Page 23 of Dauntless

CHAPTER SEVEN

Elliott: More leads in the case. I’ll tell you soon. See you in New York.

Keep your head up. Xx

Elliott had come back late that night for a few hours before he had to leave again. When he was here, he respected my need to not talk about the video leak, though I was having a hard time avoiding it. Every time I emptied my voicemail, it was refilled by local and top news channels, papers, and magazines. All offering an interview to share my side of the story. My email was much the same. Some messages were from business contacts asking for more explanation on what I did to decide whether they would continue to work with my company and me. While others had already made up their mind about me, even going as far as requesting that I take a leave of absence from charity boards and panels that I, as well as my father, had been a member of for years. The world I built for myself was crumbling.

I wanted to go away. I wanted to disappear.

Had Angel went through the same thing?

Had she, unlike me, refused to sacrifice herself and went away willingly to wherever The Agency sent her? Maybe she thought it would be temporary at first, but found she couldn’t leave? Or had she trusted “Simon,” gave in, and he took complete control of her life?

I had spent the better part of the night and the following morning writing down the things I remembered Angel telling me at the hospital. I had so many questions now. She tried to warn me, but I had dismissed her so easily. I had thought myself too good. She’d been right. I was just as vulnerable. Just as easily scarred as I imagine other women must have been when they went up against The Agency. My humiliation was the symbol of their wrath, a warning of what happens if the other women choose to defy their desires. Moreover, now with Angel mentally incapable and the legitimacy of my claims tarnished, would there even be a case against them?

Even so, I wasn’t ready to give up, and in that, they underestimated me. I just needed to find out more about them. I decided to do my own sleuthing.

I logged on to the internet via my computer and searched for the name, Loren Blake. Angel had told me to contact her in the hospital. My search returned with a few results; however, none had a public address. Of course, I’d suspected that it wasn’t going to be that easy. Then again, I remembered I did have access to someone that could help me.

After showering, I put on a sweater and jeans. I went for the minimum make-up: a penciled brow and a pale gloss. I finished up by pulling my hair back in a tight bun before I went downstairs to find Tove. He had the television on in the living room but was reading. “Is there somewhere you’d like to go today?” he asked as I approached.

“Actually, there is a place I’d like to go, but I’ll need your help,” I said taking the seat next to him on the couch. His brows rose as I continued to speak, explaining who Loren Blake was in relation to the case. Dane told me Angel had visited her in Seattle before her disappearance and only when she gave him her belongings, which was much later, did he find the card from The Agency. I ended by saying, “I’d like to talk to her. I need to feel like I’m doing something, and I want to know what I’m up against. And Angel had mentioned I should speak with her. I can’t find her address; will you please help me?”

His brows lowered. “You have no idea who she is or what she’s up to. Elliott says most of the people involved in this case are dangerous. I can’t take that risk especially not with his girlfriend.”

I smiled inwardly. Did Elliott tell him I was? I’d think about that later. Right now, I wasn’t going to let that excuse stop me from trying. “I won’t be alone if I do go to her house, and more than likely, she won’t want to talk to me. Even Angel gave Elliott more to work with when she spoke with me alone. Angel said she may know something, and I believe her. Please?”

“I understand what you are asking, and I’m sorry for all that’s going on with you,” he began calmly. “But it’s Elliott’s case and my job. If he gives the okay, then we’ll go together, but—” he said speaking over my excited exclaim. “It’ll be a long shot to get Elliott to agree to let you go, even with me.”

“If he says no, let me talk to him,” I said after he placed his cup down and took out his phone from the back of his jeans.

“Would you give up now if he says no?” he asked.

I lifted my chin. “Probably not.”

He shook his head and grinned. “You’re stubborn. Just his type.” I wanted to ask more about Elliott’s type, but he had the phone to his ear and started speaking. I could hear Elliott’s voice raised even from where I was seated.

“I’m out of it. You tell her,” Tove said and handed the phone to me.

“I told him just what I’m telling you, No,” Elliott said curtly.

“Hear me out first,” I said. “You called her a ‘dead end,’ but Angel didn’t think so and thinks there is something that we may have missed with her.”

“Angel’s messed up. You can’t count on her,” he pointed out.

“Maybe,” I agreed. “But even you admitted she gave you something useful. I’m not going on my own or anything. She may turn me away. I just… after all I’ve been through I still feel like I’m in the dark. I need to know more. I want to be ahead of them.”

He sighed down the phone line. “She had nothing before and probably has even less now. Dane found The Agency’s card when she gave him the things she left, and I don’t know what she’s up to now. I’ll run a quick check, and if she comes back clean, you can chat with her, that is if she’ll speak with you.”

I exhaled. “Thank you.”.

“Don’t thank me,” he grumbled. “You will follow and do exactly what Tove and I say to do. If he decides it’s unsafe, you leave with him. Understood?” Even though he was being a hard ass, I could hear the worry in his voice. “Agreed?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Now if everything checks out, I’ll let you go and give you the questions you’ll ask her on the ride to her home,” Elliott said. “Let her see Tove is with you and let me know how she reacts. Make sure you stay in sight. When it’s over, you call me, understood?”

“I will,” I vowed.

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