Frostbite (Mindgames #1)

Chapter Twenty-Three - Filing Work

The night was drawn out and tiring. I had gotten through just over half of the sign-in sheet names, working on finding any missing or forged signatures.

The file room was stuffy with dusty paperwork, I felt the lack of fresh air catching up to me, but I tried to push on. I knew Enigma must have a reason to ask me without context, they have a habit of leaving out information if they feel it's unwise to tell me... I wish they would just tell me.I was still sitting on the floor as I did the task Enigma required me to, I wondered what I was missing by being in this stuffy file room. I wondered what Aaron Langley and Lucinda Matthews were arguing about now.

I flipped through the papers of the sign-in sheets, I had just gotten to the 'Q' last names. Furthermore, I skimmed through the names, my pen slowly following the names down the list, I knew I had to be thorough, but I couldn't help it, the dust was making me sleepy. I soon went to flip the page to the 'R's section, trying to finish up as quickly as possible without compromising on quality. I soon found my name, chuckling a bit in amusement, before slowly looking at the names, and staring at the ink below my name.

My father's name is Kyron Rivera, and my initials were the same as his since my mother thought it was wonderful to honor him that way. However, he had no signature under mine for the first day of the mission. Concerned, I flipped to the other papers for day two and quickly looked for our names again, mine had been filled out for me, with the words 'occupied on mission' in place of my signature. However, just like the other page, my father's signature was missing.

I quickly stood up, taking the two pages with my father's missing signature in my hand. I knew that if my father was not the only person missing, I would have to go back and reread the lists, but something in my gut was telling me that my father's absence was something to investigate.I walked back towards Enigma where I had last seen him. I had no idea where he could be in the base. I hoped he could be where he was last to make things easier. I could feel my ears hone in on different sounds as I tried to control my anxiety.

The sounds of the other DSO members walking around, the commotion of people talking to each other, and the sounds of the air conditioning blasting to combat the humid weather. Everything felt out of place when I noticed my father's signature missing. Was this anxiety? Was this fear?

I soon found myself back, next to Enigma as I walked back to him. Enigma seemed to glance over back at me. Enigma turned quietly to face me, running his hand through his hair as he sighed. "Any luck on seeing who was missing?"

I was reluctant, I tried to think for a moment. "Enigma... the only missing signatures I saw, well, the first missing signature I saw as I looked through the two days we were gone... The only signatures that were missing on both pages were my father's."

"Do you want to go check on his room? Maybe he has been in a self-imposed bed rest?" Enigma suggested quietly. I was grateful for the fact that he was trying to have me hope for the best, but the feeling of my stomach dropping and my gut feeling bubbling back up every time I looked at the two sign-in lists could not be ignored.

I pondered for a moment. "We should start there. You have a point." I managed to say. I looked back at Lucinda and Aaron Langley who were verbally ripping into each other. They both seemed like they were taking out their anger on each other."Can you come with me?" I asked Enigma gently. "I do not know what I will do if my father is missing... He has been acting so weird, and if he is missing I don't know what my mind will try to conjure up to explain this."

Enigma nodded slowly before I turned to lead Enigma to where my father was staying. I had not spoken to my father since I completed training.

My father had been acting strange, I assumed that it had to do with the chaos that was the deep sea organization compound.