Page 131 of Her Defiant Warrior

“What size are you?”

“None of your business.”

Her mother sighed. “We’ll just have to have a seamstress come in to help tailor a wardrobe for you and put you on a diet. Please tell me you’re not wearing things from off the rack.”

Lainey covered her nose and mouth to stop from snorting again. This woman wasn’t for real, but after twenty-four years, she knew she was.

“Mother, I’m not coming back to Charleston. I have a job, and I can’t leave it.”

“And it’s not just charity lunch functions. There is also your Daddy’s and my fortieth wedding anniversary. I’ve already selected two eligible bachelors who will be perfect to escort you. And you can’t complain this time because I’ve given you a choice.”

Darn it, she’d forgotten about her parents’ anniversary.

“Mother, this isn’t a good time right now. I’ll call you back on Sunday.”

“Don’t you dare hang up on me, MacLaine Taylor Simpson, I must have answers, now!”

“My boss is giving me the evil eye for being on a personal call so long. I have to hang up. I’ll call you on Sunday, I promise.”

She could hear her mother squawking as she hung up.

Lainey called Penny and told her to do the same thing if she got a call from her mother again. Hang the fudgesicle up!

10

Lark was sitting in her normal position, on the corner of the couch, but this time Kostya wasn’t sitting on the arm. He was beside the fireplace at the front of the living room, with his arms crossed over his chest.

“It’s not good, or it’s good. It depends on how you want to take it,” Lark said.

“Spit it out,” Jase demanded.

Kostya cleared his throat, but it came out like a growl as he glared at Jase.

“Sorry, Lark,” Jase said. “But please don’t keep us in suspense.”

“This is what I found out from the people who took in Ephram and his siblings. Ephram was the middle child at seven years old. He had an older sister who was eight and a younger brother who was five. All three of the children were traumatized after witnessing their father and older brothers being shot, and their mother killing herself in front of them.”

“She slit her throat, right?” Mateo asked.

Lark nodded. “According to Rusty, she’s the woman who took them in. The sister was the one who was most indoctrinated into the zealot’s way of life. Constance only went to school when they threatened her with being separated from Ephram and Lloyd. The boys seemed to adore and fear Constance. Rusty would often find the boys with bruises that they swore came about because of falls. Rusty never saw Constance hit the boys, but she was sure she did.”

Lark needed to speed things up. He needed to get to Maryland.

“So did Ephram recruit either Constance or Lloyd to be part of the Kraken?” Mateo asked.

“Constance died of a drug overdose when she was fifteen. According to Rusty, Lloyd thought Ephram walked on water, and the two of them were thick as thieves. When Ephram left, as far as she could tell, there was no contact between the brothers. Lloyd joined the Army when he was eighteen. He never responded to any of Rusty’s overtures while he was enlisted. She has no idea where he is today.”

“I hear an ‘and’ coming up,” Mateo said.

“Yep, I gave all this information to Gideon. Lloyd Hicks became a Green Beret. He was coming up for a promotion when he took his retirement. Nobody knows where he went.” She nodded toward Gideon.

“Lloyd Hicks ceased to exist. And I mean, ceased to exist. The home address, email, and phone number he gave the Army when he mustered out were phony. There is no record of his social security number being used anywhere. No record of his name being used. The Army did a cursory search when he dropped off the grid, but gave up after three months. I’d say he joined big brother.”

“So, you’ve got nothing?” Nolan O’Rourke asked.

“I’ve got nothing,” Gideon admitted. “At least when it comes to Lloyd.” He turned to Jada who was sitting on the floor beside Gideon. Both of them had their laptops on their thighs. “Your turn to report.”

“I found something about Frank Sykes, the former leader that Ryker killed.”