Page 9 of Peak’s Code

"You don't look like an enforcer." She swallowed another bite.

"What exactly does an enforcer look like?" he asked.

"I don't know." She shrugged. "More—” She motioned vaguely toward him. "Stabby."

He barked out his laugh. "I can be stabby."

"I imagine you can." Silence settled between them.

Finally, Warden spoke. "You really got a sister?"

Maeve stopped chewing, and every muscle in her body tightened. "Yes."

"How old is she?" he asked.

"Twenty-five."

He nodded slowly. "When'd she disappear?"

"A year and a half ago,” she said.

"What happened?" Maeve stared at the burger. The appetite she'd had seconds ago vanished.

"We argued." Warden said nothing, and she appreciated that. Most people rushed to fill the silence, but he didn't. "We argued," she repeated. "She wanted to go to a concert in Baltimore, and I told her no. She went anyway." Her fingers tightened around the wrapper. "She never came home afterward." Her voice cracked. "But I found her abandoned car at the venue."

The memory slammed into her like a freight train—the pouring rain and sirens as police lights reflected off wet pavement. Wren's little silver Honda sat abandoned behind the arena with the driver's door open. Wren’s phone and backpack were lying in a puddle, but there was no sign of her sister. Unfortunately, there were no witnesses either. She was just gone, like she'd never existed.

"They found the car?" Warden asked quietly.

Maeve nodded. "The police called it a probable abduction."

"What happened next?” Warden asked.

"They worked the case for about three weeks." She laughed bitterly. "When nothing turned up, they moved on."

"But you didn't give up,” he said.

"No." She looked at him. "I quit my job, sold my house, and burned through my savings looking for her. I've been looking ever since."

Warden scratched at his beard. "What'd you do before?"

"I worked in cybercrimes."

His eyebrows rose. "Law enforcement?"

She smiled faintly. "Contractor." That wasn't entirely a lie. She'd contracted with more than one federal agency over the years. Never as an employee, always as the woman nobody officially admitted existed. She was the one they called when someone had buried themselves too deep online. Peak would figure that out eventually, because she could tell that he was too smart not to.

The door opened again, and Captain stepped inside with Peak. Maeve looked up. Peak wasn't looking at her. He was looking at the coffee, burger, and Warden. "You fed her?"

Warden shrugged. "She looked hungry." Peak almost smiled. Captain pulled out the empty chair across from her and sat. His weathered face gave away nothing.

"We've got questions,” Captain said.

Maeve nodded. "I figured that you would."

Peak remained standing beside Captain with a laptop tucked beneath one arm. His eyes never left her. "We found your shipping company."

Her heartbeat sped up. "You found Eastern Atlantic Freight."