Page 103 of Dark Horse

“I want to help with this.”

“Perfect.” She flashes a bright smile and ushers me into her office.

It’s massive and filled floor to ceiling with stuffed bookshelves and large tables with art and manuscripts sprawled over the surfaces. I feel like I’ve just entered a secret lair, and I’m wondering how I got from pouring shots to working next to one of the smartest women I’ve ever met. Apparently, there’s a silver lining to all of this misery.

FORTY-FIVE

GRANT

“I’ve been doinga deep dive into his family, his businesses, all his connections, and I think I might have a lead on something.” Levi comes into my office looking like he’s been up half the night when, in reality, it’s probably been the entirety of it.

“All right.” I motion for him to have a seat before he falls over.

“You see these family photos here.” Levi taps the screen, showing me an image of the governor and his grown children. “This is Abbott with his family. His wife, his two sons, and his daughter.”

“She goes off to college after this photo is taken. Starts studying at VSU, and her major when she goes there is arthistory.”

“Interesting.” I nod as I lean forward to get a better look at the photos he’s swiping through.

“The first couple of years, she’s clearly coming home, and she’s in the family pictures. She’s there for all the big ones—Thanksgiving, Christmas, Election Day. She’s at her mother’s side, helping hit the fairs with her dad and then again talking to female voting blocks. But then…” He flips through another dozen images. “She suddenly disappears. Not just from the holidays but from everything. It seems like she’s never coming home from college. Or at least she’s not in the photos.”

“Maybe she just got camera shy? Or did she die?” I ask, wondering which of the two extremes it might be.

“I went to the school’s records, and she disappeared from them about six years ago. The same period of time when she’s no longer in the photos is the same time when she stops attending college. I thought death, too, but there’s no record of her death in any of the systems. And there’s an absentee ballot. She’s voting in absentia, claiming citizenship status, but it looks like she’s out of the country. Sure enough, there’s a passport she picks up a little bit before that period where she disappears.”

“Okay…”

“But she always votes absentee when Abbott’s running. The last time was last year.”

“I guess every vote counts,” I mutter, staring at the evidence Levi has gathered.

“So I wondered if maybe she started taking classes overseas, joined a study abroad program, or something like that. Couldn’t find any record of it though. Dug deeper into her social media and saw she also stopped posting. At least on her original accounts. But a couple of her close friends from college started posting their likes onto a new account shortly after her originals went dark.”

“I worry about your ability to dig these things upsometimes. You’re frightening, truly.” I shoot my brother a sidelong glance.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” He gives me an amused look before he returns to his explanation. “The new account has a nondescript name, no details in the bio, and the person who takes the photos never shows their face. It’s just pictures of the countryside—rapeseed fields, rolling hills with some farms in the distance, and then suddenly mountains. One or two photos of a city street in Europe with no signs or anything to indicate a language or location. But it was enough that I could start triangulating the photos to narrow down where it was. Enough hint of the architecture that I could guess where to start, and then a matter of finding these fields with those views of the mountains—the Alps actually.”

“And?”

“The fields are in the southern part of Germany. The city streets are Salzburg and Munich.”

“You think she’s at a college there?” I ask.

“I think she’s up to something there. The timing is just before he asks Dad and Jay to go after the other relic for him. Right around the same time as the Kelly house fire. She goes to a place that’s riddled with churches and abbeys and monasteries. Got to be thousands of relics. What are the chances that’s coincidence?”

“But she’s never reappeared in the photos, so she’s never come home.”

“My guess? She hasn’t found what she’s looking for, or whatever it is he’s sent her to look for.” Levi taps the screen as he looks to me.

“In six years?” I give him a skeptical look. “What sort of study abroad program never lets you go home? It doesn’t make sense.”

“I know. I’m not done yet. Charlotte and her set are tryingto narrow down the relic situation. I’m hoping that between the two of us, we can figure it out. But I’m wondering if I shouldn’t fly over there.” He looks to me for my thoughts.

“Right now? I’d rather not lose you. I’d really like to go see Dakota, and I don’t want to leave this place unattended.” I circle my finger around the room. “I don’t think we can both be gone at the same time.”

“Are you gonna bring her back?” he asks.

“I was thinking I should, once we get a report back from Jay on his meeting with the governor.” I rock back in my seat. “Speaking of, how’s that surveillance going?”

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