“We’ve been trying to get pregnant but encountered some problems.” Concern etched Danny’seyes.
“Nothing serious, Ihope.”
“We’re waiting for testresults.”
“I’m here if you want to talk.” Crockett shook his cousin’s hand. “Give my love to Allison and thanks fortoday.”
“You did a helluva job.” Danny got two steps from Crockett’s door and turned. “Almost forgot. I asked one of our forensic artists to sketch a facial approximation of Sophia from a photo I had of us as kids. Thought you’d want a copy.” He handed Crockett a folder, thenleft.
As Crockett stared at the rendering of his sister, his chest tightened. The artist had captured the innocence in her eyes, something he assumed was long gone. She’d been fourteen when she was taken. His attention drifted out the window. Like clockwork, planes landed every ninety seconds.Where are you,Soph?
Had she been forced into a vehicle and driven hundreds of miles from their childhood home? Was she being held prisoner in another country? Or had she been murdered years ago?Am I chasing her or her ghost?He wanted to punch his fist through a fucking wall, but he knew, firsthand, the only thing that accomplished was breakingbones.
Even with three different private investigators on retainer, his sister had vanished as if she’d never existed. Shortly after her disappearance, police had found her backpack in a woodsy area near the Wilde home in Uvalde, Texas. She’d been abducted on her way home from high school. Law enforcement had little to goon.
With any luck, he’d be awarded the FBI contract. His army of robotic flies would be deployed and one of the skilled agents would track down his sister. He slid the folder into his computer bag.I’ll never give up on you,sis.
Regardless of Crockett’s constant heartache, he was so damn proud of his team. His hard-working employees deserved his utmost gratitude. But his problem with Moth needed immediate attention. He pulled the tiny robotic bug from his pocket and set it on his desk, then texted his Chief Innovator and second in command, Decker Daughtry. “Man down duringdemo.”
In less than thirty seconds, Decker jogged into his office. “What happened?” His hair, usually tied back in a man-bun, fell loosely around hisface.
“I have no fucking idea. When I activated wheels up,nothing.”
“Whichone?”
“Moth.”
“This isbad.”
“I figured that part out on my own.” Crockett raked his hand through his tidyhair.
“Tell me they didn’tnotice.”
“We got lucky. I redirected their attention back to Horse andBlack.”
As Crockett updated him on the three-round procurement process, Decker snatched his phone from his jeans pocket. “I’ll work with Engineering and QualityAssurance.”
“Try to fly her now.” Crockett waited while Decker tapped hisscreen.
As if the glitch earlier had never happened, the tiny surveillance device lifted gracefully into the air. Decker zoomed her around the room but paused her in mid-flight, to study her wing rotation. “She’sfine.”
Crockett’s jaw ticked. “Like hell she’s fine. Goddammit, she had amalfunction.”
“Is it possible youthoughtyou’d powered her up, but hadn’t?” Decker landed the Spy Fly on the conferencetable.
Crockett let out a grunt. “Winning this contract is top priority. Don’t question me like I’ve never run a damn demobefore.”
Shuffling from side to side, Decker shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. “Righto. I’ll order extensive testing and let you know.” After collecting the device, hebolted.
Though Crockett continued working, the nagging concern over Moth’s failure gnawed at him. This was a problem he’d never before encountered.What happened to thatbug?
At six thirty, he closed his office door, changed into his black karategiand left. He’d unleash his mounting frustration on a punchingbag.
Plowing through rush hour traffic, he wolfed down two power bars and arrived at the martial arts studio twenty minutes later. After a quick bow at the entryway of the spacious dojo, he stopped short. Not only was the large room buzzing with activity, several more rows of steel chairs had been added to accommodate parents, grandparents and siblings.The lower belts are testingtonight.
Ignoring his aggravation, he shed his running shoes, pulled his black belt from his duffel, and shoved everything else into a wallcubby.
Crockett had been working exclusively with the white belt tiny tots since the class began, so he couldn’t duck out. He’d be needed to observe and assist while Sensei tested them. As a part-time instructor, he received a small salary, but forfeited his wages to the karate school’s education fund so financially challenged families could benefit from martial artstraining.
