Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 78631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
Another silence stretches across the line, but it’s shorter this time. “Because I don’t have her anymore.”
Anger surges through me. Whoever this is on the other end of the line just admitted to having my sister! If I could reach my fist through the phone and mutilate him, I’d do it.
But I breathe in.
If he hangs up, all is lost.
“Then who does?” I demand.
“They call themselves the Order of the Serpent.”
“The Order of the Serpent?” I echo, my blood chilling. Whatever the hell it is, it sure doesn’t sound welcoming. It sounds like some kind of bizarre cult that could be doing God knows what to my sister.
If this joker isn’t trying to pull one over on me. How is my sister even alive after all this time?
Someone is playing me.
Who else would know about her pink flannel pajamas with rainbows, though?
Only my parents…
But if she was wearing them when she was taken…
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
My parents. I swore to God I’d never speak to them again, but if Griffin is alive somewhere, they might have information I need.
I’ve got to find them.
The person on the other end of the line doesn’t reply, and then the call ends.
“Damn it!” I have to stop myself from hurling the phone at the wall. I need it. It’s my only link to Griffin.
What is the Order of the Serpent? Why do they have Griffin? What do they want?
I’m left with more questions than answers and a racing heart.
I should call Alayna. Tell her what I know—what little I know—but how can I explain this to her when I can’t even grasp it myself? How could a bunch of cultists kidnap my sister? And who the hell had her for the two decades before that?
But first, my parents.
I don’t bother plugging their names into the search engine. Been there, done that.
Instead, I call Alayna after all. If she’s as good as the Steels think she is, she should be able to find Felix and Stefania Locke…and tell me what the hell the Order of the Serpent is.
Alayna picks up on the second ring. “Dragon. Any updates?”
“Yes,” I reply, trying to keep my voice steady. “I got a package. It contained a piece of fabric from some pajamas I gave Griffin for Christmas before she was taken.”
“Are you sure it was hers?” Her voice remains even.
“No, of course I’m not sure. But it also contained a phone number, and I called it.”
“And…?”
I relay the conversation to her.
“Your parents,” she says, no question in her voice. “They’re the only ones who would know about the pajamas.”
“Yes,” I say. “Do you have any leads? Because I need to find them right away.”
“Already working on it. I may have a lead on their whereabouts. Stefania Locke has been making small donations to a certain charity. Might be nothing. Might be her.”
My heart sinks. I need certainties, not maybes. “Where?”
“New Mexico,” she replies. “Taos, to be exact. They’ve been lying low, living under fake names. The donations are in the name of Stefania Locke, but the address is to a Christina Delaney in Taos.”
New Mexico. Not too far from Colorado.
But why would they be using fake names?
My heart drops.
Have they done something illegal?
Or are they hiding from someone?
My God…
Are they hiding from me?
But they can’t hide from me anymore.
“When can I go?” I ask.
Chapter Four
Diana
I draw in a breath as I put the finishing touches on my correspondence to the mountaintop-project client.
Do I press Send?
I’ve already typed it up, and I’m ready to print out a hard copy to send certified snail mail as confirmation.
This will be the end of my position here at Lund & Lopez.
But not the end of my architecture career.
I’ll do what I perhaps should have done in the first place. Set up my own architecture firm.
I’m new, yes. But I’m good.
I don’t need the hefty salary L & L are paying me, and I’m in a unique position. I have the means to stand up for what’s right.
I feel for Marcus. He needs his job because he has a family to support.
Oh God…
Will I be putting Marcus in jeopardy?
I need to talk to someone before I do anything. I leave the carefully typed email in my drafts folder and grab my purse. It’s after lunchtime anyway, though I’m not hungry.
I walk out into the lobby, wave to the receptionist, and tell her I’ll be back in an hour.
It’s a brisk autumn day in Denver, so I choose not to leave the building. I descend in the elevator to the ornate lobby on the first floor, find an empty chair, and make my call.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
My father’s voice. So calm and clear and full of strength. My father, Talon Steel, has been through hell in his life—a lot of which I didn’t know about until recently.