Damage Control

“What I can tell you right now,” Seth replies, “is that there is no police report, missing person’s report, or notable activity of either brother or stepfather with law enforcement. It does appear your stepfather left the country, which he did frequently, so this fits his profile.”

“Only this time he’s dead.”

“Are you sure?” I ask.

“Quite sure,” she assures me. “But where is the body? How did he hide it? I will always have this hanging over my head, afraid it will come back to me.” She looks at me. “You will always have it hanging over your head, which is why I tried to leave.”

“We’ll find a way to pull you out of this,” I assure her. “But if you’re in it, we’re in it.”

“On the bright side,” Seth adds, “your brother’s done a much better job of covering up your stepfather’s death than he did creating your documentation. And since the house was paid off last month, there is nothing like a lapsed mortgage payment to be a red flag to anyone. I also found the record of a lawn service that maintains the yard, leaving no fear the outside of the house will be unkempt, but—that was set up for years.”

“I can’t believe you even thought of that.”

“I told you,” I say. “Seth knows how to protect you.”

She glances at Seth. “Do you trust me now?”

“Considering everything you told me checks out, I’m leaning toward yes. Right now, what I’m focused on is finding out how deep into the Geminis your brother and stepfather are.”

“Was, for my stepfather,” she amends. “He’s dead. Anything you might be thinking differently is just not true. I saw the blood.”

“Easy, sweetheart,” I say, catching her gaze with mine. “We aren’t suggesting he’s alive, though it would be a good thing if he is.”

“I know,” she whispers. “But he’s not.”

“I need you to look at some photos for me,” Seth says, sliding a folder in front of Emily. “They have the names on the back. Tell me if the face or name rings a bell.”

She inhales and flips the folder open, setting one photo, and then another, to the side. “This man,” she says, indicating a photo of a beefed-up military-looking man in his forties. “That’s RJ. The name says Ryker Jones, but I know him as RJ. He visited the house once and I heard my brother and stepfather talk about him often. He’s their boss. The other one that’s labeled ‘John Scott,’ I know the name but not the face, and honestly, I don’t even know why I know the name. Who are they?”

“John Scott is the founder of the Geminis,” Seth informs us, “but anyone involved with the Geminis would say his name at some point, which makes me less concerned with him. Now, RJ is another story. We know he’s close to Scott, and high up in the chain of command, as well as being an ex–Special Forces soldier in a top secret elite unit, where something went wrong. He did not leave the military on good terms. He’s one of the best hackers on the planet.”

“Out-of-character exaggeration?” Shane asks. “Or fact?”

“Fact,” Seth states, moving on. “Another interesting detail. Neither Emily’s stepfather Cooper Wright, or her brother Rick, are in any CIA or FBI records as persons of interest in connection to the Geminis, but then most of their operational staff are what we call ghost handlers.”

“In other words,” Emily says, “RJ’s involvement is bad.”

“Any Gemini involvement isn’t good,” Seth says, “but for all we know, your brother is still on good terms with them. I actually think you disappearing makes him, and you, look guilty of something, rather than the opposite.”

“I thought the same,” Shane adds. “He could have panicked, be it out of fear for his sister, or fear of the police.”

“Wait. I look guilty? Is he still there? Does it look like I did something and ran?”

“I haven’t located him,” Seth says, “so I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion. And you took a leave from school, but have you paid your rent?”

“My brother said he’d do that for me,” she says. “But he also said he’d send me money.” She presses her hand to her stomach. “I am not liking the gut feeling I’m getting.”

I step to her side and wrap my arm around her waist. “Easy, sweetheart. Seth and I will get your rent and bills handled.”

“Can’t I just pay them out of my own account, if I haven’t been evicted already? I mean it was just me taking money from here or taking a lump sum that’s an issue right?”

“I need more time to develop a plan,” Seth says, “but by this evening we’ll have the holes in your background covered and we’ll be able to decide how to proceed safely.” He glances at his watch. “I have a meeting with Nick.” He glances at me. “Right after I extend that offer we discussed last night,” he says, obviously meaning paying off our pro ballplayer’s wife. “If you still want to take that route?”

“I want you to drive right into it as cheaply as possible,” I say, “and make it count.”

“I always do,” Seth assures me, while Emily interjects with, “Who’s Nick?” thankfully leaving our insider conversation to stay inside.

“He’s ex-FBI,” I tell her. “And the owner of a private security firm I’ve contracted outside of Brandon Enterprises for this and many other things.”