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Ray

“The Berrys? Why would the Berry family be involved in this?”

Ray asked as he put his cell phone on speaker.

“Yep, according to the license plate Ghost was able to get before this Jackson guy took off, it belongs to Joe Berry,”

Brick said. “And Mr. Cross mentioned the guy’s parents and grandparents.”

“That’s where the vet said he was coming from when he walked into that old barn that used to belong to the Miles family,” Ray said.

“And now it belongs to the Berry family. Coincidence? I doubt it,”

Fletcher said.

“There are no coincidences,”

Brick said. “Just clues.”

“I remember the Berry family from when I lived in Marshall,”

Ray said. “Grandpa and Dad were acting sheriff then. They kept to themselves pretty much. There were four boys and one daughter. Joe Berry is one of the four sons. He must have inherited the farm when his parents passed, but I don’t know who this Jackson is.”

“There’ll be some files on the family in the town records, and if we’re lucky, one of the boxes from the station or one Sophia had saved,”

Elias said.

“By the looks of things, the Berry family bought up all the Miles land after Jericho’s death. His parents moved into a small house in town after that. I guess the old man didn’t want anything to do with the farm after his only son died,”

Spencer said.

“So why would the Berrys want us to stop looking for answers to the shooting and his relationship with Sophia?”

Ghost asked.

“That’s what we need to find out,”

Brick said. “The Berry family has now rocketed themselves to the top of the list of suspects in this case.”

“Good job, Ghost,”

Ray said, meaning every word. He was surprised by how much he missed the man. “We wouldn’t have a clue if you hadn’t ghosted and overheard their conversation.”

Someone knocked on his hotel room door, and Ray stood to answer it. When he opened the door, Owens pushed his way in, a bottle of whiskey in his hand.

“You ready to fuck, Sommers?”

Owens slurred. “Take your clothes off, you old horndog. It's time we get reacquainted.”

What the fuck? Ray’s panicked gaze went to the phone. What the hell was Ghost thinking right now? God, Owens was such a prick.

“Um, we’ll leave you to your conference, Ray. We can discuss this development in the case when you get back,”

Brick said over the speaker, and the line went dead.

“Fuck. Owens, what the hell did you just do?”

***

Ghost

He stared at the phone for a few seconds as his heartbeat sped up and his mouth went dry. The kitchen was quiet, and Ghost couldn’t bring himself to look anyone in the eye. He figured it was common knowledge something was brewing between Ray and him, but it seemed he’d gotten it all wrong.

I have to get out of here.

“Ghost,”

Julia said. “I’m sure that wasn’t how it sounded.”

“No worries, guys,”

Ghost said. The last thing he wanted to do now was look weak in front of his new team, especially after proving himself earlier that day. “We aren’t in some kinda relationship or anything. Ray’s free to do whatever or whoever he wants.”

Ghost did his best to smile and laugh it off while backing out of the kitchen, waving his friends’ concerns away. “All good. I’ll catch up with you later.”

He booked it for the back door. Air, he needed air. Stupid. He was stupid to think there was more going on between them. Ghost had been alone for so long that he’d grabbed onto the first person to show him any interest. Lesson learned loud and clear.

It was as if he was back in foster care, holding out hope for any scrap of caring or approval from his foster parents or the other kids. Well, that stopped right now. He wanted to be taken seriously as part of this team. He wouldn’t be distracted by this lame shit of emotions any longer. He was and always would be a lab experiment, incapable of having normal human relationships. The best he could hope for was to belong to a team and be treated equally. That’s what he’d concentrate on from this point forward.

Ghost realized he’d walked down the dirt road leading from the lake house toward town. He was a good distance away and was about to turn around when a car appeared coming over the hill. Ghost turned around and began walking back to the house, staying on the road’s edge to allow the car room to pass.

As the car got closer, he began walking on the grass a couple of feet away from the ditch. At the last second, he glanced back as the passenger door of the car flung open, hitting him in his lower back and legs and throwing him through the air and into the shallow ditch. The pain was instantaneous as he lay with his face in the dirt. Just before he passed out, he felt himself being lifted, and then everything went dark.

***

Ray

“What do you mean he’s missing?”

Ray’s heart beat faster as he strode around his hotel room.

“We found his running shoe in the ditch down the road. There were tire marks skidding to a stop right beside where we found it,”

Brick explained.

“Do you think it was the Noah Group or the Berrys who took him?”

“We’re not sure. The team is scouring the town, and Elias has called in surrounding counties to keep an eye out for him.”

Ray had the distinct impression that Brick wasn’t telling him something.

“What else?”

“There was blood on the ground in the ditch where we found the shoe. We haven’t had a good rain in a while and the ditch was dried up.”

“How much?”

“Enough to make us concerned.”

“Fuck. I’m on my way back as soon as I can secure an earlier flight. I’ll call the airline.”

“Jason is already in the air on his way to you. I’ll send you the pickup location.”

“Thanks.”

Ray hung up the phone, grabbed his duffle bag, and began packing. He didn’t give a shit that a much more sober Owens was sitting in a chair watching him. Ray had pumped coffee into the dumb bastard, and after a few hours, the guy was sober enough to feel embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, man, I don’t know what came over me,”

Owens said.

“I don’t have time for your shit, so let yourself out.”

“You really care for this guy.”

“No shit. Like I told you once you sobered up, Ghost is it for me, and now he’s missing.”

“Do you need any help?”

“No, we got this.”

“I overheard you talking just now.”

“So?”

Ray threw another shirt into his duffle wishing the man would just leave.

Owens rubbed the back of his head. “I’ve dealt with the Noah Group.”

“What the fuck?”

Ray took the few steps separating them and picked Owens up by his collar. “Are you one of them? Are you part of this group?”

“No, shit, no.”

Ray released Owens and tossed him back into the chair.

“Talk.”

Owens closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. “I’m a product of the experiments the Noah Group undertook before I was left at an orphanage thirty-six years ago. I was only six at the time, but I remember everything.”

Ray would have laughed if the situation weren’t so serious. What the hell were the odds? Days ago, he knew nothing about the survivors or the Noah Group. Now he was faced with losing Ghost and discovering a man he’d known for over twenty years, a fellow detective, was also a survivor.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I think I can help.”

Hell, this day was going from bad to nuclear, and he was lost on how to fix it. But he knew someone he could talk to who could make sense of it all. He dialed the number.

***

“According to Spencer, everything Owens has told you is verifiable,”

Brick confirmed. “He hacked the foster care system and found the guy’s record. We were able to find mention of a young boy fitting the information provided in the files we rescued from the storage units before Isabelle Noah could have them destroyed,”

Brick said.

“So, am I supposed to believe him and bring him along?”

Ray asked.

“Conor’s here and wants to talk to Owens,”

Brick said. “We hadn’t placed a tracker on Ghost yet, so we need to cover every option available.”

“I’ll put the call on speaker. Go ahead.”

“Detective Rocko Owens?”

Conor asked.

“Yes, I’m here.”

“Are you a survivor of the Noah Group, and have you been genetically manipulated by them against your will?”

“Yes, and yes.”

“Truth. Were you dumped in an orphanage when you were six?”

“Yes.”

“Truth. Were you adopted by Joan and Randal Owens when you were eight years old?”

“Yes.”

“Truth. Why do you want to come back here to Marshall?”

“To help find your friend Ghost.”

“That’s not the entire truth,”

Conor murmured.

“Okay, I want to help find Ghost and meet people like me. I’ve never had the opportunity to meet anyone like me before.”

“Truth.”

“How can you help us, lover boy?”

Brick snapped.

“I have this ability to find things and people,”

Owens confirmed.

“I’m going to need more than that to get you on a plane,”

Brick said.

“I’m like a human bloodhound but with a twist.”

“Twist?”

Brick asked.

“Yeah, instead of smelling for the missing person, I see shadows of where they’ve been, like a trail, and I follow that to wherever they are,”

Rocko explained.

“What if he was taken in a vehicle?”

Conor asked.

“It won’t matter, I’ll feel his vibration.”

“Truth.”

“Okay, bring him. And you’d better be as good as you say, Rocko,”

Brick commanded. “Or else.”