Page 56 of Guarded from Treachery

But to do that, we need to find the people behind this fucked up situation and stop them.

Progress has been frustratingly slow until now, with most of our leads ending with nothing but more questions. The longer this drags on, the more frustrated I get and the guiltier I feel. After all,I’mthe one who’s supposed to find the clues to solve this. And up until several hours ago, I felt like I was failing miserably.

Until just past three AM, when I finally got a hit. Something that could actually give us something to go on.

Which is why we’re having an impromptu team meeting this morning, so we can discuss what I found and our plan moving forward.

Dante, Erik, Rhiannon, and I are seated around the conference table, while Leo looks on from the projection screen on the wall. He’s been hard at work investigating Isla’s case, as well, and I’m grateful to have the help. Everyone looks wide awake despite the early hour, the sun only just starting to peek above the horizon.

From the head of the table, Dante flips his tablet open and makes a quick note in it before looking over at me. His posture straightens and his expression sobers. “Okay. Let’s just jump right into this. Matt, can you share what you found?”

“Absolutely,” I answer. I glance down at my laptop, though I have all the information memorized by now. “So we already know the two men at the doctor’s office were hired on the dark web.”

That was one piece of information we extracted from the men before the police arrived, thanks to some creative convincing on our parts. Nothing illegal, exactly, but we didn’t shy away from intimidation and threats. When the two men woke up, restrained and with three very pissed off Special Forces operators looming over them, we made sure they knew whatcouldhappen if they didn’t tell us what they knew.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t give us a name, like we were hoping. But they did provide the name of the dark web site where they were hired, and that was enough of a clue for me.

Dante scowls. “The damn dark web. If I never hear about it again, it’ll be too soon.”

I can’t say I blame him. Not only is the dark web a virtual gathering place for the worst of society, criminals who hide in anonymous online channels as they commit crimes without penalty, it’s caused terrible trauma to people we care about, like Lucy and Charlie, the wife of our Sleepy Hollow teammate, Rylan.

“I agree,” I tell Dante with a quick lift of my chin. “If I could shut it down, I would.” Pausing, I take a quick glance at my laptop before continuing, “I’ve been searching the onion site the attackers said they used, first to find the archived posting, then to locate the source of it.”

Erik raises his eyebrows. “What’s an onion site?”

Before I can answer, Leo jumps in. “There’s something call the Onion Browser, and it allows access to Tor, which is an anonymous network on the dark web. Onion sites are versions of websites that can only be accessed through Tor.”

“Right.” I nod at Leo. “And it’s typically very difficult to find the identities of the people who use them. Information is routed through VPNs and other anonymizing tools, so it takes a lot more time and work to do it. Reverse VPN searches, hacking into the VPN companies records, IP address searches, stuff like that.”

“I’m not going to claim I understand all that,” Erik replies, “but I think I get the gist of it. So I’m assuming you called the meeting because you found the identity of the person who posted the ad to kidnap Isla?”

Frustration makes my jaw clench. “Not exactly. It would be much easier if I had. But I’m still working on it. Hopefully soon. But in the meantime, I did find a lead.”

Dante leans forward, resting his elbows on the glossy wood of the conference table. “And?”

“I’ve identified a number of the people who accessed that particular site. And I used a program to cross-reference the names and locations in an attempt to narrow down our list of potential suspects. I specifically looked for anyone in the Dallas area, or any of the other places Isla’s lived or worked. Fortunately, she’s spent most of her time working in Texas since college, so that helped focus the search a bit.”

The same anger that’s been simmering at a low heat since three AM rises to a boil again. “I found one name that raised a giant red flag. Archer Remington.”

Rhiannon’s face jolts in recognition. “Her old boss.”

“Yes.” Slivers of pain shoot through my jaw. “I didn’t find evidence that he posted the ad, but he was definitely on the site. Multiple times. Itcouldbe a coincidence, but I have a hard time believing it.”

Erik’s eyes flash dangerously. “You think her boss had something to do with this?”

“It’s possible. I looked into him before and there wasn’t anything that popped up. Just a wealthy businessman with no criminal record and a few amicable divorces under his belt. When I asked Isla about him before, she said she rarely saw him, even though she lived in a guest house at the estate.”

“But if he was on that site,” Rhiannon says thoughtfully, “it makes me wonder if her employment was really on the up and up. How was she hired?”

“Recruited through an online job site,” I reply. “I’m going to talk to Isla, see if she can think of any other details that might help. And now that I have him as a potential, I can do another deep dive into his background. But I really think we need to check out the estate. Take a look at the guest house she stayed at. See if there’s anything suspicious in the main house.”

Dante nods. “I agree.” He pauses. “It’s unfortunate the guy is dead, so we can’t question him.” Another pause, and then speculatively. “He died of a heart attack, right?”

I meet his gaze. “That’s what the autopsy said. But now… I’m working with my contacts to get a copy of the results. Just to make sure there’s not something they missed.”

“I want to get in there ASAP,” Dante says. “What do you think about tonight? With Niall and Xav on a job in Albuquerque, that still leaves us with three people who can go while one stays back here.”

“I’m going,” I reply quickly.

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