Page 33 of Wounded Fox
Oh, damn! Now I felt like shit for being happy it wasn't me.
"Is she okay? That had to be traumatizing for her. I’m only hearing about it and I’m grossed the fuck out.”
"Owen is with her. He'll make sure she's okay."
It was always good to have someone who cared so much in your life who made the tough times better.
I was busy thinking about Aaron and how he was that person for me when it dawned on me that they came in asking about Vanessa.
"Why did you want to know about Vanessa?" I asked Maverick.
"The package wasn't addressed to anyone, just this address. We were trying to figure out if it was meant for you or Vanessa."
I tried to think about everything I knew about Vanessa but nothing was jumping out at me that would explain someone sending dead animals.
"I know her as well as any employer knows their employee. She moved to town about six months ago I think. She had great references and I was sure to call all of them. She seems like a good person. Are you sure the rats don't have anything to do with the other things going on?"
I didn't even want to think that this could be a threat on my life, but I had to face the reality of the situation. Something was going on with Aaron and his friends, and because I was involved with him, I got dragged into it.
"That's what we're trying to figure out," Maverick replied. "According to sources within the government, the threat from our last op has been dealt with."
I gave Maverick an incredulous look. "What do you mean dealt with? Were the people dead? In jail? How does one deal with terrorists anyway? Actually now that I think about it, I’m not sure I really want to know.”
Maverick shook his head. "That's classified and they won't tell me anything."
Huh? That was a bit annoying.
"So the package and everything else that has happened the last couple of days?"
The men looked at each other before Aaron finally answered. "Likely something else."
Well, wasn't that just great.
"So someone else is threatening your team and the people you care about?" I didn't bother to hide my annoyance. "Who?"
"We don't know, but we're going to figure it out," Maverick was the one to tell me.
Before I could say anything to that, my phone dinged with an incoming text message. I quickly opened my messages when I saw it was from Vanessa.
VANESSA: Sorry I won't be coming in today. I had to go out of town for a few days. I'll message you as soon as I get back.
I showed the message to all four men and watched their reactions closely to see if they were as suspicious as I was. The message didn't sound at all like the Vanessa that I knew.
"Is that normal for her?" Nolen spoke up for the first time since his friends showed up.
"Not at all. Normally her text messages are upbeat and full of exclamation points and emojis. She's the most expressive person I've ever met."
"How about just leaving like that?" Sheriff Andrews asked and I shook my head.
"Completely out of the ordinary for her. She's only taken time off once and that was recently, and she gave me several weeks’ notice. Nothing about this is like her."
I was actually worried rather than upset by her curt message. With everything else going on, I didn't want Vanessa to be dragged into the mess.
"Can someone go check on her place, just in case?"
"I'll check it out," Nolen offered.
Sheriff Andrews looked like he wanted to argue but in the end he kept his mouth shut.
