Page 17 of Devoted

I sit back and tap my chin. "With Maddox, it's sort of a sum of differentevents."

He sits forward. "Is it that thing with the poor guy whose crazy ass brother strapped him with abomb?"

I nod. "That is a good one. Occasionally Maddox lets that superhero heart shine through. It's kind of hard to look past the stunning exterior. Something that, surprisingly, he pays little attention to. I like that he's pretty grounded about life in general. That day was crazy. When we found that guy sitting in the parking lot under the tree strapped head to toe with explosives, the victim was shaking sohard—"

"Rightly so," Silvananotes.

"Heck yeah. We were sure he'd set the thing off before the bomb crew arrived. We were all standing back hundreds of yards behind our cars. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a big wild head of hair crossing the parking lot. Maddox sat right down, just feet from the guy. I guess the guy was wearing a football jersey. Like Maddox, he played in high school, so they talked about their glory days while they waited for the bomb squad. The guy totally calmed down. They got him free of the thing without incident. Mostly because Maddox had the courage to sit with the man and get his mind off hispredicament."

"Wow"—Silvana breaks his promise to haveonedonut and pulls a jelly out—"I've heard a few people tell that story, but I always just figured it was being embellished. After all, everyone in the precinct looks at that guy through star studded shades. Even me, Iconfess."

"Yeah, Maddox does have this strange unearthly glow around him." I grab a napkin and point out the big drip of jelly that just landed on hisshirt.

"Ah crap. Happens every time. Well, unless I can manage to have a bomb scare or something similar staged at the pie restaurant, I'll just have to stick to charming and wittyconversation."

"Seriously, Sil, that's all you need. And if she doesn't see how amazing you are, then she's not worth theeffort."

"Nice of you to say, Ten. So that wild day with the bomb scare, was that the day you knew you lovedhim?"

"No, that was cool but that wasn't the day." The run has left a chill in my bones. I pick up the plaid throw, my new favorite blanket, and pull it around my shoulders. "The day I knew I loved him? I was standing in the grocery store trying to decide which frozen dinner I wanted and my phone rang. I answered it. All he said was 'Hey, Ten' and without warning my knees went weak. I'd been working with him all day and the sound of his voice turned my legs to jelly. That's when Iknew."

"Well shit, I've got to work on my hello's then. Oh, I've been so absorbed in the conversation, I almost forgot." Silvana pulls a folded piece of paper out of hispocket.

"Remember when I told you that it might help you deal with things to know a little more aboutFreestone."

"Yes, I have my laptop ready to go. But I have to say mostly dead ends sofar."

"And I know why." Silvana hands me a list with five names. "Those are just a few of the aliases he's used. He's a complicated man who has left behind a very tangled web. The plane and even the yacht Maddox helped pick out of a luxury boat line-up from the Caribbean marina were all leased using a shell company under yet another fakename."

"Leased? Wow, so he isn't actuallyrich?"

"He's definitely rolling in money. Stock market genius, apparently, which makes sense since he's an actual genius. He just likes to keep the strings attached to him short. That yacht was a thirty thousand a week lease. Pretty big chunk of change for a boat that spent most of its time moored in the marina. In the meantime, all leases have been cancelled, leaving no tracks to the elusive Mr.Freestone."

"But it's all so elaborate. He went to school, earned degrees. How did he get away with all the aliases? There must be a social security number attached to the real Kane Freestone or whatever his real name mightbe."

Silvana sits forward. It's obvious he's loving his opportunity to do cyber research. It's equally obvious he's damn good at it. For months no one could find a thing about Freestone except that he was the founder of a secret society. "The mystery deepens the farther back in his past I dig," Silvanasays.

"Is that right? Howso?"

"I think he managed to hop from name to name without a lot of consequences because his real name, or the one he was given at birth, has been basically wiped from the records. I think he was placed in foster care or protective custody when he was ten. A kid matching his description and age range, I put him at about thirty—" he pauses forconfirmation.

"Seems aboutright."

"Anyhow, this particular kid was dropped into the foster care system in the late nineties. He was moved from home to home, but he spent most of his high school years with one family, the Richford family in the small town of Greenfield in Northern California. During that time, he became Jeff Turnbill. I can't find out why but I'm working through the social service records in the late nineties to see if I can find thestory."

"But they don't change kid's names in fostercare."

"Not unless they needed to keep his namesecret."

"Witness protection?" Iask.

"Maybe. Whatever it was, social services decided it was important to wipe his real name clean from the records. But if there's a will, there's a way." Silvana taps his temple. "And there is awill."

I laugh. "You really like this kind of work, don'tyou?"

"Yep, better than I like being out on the streets. But I won't tell Sheila that. She's kind of impressed with the whole detectivething."

"As she should be. Just be yourselftonight."

---