Page 25

I didn’t get much sleep that night.

Following the panic that had stuck with me since Wrex failed to show up at my condo, I hadn’t known what in the hell to do. The entire next day was spent working with Wrage to figure out how the hell someone had managed to subdue Wrex.

We’d traced his steps from the time he’d left his family home and gotten on the bus to head to my place. Public transportation was readily available in the city and Wrage told me that his brother used it often enough without a single problem.

Until now.

Telling the board about Wrex’s disappearance proved to be harder than I would have thought.

Naturally, they were appalled that Wrex had been taken, but I’d had to describe to them that he’d been expected at my place, which was less than pleasant to talk about.

It wasn’t that I was ashamed of what Wrex and I had been doing, but having to divulge that we’d been fucking on the regular was an awkward conversation I never thought I’d be having.

We’d spent the day searching the area between Wrex’s family home and my condo, talking to anyone and everyone who would give us the time of day.

After trying to see if there was anything that could lead us to who could have taken him, we’d brainstormed back at the office to comb through all the information we’d collected.

Long story short, we had nothing. No one had seen Wrex or anyone suspicious looking that could have led us to where he could’ve been.

We’d even managed to get Hudson over to go over things, just to see if we’d missed anything.

The helpful detective had even taken to the streets himself to ask questions of the people in the area, but he’d turned up nothing more than we had.

I’d ended up sending the rest of the board home when five hit, but Wrage had decided to stay at the office with me and Hudson. After mulling over the lack of evidence we had, I flopped back in my chair, exhaling in a long drawn out sigh.

“There’s nothing to go off of,” I muttered to no one in particular. “This feels hopeless.”

“We’ll find him, Wallace.” Wrage assured me, standing before the whiteboard we’d written all the connecting pieces about the missing petrylle on and putting his hands on his hips. “We have to.”

“I agree that it’s not much to go off of.” Hudson nodded, sighing as he walked over and stood next to Wrage and the whiteboard. “No witnesses to the kidnapping, nothing caught on any recorded footage within the surrounding area. It’s not much at all.”

Sighing again, I looked over to where Maxim was, still recording everything even though everyone else had gone home for the day. “Max, I think you’re good to go.”

“Are you sure?” He asked me with renewed vigor. “I don’t mind staying while you guys talk everything out.”

“I don’t think there’s much else to talk out,” I nodded. “But I really appreciate it. Just head home.”

Maxim agreed, gathering up his laptop and wishing us all good luck as he stuffed his co mputer into his bag and proceeded to leave the office. The three of us sat in silence for a while, looking over the details and just trying to make something appear on the page or the whiteboard.

It was only after Wrage and Hudson decided to join me in sitting at the board meeting table that one of them spoke.

“Maybe we’re thinking about this in the wrong way,” Hudson suggested. “Who all knew about your, uh, relationship with Wrex?”

I didn’t squirm at the pause the detective had issued before saying the word relationship, or the fact that he’d tied us together in that way. Even if I had, Wrage wriggled uncomfortably in his seat enough for the both of us.

“Wrage was the only one who knew, and that was about a week ago.”

“Ugh, please don’t make me relive that.” Wrage buried his head in his palm, making me both blush and smirk at the thought of when he’d found me and Wrex in my office.

“And you’re positive that no one else knew?” Hudson was a thorough guy, and I appreciated it. But I also didn’t think this line of questioning was going to go anywhere. “No one else overheard anything or saw you text Wrex? Nothing like that?”

“No,” I shook my head, running a hand through my hair. “The day that Wrage found out was during lunch. And then—”

Freezing tendrils rolled through my body as the memory hit me. Wrage had caught us in the act, and then he’d droned on and on about some data that the board had collected in a certain area of town. And just as we’d passed Maxim’s desk…

“Wait…” Wrage’s voice hitched as if the memory was also serving him right in that moment as well.

“What is it?”

“Wrage was going over some data with me,” I squared my eyes with Hudson before glancing in the direction of the open board room doors where Maxim had just been minutes prior. “And then Maxim had asked to us e my phone because he’d forgotten his at home that day.”

“And you think that Maxim went through your phone?” Hudson tilted his head in a physical display of his inquiry.

“I don’t know,” I scoffed, not wanting it to be true. “I didn’t even remember that he had my phone until I’d gotten ready to leave for the day. I didn’t think anything of it, but now, I guess he could have known.”

A glance exchanged between Wrage and the detective and I wasn’t liking it one bit.

“But that doesn’t mean that Maxim had anything to do with Wrex’s disappearance. It doesn’t make any sense!”

“It doesn’t until it does, Watson.” Hudson said, standing up from his chair so fast that the back of it swung in the air. “Where’s Maxim’s desk?”

“Out in the hall.” Wrage nodded, already following him as they paraded out of the room.

Following, more scoffs fell out of me in protest. “What do you think you’re going to find on his desktop? You think he’d be stupid enough to use his work computer if he was connected to the petrylle disappearances?”

“I have no idea what we’ll find.” Hudson admitted as he took a seat behind Maxim’s desk, booting up the PC in quick succession.

“But right now, he’s the only lead we have.

If it’s true that Wrage was the only one who knew about you and Wrex, and Maxim had your phone for an extended period of time, he’s now the only other person connected to it. ”

“But that’s assuming that Wrex got nabbed because we were together.” I shook my head. “Why would anyone care about that?”

“Have you not given thought to the possibility that the people being taken have engaged in some type of relationship with humans?” Hudson typed away at Maxim’s work computer, which of course didn’t have a password protecting it because it belonged to the government.

Ye t another reason why I didn’t think that, if Maxim was connected to the disappearing petrylle, he’d use government sanctioned property in order to do his evil dealings.

“We already know that all the petrylle had a new group of friends that included humans. Maybe the humans were befriending the petrylle so they’d be easy to subdue. ”

“Except for Wrex.” I pointed out. “He doesn’t fit the bill like the rest of the petrylle.”

“Who better to be taken next than the brother of an ORBIT board member who just so happens to be shacking up with the human boss?” Wrage concluded, earning him a nod from the detective, clearly agreeing.

My shoulders slumped. They had a point. Maxim had access to more than just my phone, he had access to everything. Easy was an understatement if he’d applied himself to use the resources at his disposal to do something as wicked as helping make petrylle vanish.

But this was Maxim we were talking about.

My dorky but very competent assistant. He’d been with me for so long, it was hard to imagine him betraying me.

Maxim only cared about three things as far as I was concerned: his girlfriend Stacy, his Pokémon card collection, and doing a good job here at the Capitol.

Thinking about Maxim being in leagues with the hate group that was clearly behind the kidnappings didn’t feel right. In fact, it made me nauseous just to think about it as my stomach stirred uncomfortably.

I watched over Hudson’s shoulder, just like Wrage, as he went through Maxim’s email.

Nothing suspicious was in his inbox or in any emails he’d sent, even though he’d connected his personal email and his work email.

A sense of pride surged through me at that, because admitting to myself that Maxim had the means didn’t mean he had the motive .

“There.” Hudson pointed, gesturing to an email that was lodged in the trash folder.

The email was from a sender with an unusual email address, [email protected], and there was a logo of a winged insect at the top of the page.

“What the fuck is that?” I said, disgusted as I pointed to the logo. I never did well around bugs.

“A dobsonfly,” Hudson stated, shaking his head. “Which is funny, considering that the hellgrammite,” He moved his finger to the email address. “Is the larva stage of the dobsonfly.” When I gave him a raised eyebrow, he just added, “My dad used to take me fishing with hellgrammite bait.”

“Who gives a shit,” Wrage scoffed. “What does this have to do with Wrex?”

Hudson rolled his shoulders. “Because, this is the hate group. It says ‘Hellgrammites, rejoice!’ so I’m assuming that’s the name they’re giving themselves.

They don’t mention anything in their email about a location, but it talks about how they need to stand together and keep the world creature free.

I’m going to trace this email address when I get back to work, get my best guys on it.

We can figure out where the hell it’s coming from and who else is connected. ”

“So…it was sent to Max because…” I didn’t, couldn’t, say it. I needed to hear Hudson confirm what was already painfully clear.

“He’s an active member of this hate group.”