Page 12 of Dark Witch: Twin Destinies

Jasmine spent the next half an hour making a mental list of all the items she needed to prep the stick so it would do what it was supposed to.

She handed Edgar his phone back. "Looks like we're going on a walk." She tossed back the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

Edgar groaned, flopping back against the pillows with a sigh. "Can't it wait until after coffee?"

Jasmine laughed, leaning over to kiss his pouting lips quickly. "Nope. The early witch gets the willow or something like that. We can get coffee after we find a stick. There are several other items I need to buy as well, so we will need to find a store that sells them."

"Like what?"

"I'll tell you on the way."

Grumbling about needing coffee to function, Edgar hauled himself out of bed.

8

KIAN

Kian took his coffee to his home office, sat behind his desk, and dialed Turner's number.

"Hello, Kian," the guy answered right away. "I was expecting your call yesterday. What took you so long?"

Kian chuckled. "I thought I would give you time to catch up. It isn't easy to shift gears after a long vacation. I decided to take it easy today and work from home."

He planned to drive to the keep later and talk with the team, but that shouldn't take too long.

"Same here. Neither of us works less while we are in our home offices. It's just an illusion to think that the comfort of working in your sweats and flip-flops means that you are taking it easy."

"Ain't that the truth? Did you have a chance to speak with your people about Margo's family?"

"I did. So far, there have been several phone calls to the advertising agency where Margo worked, inquiring about her whereabouts. Also, someone was seen knocking on her apartment door, but they didn't attempt to break in."

Kian frowned, a prickle of unease crawling up his spine. "Have your people checked her car for tracking devices?"

"I don't think so," Turner admitted. "But I'll have them on it right away. It will be interesting to see if the Doomers considered doing that."

"Did your people happen to track the callers who asked for Margo?"

"No. If they were Doomers, we wouldn't be able to trace their calls because they use a private network like we do. So, what's the point?"

"It could have been the cartel people."

"They are just as sophisticated."

Kian let out a breath. "Things used to be so much simpler not too long ago. I used to love technological innovation, but I'm starting to be wary of it. It's getting harder and harder to hide."

"At least the Doomers are having the same difficulty. I don't know how much longer they will be able to hide their island."

Kian wasn't so sure. "They use old-fashioned bribery and threats to keep it hidden, not so much technology, and those methods will always be effective."

"True."

"Did anyone come snooping around Margo's family's homes?" Kian asked.

"There has been no suspicious activity near their homes or workplaces. We can let them return to their lives in a few days.

Kian weighed his options. On the one hand, he didn't want to keep Margo's family sequestered away indefinitely. But on the other hand, he couldn't risk their safety, not when the cartel and their Doomer overlords hadn't made their move yet.

"Let's give it another week." Kian swiveled his chair and looked at his walled-off backyard. "If there are no further developments over the next seven days, we can allow them to return home."

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