Sloane (3 page)

Griffin rubbed his hands together. “This is taking a
long time.”

I realized that I’d been drifting off into my
thoughts and not paying attention to the computer. I snapped my
gaze back to the screen. Nothing yet. “Sorry,” I said.

“I’m going down to the lobby to see if any of the
people working here have seen Leigh around.”

Well, that wasn’t a bad idea. “Cool.”

I watched him leave and turned my attention back to
the computer.

* * *

Griffin burst back into the room. “So? You find her
phone?”

I shook my head. “No, I don’t think it’s on. I can’t
find it anywhere at all.”

He sighed. “Great.”

“How about you? You talk to anyone who’s seen
her?”

He made a face. “The lady at the desk was super rude.
She acted like it I was some kind of crazy maniac or something. She
wouldn’t tell me anything.”

“Really?” I said. “Well, how did you try to talk to
her?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just talked to
her.”

“Did you have that expression on your face when you
did it?”

“What expression?”

“You look kind of scary.”

He sank down on one of the beds in the room. He
rubbed the top of his head. “Damn it, I was never good at that kind
of thing. At blending in or doing intel and that kind of
stuff.”

He was right. When we were at Op Wraith, Griffin
never got sent out on the missions where he had to infiltrate
someplace and pretend to be someone else. He was mostly a
search-and-destroy kind of guy.

I sat down next to him. “Maybe from now on, I should
handle talking to people.”

He groaned. “So, what do I do, then? I can’t do the
computer stuff, I can’t talk to people. What am I even good
for?”

I patted his shoulder. “Hey, we’re going to find her.
We need to calm down and focus. We haven’t ruled out the idea that
she’s run off on her own, though. Let’s try to make sure of
that.”

He got up off the bed. “Well, she’s not stupid. If
she really didn’t want to be found, she’d know how to hide herself.
She’d know to ditch her phone, not to use her credit cards—” He
looked at me. “Did you check her credit cards?”

I nodded. “While I was doing the phone stuff.”

“And?”

“No charges for the past two days.”

“Man.”

“But like you said, she’d know to do that.”

“Yeah,” he said. “But she wouldn’t have the resources
to get new cards or go into hiding. She wasn’t trained like we
were.”

“Maybe not.” I considered. “But I really want her to
be okay, don’t you? I don’t want something to have happened to
her.”

“I just want her back,” he said.

I did too. I wanted that more than anything.

Griffin walked over to the window and pulled aside
the curtains to look outside. He was quiet. Then he looked at me.
“Knox.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Knox? Like Knox from Op
Wraith?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“What’s that have to do with Leigh? Does she even
know him?”

“He helped us take down headquarters,” said
Griffin.

Oh, that was right. I did know that. I remembered
that Knox had helped Griffin and Leigh get in and destroy the
operation.

“Plus, when Marcel showed up, she called Knox. So,
she might go to him for help.”

“Okay,” I said. “So, why don’t you call Knox?”

“Me?” He pointed at his chest with both hands. “I
thought we just agreed that I shouldn’t talk to people.”

“Knox isn’t people,” I said. “He’s an ex-assassin
like us. And you know him better than me.”

Griffin turned back to the window. “Yeah, I know him
really well. I tortured him for days.”

“What?” I stood up.

“I needed to get information from him.” Griffin still
wasn’t looking at me. “Knox and I worked together to take down Op
Wraith, but I wouldn’t exactly say we’re friends. He hates my guts.
Besides, he’s got a daughter, and he made it pretty clear that he
didn’t want to get wrapped up in any of this stuff.”

I squared my shoulders. “Okay, well, then
I’ll
call Knox.”

* * *

Knox wasn’t answering his phone. I’d tried about
seven times, and it kept going straight to voicemail. Griffin sat
on the edge of the bed, watching me intently. At first we thought
it was because Knox didn’t recognize my number, so I’d tried
calling from Griffin’s number, but that hadn’t worked either.

I set the phone down. “He’s not going to pick up,
Griffin.”

“Maybe he’s got a landline phone,” said Griffin,
picking up the laptop. “At least I can find that out.”

I waited while he typed and scrolled.

He handed me the laptop. “Try that.”

I squinted. “That’s not even his name.”

“That’s the name he’d be under. Trust me. I got a lot
of stuff out of him when I was torturing him. I know things about
him.”

I grimaced. But I dialed the number.

It rang.

Someone picked up right away. “Hello?” It was a
female voice, breathless, frightened.

“Um, I’m looking for David?” I said, using the name
that Griffin had given me.

There was silence on the other end.

“I’m an old friend,” I said. “If you could tell him
that Sloane Drake is—”

“Oh my God, he’s dead, isn’t he?”

I clutched the phone tighter. “Dead?”

The woman started sobbing. “He said if anyone ever
called saying they were an old friend, I’d know something was
wrong. He said he didn’t have any old friends, just old
enemies.”

I swallowed.

“What did you do to him?” she demanded.

“I didn’t do anything. I’m looking for him. I wanted
to ask him…” I didn’t know what to say. “Why do you think he’s
dead?”

“He’s not dead?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Is he?”

“You swear you’re not trying to hurt him?”

“I swear. We really
are
friends.”

“But he said that he didn’t have friends.”

“Well, we weren’t close enough to send Christmas
cards, I guess, but I never wished him any ill will.”

Her sobs were subsiding. She paused, catching her
breath. “He went out to the store to pick up milk, and he never
came back. That was two weeks ago.”

I looked up at Griffin. “He’s missing.”

Griffin’s expression hardened.

“Everyone keeps saying he ran out on me,” said the
woman. “But I know that’s not true. He always told me he had a
past. He said there were dangerous people out there, and that
someday they might come looking for him. If you want to hurt
him—”

“I don’t,” I said. “I promise you. I’m trying to help
him.”

“He wouldn’t leave,” she said. “He wouldn’t leave his
little girl, and he wouldn’t leave me. I know him. Something
happened.”

I wished I could reassure her, tell her it wasn’t
true. But I didn’t have any words of comfort for her. Panic was
rising in my throat, and I couldn’t find anything to say this poor
woman.

Griffin’s voice was quiet but firm. “We need to call
Silas.”

* * *

Silas strode past the baggage claim in the airport,
coming straight for me. He wrapped me up in a big bear hug.

I squeezed him back.

Griffin cleared his throat.

Silas released me. “What? She’s my sister.”

“How’s
my
sister?” said Griffin.

Silas put his hands in his pockets. “Good. Studying
for finals. She wanted to come, but I said it was too
dangerous.”

“Good,” said Griffin. “It is.”

Silas eyed me. “Actually, Sloane, I was thinking that
maybe you might want to go to Austin to look after Christa. She’d
love to see you.”

I glared at him. “I’m not leaving you guys. We have
to find Leigh and Knox. Something bad is happening. You guys need
me.”

“Well, I’m only saying that Griffin and I would both
feel better if we knew that Christa was safe, and you’re really
good—”

“I’m not going to go babysit your girlfriend,” I
snapped. “Jesus, you’d think I hadn’t backed you up a trillion
times before. How many times have I saved your ass?”

Silas shrugged. “Not trying to be offensive, Sloane.
I was just—”

“You were just treating me like your kid sister. When
you know that I can outshoot you any day of the week.”

He shifted on his feet. “Um, you want to announce
that to the entire airport?”

I glared at him. “I have
not
missed you.”

He hugged me again. “Come on, sure you have.”

“So Christa’s really okay?” said Griffin.

“Yeah,” said Silas. “She’s great. I told her not to
leave the house for any reason, and I left her with some guns,
and—”

“Guns?” said Griffin.

“Well, yeah,” said Silas. “Only a couple. In case
shit goes bad. In case they come after her or something.”

Griffin went pale. “You think they’d come after
her?”

“Well, we don’t even know who they are, do we?” said
Silas. “We don’t know why they snatched Leigh. Or Knox. Or what the
hell’s going on.”

Griffin turned to me. “Sloane, maybe it would be a
good idea if you—”

“I’m
not
going to Austin.” I turned on my heel
and stalked away from them.

* * *

“I don’t see why you’re so mad,” said Silas. We were
all in the rental car that Griffin and I had gotten when we
arrived. Griffin was driving, Silas was in the passenger seat, and
I was in the back.

Of course I was in the back. Once Silas was around, I
was suddenly less important.

He was peering around the front seat. “All we’re
saying is that Christa might need some protection. We’re not trying
to insult your abilities or something. We trust you to take care of
her. It’s actually a compliment.”

“Stop talking,” I told him.

“You should at least think about it,” said Griffin.
“Silas and I can handle the Boston front.”

“How do you know that?” I said. “You guys don’t even
know what you’re up against. Now, I appreciate the fact that you’re
worried about Christa, but that’s not what this is about.”

“Sure, it is,” said Griffin.

“Maybe it is for you,” I said. “But, for Silas, it’s
all about keeping me away from the action so that nothing bad
happens to me.”

Silas let out an annoyed sigh. “What the hell is
wrong with that? You’re my sister. I don’t
want
anything to
happen to you.”

“And I don’t want anything to happen to
you
,”
I said. “But we have no idea what happened to Leigh and Knox. We
can’t even be sure their disappearances are related.”

“They have to be,” said Griffin.

“You really think it’s a coincidence?” said
Silas.

“I don’t think anything,” I said. “All I’m saying is
that we don’t know.”

They were both quiet.

“Look, we have to find out what Leigh did while she
was here. We have to figure out if she spoke to anyone
suspicious—”

“Good luck with that,” said Griffin. “No one at the
hotel will tell me anything. And I’m her husband.”

“What?” said Silas.

I rolled my eyes. “Griffin scared the woman at the
desk.”

“Woman?” said Silas. “Why don’t you let me take a
crack at that?”

Griffin glared at him.

I settled back into my seat. “You can give the
manwhore a girlfriend, but you can’t take the manwhore out of
him.”

“You know, I really wish you’d stop calling me that,”
said Silas.

* * *

Griffin and I were on the other side of the lobby,
watching Silas, who was leaning over the counter and talking to the
woman back there. We couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the
woman had gone pink in the face, and she was laughing now and then.
So was Silas.

He was good at that crap. At charming people. It was
the reason that he’d always had girls coming in and out of our
apartment before he met Christa. Silas would never have gone to a
bar and sat in the corner, afraid to talk to anyone. He wasn’t like
me. I completely hated that about him.

Sometimes I thought that when Silas and I were
sharing a womb, he’d managed to suck up all the good stuff. He was
charming and decisive and brave, and I was just a wilting
shadow.

At the desk, the woman retrieved a piece of paper
from a printer and handed it to Silas.

He took it, saying something else, and they both
laughed.

I glowered at him.

Why couldn’t I charm people too? Why was I so damned
shy?

Hell, maybe Silas was right. Maybe I’d be better off
guarding Christa. How was I really helping this mission anyway?

Folding up the piece of paper, Silas waved goodbye to
the woman at the counter. He turned and winked at us and then
headed for the elevator.

* * *

“These are all the calls that came in or out of
Leigh’s room,” said Silas, handing me the paper he’d gotten from
the woman.

Griffin peered over my shoulder. All three of us were
back in the hotel room that Griffin and I had gotten, but I
realized now that it was going to get crowded. Should we get
another room?

“You see that number that’s on there like ten times?”
said Silas. “That’s suspicious, right?”

“That’s my number,” said Griffin.

“Oh,” said Silas.

“I was worried about her,” said Griffin.

“Of course you were,” said Silas. “I should have
realized it was you.”

I sat down on the bed and opened my laptop. “I’ll
look up the rest of these numbers.”

“They’re all incoming calls,” said Silas. “She didn’t
call anyone on her own.”

“Why would she?” said Griffin. “She has a cell
phone.”

“Right.” Silas put his hands in his pockets.

He and Griffin exchanged a glance. Then they both
turned to me expectantly.

So now they needed me, huh?

I punched in the first number. I waited. “Oh, this
first one is nothing. It’s a wake-up call from the hotel.” I
punched in the second one. The result came up. I furrowed my brow.
“Oh… that’s weird.”