My mind filled in the blanks. There hadn’t been any attempts to breach our apartment, digital or otherwise. So they followed Trinity home, tossed her apartment the next day, found nothing, and left her alone because they didn’t think she had anything of substance.
But they had her followed just to make sure, and everything was quiet because Trinity hadn’t made any public moves in her investigation.
Until she’d gone to Port Sunset and started taking pictures.
I’d practically deleted that footage as it was being recorded, so no one should know she’d been there. How did they know?
I shoved everything I’d pulled into the pattern recognition program I’d made. It was far, far faster than I was. Thank goodness I’d decided to come to the warehouse today. The computers here were far more robust, and I was too impatient for any latency using them remotely.
Windows started opening with connected records—two in particular. An ID photo that might as well have been a mugshot of someone who worked at the docks, and the name of someone who worked at the photography company.
Brian Davies.
No one saw me except the gate guard and the guy who thinks I was a clueless blonde who was lost.
He was the gate guard. I could see him on the security footage from the port the day Trinity went. That camera hadn’t caught her face, but I’d deleted her car. He’d seen her face and knew she was the one they were already following.
The earlier dread spread through my chest. It was an almost perfect crime. Police wouldn’t have investigated an accident that looked like someone running a red light. Based on the traffic camera, they wouldn’t have had a need. There were no direct connections between the companies and the photographers unless you dug deep for it.
As for how they communicated what they needed, I still wasn’t sure, and I also didn’t care. I could find it. That mattered less than what would happen now.
Tracy had gone to the port, taken pictures, and now she was dead. The date of the email was the day before her accident. And Trinity hadn’t driven alone after she visited the port. Until today. When she was meeting Ocean and Isolde.
Fuck.
I pulled up the live feed of Port Sunset. Brian wasn’t on the gate. But he was on the employee schedule.
My body went cold.
I grabbed my phone and dialed. Rin’s phone went straight to voicemail. There was no ping off any tower. Anywhere. The phone was off, and Trinity never turned her phone off. Fuck, fuck,FUCK.
I fought to keep my raging instincts in check while I dialed another number. Maybe it had died, and she hadn’t left the apartment yet. Please, be there. Please.
Brooks answered. “Hello?”
“Where’s Rin? She’s not answering her phone.”
“She had lunch with her friends, remember? Left maybe a half hour ago.”
I didn’t need the confirmation. Deep in my gut, I knew. “She never made it.”
The stillness on the other end of the line matched my own. “What?” The single word was lethal.
“There’s no time to explain. They’re coming for her. We need to find her. Now. Get the others and get ready to move. I’ll call you back.”
I ended the call and started another. Everett answered with his customary sarcasm. “If this is about that favor I owe you, can it be another day? We have?—”
“Where’s your wife?” Maybe Ocean’s security had eyes on her. It was a small hope, but it was the only one I had. I’d helped set up the trackers they put on their wife’s devices—with her knowledge—but I didn’t have access. And though that was a barrier I could shatter without a thought, Rin might not have that kind of time.
“What?” his voice sharpened.
“Trinity was meant to have lunch with Ocean and Isolde. I have reason to believe she didn’t make it.” I forged ahead before he wasted time with questions I knew he would ask. “There is no danger to Ocean. She and Isolde are nowhere on their radar. But please, find your wife and ask her if she’s seen Rin. Call it the favor you owe me, I don’t care.”
A beat of silence. “Stay on the line.”
Putting it on speaker, I braced my hands on the desk and let my head hang while I bore the silence. It didn’t matter that I already knew what the answer would be. I clung to the faintest shred of hope that I waswrong. That my precious Omega wasn’t currently at the mercy of someone far worse than me.
Everett’s voice was wary now. “Ocean says they got a text that she was on her way, but she never showed and hasn’t responded to any calls or messages. What’s going on, Aiden?”
