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Chase glanced at the ankle monitor and noticed that the power light was not on. Had Matteo forgotten to activate the device? Or was it simply the offered gesture that put Matteo’s mind at ease?
Sometimes, when you really love someone, you need to be able to trust that they won’t leave—not because they are forced to stay, but because they want to stay. Matteo and this place were truly an enigma wrapped in a maze of wonderment.
“What about rehab?” Levi asked. He looked concerned for his brother’s well-being.
“M said that he’d bring in a specialist to the mansion, even offered to have them stay on-site full time. But I don’t want that. I want to be able to live a normal life while trying to get better. That’s what I have you dumbasses here for.” He gave Levi a playful punch and offered him a half smile.
“Well, you know that we’re all here to support you and help you out with whatever you need, D. You just need to promise me that you will ask. No hiding your feelings, no keeping shit a secret. Open and honest, that’s what we need you to be. I really am glad that you’re home, you dumb shit,” Levi added, leaning over and giving his buddy a big hug.
They spent the next hour hanging out and catching up. Chase sat silently while the two brothers reminisced like two old souls.
As he sat there, a thought occurred to him.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” Chase blurted, hopping to his feet and rushing back into the house.
They might not have Peabody’s current address, but there was always a way to find a person; you just needed to be creative.
“I need you to send me a clear photo of Peabody,” Chase ordered after knocking once on Matteo’s secret office door, then barging in.
Matteo looked up, confused and startled. He probably wasn’t used to people just barging in unannounced.
“What?”
“You said that Peabody worked as a professor, correct? Well, universities have websites with photos of their professors. I’ll get Marc to run a facial recognition program against all the colleges and universities in the country to see if we get a match. I’m guessing he’s local if he comes here every few months.”
“That’s a good idea.” Matteo rushed over to his laptop to pull up the file on Mr. Peabody. “Sent.”
“Thanks,” Chase said, pulling up the email and hitting forward on the attachment. He typed out a quick description of his idea, then sent the email to Marc.
As he was closing out his email app, he heard his phone chime again.
Chase opened the app and was surprised to see another email from Matteo.
“What’s this?” Chase asked when the photo of a young man popped up on his screen.
Matteo sat there for a moment, silent.
“That’s the last picture I have of Edwin. Perhaps your boss can run his photo through his recognition software to see if he can locate him.”
He didn’t seem very sure of his words and kept looking down at his laptop.
“You’re not betraying Edwin,” Chase said. “He was the one who betrayed you by stealing this info and then using it to blackmail people who trusted their privacy and information to you. Instead of using the information to stop monsters from hurting people, he’s chosen to sell that information to the highest bidder. In one case, there was a drug dealer in Ireland who was using the information in this journal to knock out his competition and seize control of more territory.”
Matteo nodded but said nothing.
Chase walked over to the conflicted man and placed his hand on his shoulder.
“I just… I just feel like I am turning in one of my kids instead of trying to get him help. Clearly, the man is misguided and needs help seeing that. Edwin suffered a lot when he was younger. I just feel like I’m abandoning him by turning him in.”
“How about we do this? Let Marc do his thing and see if he can locate the guy. If he does, I’ll ask Marc to promise that he consults with you first before he goes after him.”
Nodding, Matteo seemed okay with that compromise.
“Good. Now I’m going to go find Levi so we can get some work done,” Chase finished before turning and leaving Matteo in his fortress of secrets.
20
LEVI
