Ledger
Three days have passed since Anchor checked in, making it twelve days of radio silence from Blair.
It should’ve taken Blair four, maybe five days tops, from where she’d been in Colorado to get here. The fact that it’s closing in on two weeks is more than a little worrisome. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. This isn’t how any of this was supposed to happen. When trouble came knocking, Blair was supposed to comestraighthere.
My stomach is threatening to turn itself inside out.
The coded messages rolling across my screen from encrypted profiles don’t tell me anything about the whereabouts of my godchild. None of my typical sources can tell me anything about a hit on a girl, and whether or not it was successful.
A shudder of apprehension works its way down my body.
The sound of footsteps coming down the wooden steps barely registers. It’s not like I need to look up to see who they belong to. I know Wes’s footsteps anywhere. He strolls over to the deskwhere I’m sitting and perches his hip on the edge. His presence is like a weighted blanket, comforting and welcome.
After a few beats of silence, I find myself needing to break it.
“She should’ve been here by now, Wes.” It’s the closest to admitting that I’m scared that I’ve ever voiced.
“What can I do to help?”
You can help me find what’s mine, I want to snap. Instead, I keep those words to myself. I have to keep a lid on the horrific storm that is my obsession when it comes to Blair if I want her to be comfortable here. Wes needs to see I can stay in control.
“I don’t know,” I admit to Wes. “Her dad and I had a system put in place for situations like this. Blair knows to come straight here and if she can’t, to go to one of the safehouses and contact us from there with a burner phone. But none of the alarms have gone off at the safehouses and my phone has been silent.”
Wes hums as he considers this. When he speaks, it’s with measured care.
“Safehouses, meeting spots, burner phones…” He frowns. “Blair knows about all of these things? Is she military?”
I open and close my mouth, unsure how much to share. I probably shouldn’t say anything, but Blair might be in trouble. Maybe telling Wes the truth about her and her family is best.
“No, she’s not military, but my buddy was,” I hedge, still wavering on how to play this. “He taught his daughter a lot. I did too when I was around.”
Wes stares off into space, frowning as he considers something. “Should we reach out to a few of our special contacts? They can?—”
“No,” I cut him off quickly, my eyes returning to the computer screen. “We can’t involve anyone else in this. For her safety and Anchor’s.”
There’s a short, astonished pause. It’s broken by Wes who asks in an incredulous whisper, “Wait, Blair is Anchor’s kid?TheAnchor? As in?—”
“The deadliest sniper in our country’s history? Yeah.” I nod. “His daughter is my godchild.”
Wes’s whistle is low and full of awe. “How didn’t I know you were close with Anchor?”
“It’s not a secret I’ve shared with anyone. I knew him long before he was ever known as ‘Anchor’. We’ve been friends since we could walk.” I hold back a grimace, knowing that our bondshouldbe thicker than anything. I’m about to test that when Blair gets here. “We enlisted around the same time but took different routes. We saw more of each other once he got out.”
“So hewasin the military… There were speculations that he must’ve been special ops at one point,” Wes says, more to himself than to me. His brows furrow curiously. “Do you know how many times we stumbled upon his kills in the Middle East?"
I chuckle dryly. “I would assume a lot. He made a lot of money over there.”
“Yeah, it was a lot. But then… he disappeared. I figured someone must’ve gotten to him.”
“Anchor stayed mostly stateside once he acquired Blair,” I say, leaning back. “Though he’d take her to South America and into Canada occasionally. He’d reach out whenever I was stateside for help on bigger jobs. Once I got out of the Marines, we worked together more often.”
My friend lets out a shaky breath but doesn’t say anything. His silence isn’t unusual, but I can feel the curiosity rolling off him in waves. There’s something he wants to say. With a sigh, I look up and raise a brow. Wes takes the invitation like a fish to a baited hook.
“Where does a child come into his story?”
“He had a kid before enlisting. He gave up his rights and I thought that was the end of it. The hell if I understand why he went back for a kid he didn’t want.” I shrug. “But he did and he raised Blair on his own.”
“I bet it’s nice having that guy on your side,” Wes muses before letting out a dark chuckle. “I hope he doesn’t know about your feelings for his kid. I bet that wouldn’t be taken well.”
