Page 58 of Raven

Archer shakes his head as we walk through the Center toward his office. Kai is here because I called him and relayed the issue with the kid, and he is visibly upset.

“Can we check on those kids in town?” Kai asks. “See how many? Do we have an estimate of the number of homeless kids in Port Mrei?”

Archer shrugs. “Check how? Via drones? Won’t work. Let the guards sweep the area? Same result. They probably won’t find anyone. Only if you get someone local.”

“So, get someone local,” Kai says.

“That place you guys used to frequent, what’s her name? The chick who owns it?”

“Candy?”

“Yeah, Candy and her girls.”

“I’ll ask. I haven’t talked to her in weeks. But I’ll see what I can find out.”

Archer opens the door to his office and lets us through.

A tall man in his forties stands with his hands in his jeans and a baseball hat, giving me a curt smile. Today is a big day because we meet with Alex Ortiz, Katura’s father, who arrived at Ayana the other day.

Former undercover agent. Former anti-trafficking division. Surveillance expert. Survivalist.

Finally, we meet in person.

Alex Ortiz is in his mid-forties. Tall, serious, with a poker face that can trick psychiatrists. His handshake is firm but not overly dominating, and his voice is calm no matter the topic.

Marlow is here, too. So is Bishop.

Archer briefly tells them about Sonny’s escapades to Port Mrei.

Marlow chuckles. “Raven is catching all the petty criminals these days.”

If only he knew.

Archer snorts. “Looks like Raven has a shadow.”

“As in?”

“The kid. He talks about you all the time.”

Marlow nods in agreement.

“But we know what this little story means, right?” Alex Ortiz interrupts.

“In theory,” Marlow says, probably thinking out loud, “we could turn Port Mrei into a sort of Google village or Apple Park. With enough work and investment, it could become the new Silicon Valley. That would take care of the homeless thing.”

Archer nods. “That’s a lot of work.”

“In truth,” I say, “the town is too far gone.”

It’s a shithole Archer barely cared for until recently. Somehow, his kidnapping opened his eyes to the state of Port Mrei, specifically Ashlands.

“In truth,” I say grimly, “there has to be another war for that town to be willing to change. A new administration, at the minimum.”

And inevitably, the conversation veers toward Tsariuk. I swear, there’s something in the water, some Russian magic, because we haven’t talked about Tsariuk that much before. But since I uncovered his daughter, I hear that name at every meeting.

“We are not afraid that Tsariuk will infiltrate Ayana,” Archer says. “The trouble is what happens if he finds out his daughter is indeed here, and we didn’t find her or give her to him.”

I wonder if that’s a rhetorical question. There are a lot of what-ifs lately.

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