Page 97 of Desolation

He shakes his head. “Later.”

We both head into Jackson’s office not sure what this is about.

I take a seat across from Jackson while David stands against the wall. Jackson looks pissed. I glance toward David but his eyes are locked on a file on Jackson’s desk.

“Some revelations came to my attention early this morning.”

I scrunch my brow. “About what?”

“Seems that we are a lot closer to figuring out your case than we thought.”

My eyes dart to David again but he still isn’t looking at me. It’s strange. If he discovered all these cases are connected, it should be a good thing. We can close it, get paid, and move on.

“You wanted to get out into the field. Here’s your chance,” Jackson says as he throws a file onto his desk in front of me.

Excitement runs through my veins, my chance to fight, my chance to find myself again, the part of me that I lost out in the desert.

But before I have a chance to open the file Jackson continues. “Missing person case.”

“Missing person? Why don’t they go to the police? Why are we taking this on?”

“We are a private security firm. People give us a lot of money to take care of their problems. That money gives you a hefty paycheck.”

I grunt.

“This is a high-profile client, a Senator from out east. Said his wife’s gone missing for a few weeks.”

I go to interrupt but Jackson holds up a hand. “Before you ask, he has reason to believe she is in San Diego. Tipped off by some girl in a women’s shelter.”

I have no idea what any of this has to do with the case I am working on. “Why doesn’t he call her?”

“He hasn’t been able to get a hold of her. I did some digging, before she disappeared she had been in contact with a divorce lawyer.”

“So why did you take this on if you think it’s a marital dispute?” I ask. “Woman wants a divorce. Husband disagrees. She takes a bunch of his money and runs.”

Jackson sighs and runs his hand through his hair. “Because I know there is more to it than that.” He looks over to David before turning back to me. “I’m hoping that the Senator might be able to give us information about the other case you are working on.”

I nod. It makes sense. David was just telling me how he thinks these cases are connected. But we still have no leads. No real names. Just a bunch of aliases and bogus locations.

Jackson looks back at David. And I see David nod. He obviously knows something I don’t. Maybe that’s what he was trying to tell me this morning. Jackson flips open the file and I nearly lose it. Because one picture is about to tear my whole world apart.

One picture that can bring all the cases together.

One picture that can destroy everything.

And I don’t know how to tell Jackson. Because it won’t just destroy my career but David’s too.

Because Marianne Gutierrez isn’t who she says she is.

Marianne Gutierrez is Mariela Waters.

Wife to Senator Michael Waters.

The Senator who is rumored to put in a bid for the next presidential election.

Mari has been lying to me from day one.

And she holds the power to take down everything.

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