questions or pushing. For just being here.
"Anytime," he says.
I head back upstairs.
As I pass the living room I notice Drake on the couch. Eyes half-open, watching.
He's been awake. Probably the whole time.
I don't flinch. Don't look away.
Just keep walking.
Back to my room. Back to my bed with its extra blankets.
I unfold one more and add it to the pile.
I settle in and fall asleep almost immediately.
Dreamless and safe.
Chapter 24
Eli
Ragon finds the security company at 11:47 on a Tuesday.
I know this because I'm in the kitchen when he comes through the front door with his laptop open and a look on his face I haven't seen since the night Vee disappeared. Alert. Focused. The pack lead who used to solve problems by the sheer force of deciding they would be solved.
"Fortress Security," he says. "That's Alex's company. Malcolm co-founded it. They have a registered business address."
My stomach drops.
I take a slow drink of my coffee. "And?"
"And if I find the business, I find where they operate. If I find where they operate, I find where they went. If I find where they went—"
"You find a business address," I say. "Not a home or vacation address. Security companies don't run out of living rooms, Ragon."
He looks at me. There's something feverish in his eyes that I've been watching build for weeks. The obsessive focus that replaced the grief once he decided retrieval was the solution.
"It's a start," he says.
It is a start. That's the problem.
I wait until he goes upstairs to shower, then I text Jasper.
He found Fortress Security. Business address. How close is that to the cabin?
Jasper responds in forty seconds.Not close. Different county. The business filings list Alex's last known residential address. If he digs into public records he'll find the house next door.
He already knows where the house is. He lived next to it for years. That won’t help him find Vee.
Right. The cabin isn't connected to Alex's name. Chase made sure of that. As long as Ragon doesn't find someone at Fortress who talks, we're fine.
I stare at the phone.How confident are you about "someone who talks"?
A pause. Longer than I'd like.
