TOXIC BLOODLINES: PARADISE - BOOK 2/4

THE CROW

IAN

My thumb hovered over the send button but I deleted the message I wanted to send. What difference would it make if I sent it? Elenore's assistant handles her phone and her social media. If Arik was in contact with her, then maybe Sara was right, and Elenore gave us a different number. But why wouldn't she tell me she was coming back?

Not wanting to get worked up over this, I took a breath and let it go. But after a few seconds, the anger bubbled up again. Why the fuck did I have to find out about this from Arik, of all people? I picked up my phone again ready to give her shit.

Sara walked in with our lunch. "If you say anything about the combinations, I will suffocate you in your sleep," she warned. When nobody picked up, I threw my phone aside. "Why so serious? Did Al give you 'Chaos Wielder' spoilers again?"

"He wouldn't dare, not after I found his search history." I stood from behind my desk to help her carry the bags. "Is that a jar of pickles? Since when do you eat pickles?" I chuckled.

"Since now," Sara snatched the bag with her name on it from me.

Exhausted and hungry, I sat on the couch near the window.

"Any new leads?" Sara asked as we unpacked our food on the coffee table.

"Nothing yet, which doesn't surprise me at all." I took a bite of the burger. "The mayor's been silent since."

"It's weird. You'd think our commander-in-chief would want the people with actual experience to take the lead. I went back to the site. It's gone, torched. She didn't even say anything, and when I asked for the crime scene photos, I was ignored. Good thing we have Pete. He hacked the police department." Sara took a bite of her sandwich. "What was the point of calling us if you were going to do your own thing anyway?" Sara complained.

"She learned from the best," I chuckled.

"And look how that ended," Sara took another bite of her sandwich after stuffing it with pickles and French fries. "Shut up, Ian," Sara laughed. Then she frowned as if she had remembered something.

"What?" I asked.

"Remember my conspiracy wall?" She put the sandwich down.

"Yes. Why'd you bring it up?"

"I was just thinking, Charlie Diez went into those mines. Uri's mom was killed in those mines, then that whole thing with... what if it's all connected? What if we missed something?" Sara speculated.

"If I'm gonna be honest with you, Sara, I don't think it's the Lightbringers. Not this time. This is different," I replied.

"But they marked him, just like the Petersons," Sara pointed out the similarities. "Let's say it is them—The Lightbringers. What would they want this time aside from the obvious answer? Why now? What's changed?" Sara asked. "It's been five years since they've been active. We've followed every lead and come up with nothing, then boom. A massacre? Something is cooking."

"I don't think we should worry about them yet," I replied.

"Yet?" Sara frowned.

"I'm just saying that we have to be smart about this."

"Don't tell me how to run my department," Sara scolded me.

"I don't think we need to start shit when we don't even know what this is. Let's wait," I replied.

"So, your plan is to ignore it until it becomes a problem?" She asked condescendingly.

"For now, yes."