AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Callie. I’m doing everything I can—”
“That’s not good enough. Maybe we need to go back to her apartment. We could have missed something.”
“I’ve been there multiple times. Nothing new—”
“Agent Phillips!” My patience, along with my manners, had run off, likely never to come back. “This is my sister. My blood. She’s my family. You don’t understand—”
“I do, Callie,” he replied harshly. “I care about Sadie more than I can reveal. She’s, I,” he stumbled, his voice cracking, “I love her,” he revealed, his tone lowering to a whisper. “You need to know I won’t stop searching for her. I swear it.”
Sighing, I knew I should ease up on him a little. “She’s the most important person in my world. You understand?”
“Yeah,” he replied softly,” because she’sminetoo.”
I guess we were on the same page then. “Okay. I trust you. Don’t give up, and don’t fail. You need to find her and bring Sadie home.”
“I will,” he swore.
I ended the call, pacing the hardwood floors of my apartment as I had been doing for the last month since my sister disappeared.
Since the night she came to me and confessed the truth, I’d been uneasy, terrified that the police would show up at my door and ask me to identify her body. I chewed all my nails down too. The lack of answers and stress took a toll.
I had to do something. Idleness wasn’t helping.
That was how I ended up working at Mayor Elliot Goodman’s office. The part-time secretarial position appeared online as a new job opening, and I filled out an application, interviewed, and was hired that same week, working for that chauvinist, creepy sexual predator. The mayor ogled me like a juicy steak the entire interview, and if I didn’t have to pretend indifference because of my sister, I would have walked out.
He must have been too preoccupied because I shared the same last name as my sister, and he didn’t seem to notice. Weeks later, I avoided Elliot as much as possible. The plan to learn new information about Sadie’s disappearance was a disaster until I met Bree. Brianna Hart became a trusted friend when I finally admitted why I applied for the job.
She sat across from me in the break room, sipping coffee as I clenched my hands. Anxious, I didn’t know what to say since I couldn’t reveal my association with Agent Phillips. Sure, I said he was working the case, but I didn’t elaborate on the connection we shared or how close he’d gotten to Sadie.
“You can trust me, Callie. I don’t have any love for the mayor. He’s despicable.”
“You don’t know all the things he’s done,” I spat. “The women he’s hurt.”
“You’re wrong,” she contradicted, lowering her voice. “I’ve seen emails and correspondence. I’ve heard Elliot on the phone. He doesn’t hide anything. I know about the escort service.”
My gaze snapped to her green eyes, afraid of what she’d piece together. If Bree connected the dots, it was only a matter of time before the mayor did too.
Shit.
I decided to lay it out for her and hoped she’d help me. If not, I wouldn’t be returning to this job tomorrow. I couldn’t risk anything happening to my sister as a result of my reckless idea to work here.
“My sister is missing. She’s an escort for the DOLL Agency. I know Elliot Goodman solicited her services. He picked her up on a date the night she disappeared.”
Brianna blinked, sitting back in her chair. “You’re here to find out what happened.”
“Yes. I won’t let this go. I need to locate Sadie and bring her home.” Clearing my throat, I fought back tears. “The mayor can’t figure out why I’m here or my connection to my sister.”
“He’s not going to find out, Callie. I promise.” She reached across the table, placing her hand over mine. “I’ll help any way that I can.”
“Good. I’m going to need it.”
OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, Bree began digging into the mayor’s files. She didn’t find the smoking gun we hoped for, but she did begin to compile evidence against him. Letters, emails, contracts, and other correspondence that proved Elliot’s misappropriation of funds and criminal activity. She used a flash drive to download what documents she could from her computer, but we both knew she’d have to sneak into Elliot’s office and access the data he kept there soon.
Elliot had a business meeting this evening, and Bree planned to log onto his desktop and obtain all the info she could once he left. The day seemed to drag on while we waited.
“Is he using the same escort service again?”
“Yeah, and he’s sloppy about it. Doesn’t even hide the information from me. He had me call the DOLL Agency and double-check that his favorite girl was ready for tonight.” She shook her head and sighed. “He sent her the same package as Sadie.”
