Lost in Silence (The Lost Series Book 1)(18)
*****
Hudson
She dozed off in the truck after lunch. A lunch she picked at more than she ingested. I’m sure it was because she was still full from breakfast. I’d bet the last three meals were the most she’d eaten in a long time. The thought makes me sick and it’s something I planned on changing once we were settled in.
I pull out my phone, flipping it open to dial Sneak. I snuck out last night, after she had fallen asleep and called him in. I needed to check in with him to see if he found on the douche bag.
“You must have a sixth sense, I was just dialing your number,” his voice greets me after the first ring.
“Tell me you got something good for me,” I glance over at the sleeping woman next to me. She’s perfectly still and her breathing is even. Almost too even.
Sneak was the youngest of our squad and a computer genius. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t hack. He was assigned to the team for a temporary mission but his talents proved more useful than anticipated, so he was transferred permanently. We survived many missions together, the last one being the worst. He didn’t make it out as well as I did but the way Sneak is, you’d never know anything about him was different.
“I have something but I don’t know how good it is,” I can hear him jostling the phone while he gets his bearings.
“I was afraid of that,” I keep my eyes on the road ahead.
“The man you’ve asked me to investigate, Erik Scott, he doesn’t exist, at least not until eight years ago. I found record of his name but any information I could pull prior to the eight years was complete bullshit.”
“What does that mean?” I ask confused.
“Bear with me because this shit gets interesting. The information I was able to find is all basic, things like addresses, family members, etc. Shit law enforcement looks for, nothing to throw a red flag up. This I found odd considering everything you’ve told me about the situation. I dug deeper and I couldn’t find anything more. No bills, no credit information, no financial history, no work history, nothing prior to eight years ago. These are things every living person has record of, so there’s no reason he shouldn’t have it. I dug even deeper, man, checked out some of the addresses listed, known family members, his educational history and nothing came of it. It was all bogus.”
“Again, what does that mean?” I ask even though I had a sneaking suspicion what it all meant.
“The guy’s a fucking ghost Hudson,” his voice is clear, the words like bullets to my brain. “He’s got some powerful friends in high up places.”
“Fuck,” I swear loudly and glance over at Alice, she hasn’t moved. “What about her? Were you able to find anything out about her?”
“Nothing on an Alice Scott,” he answers.
“He said she was his wife.”
“There’s no record of a marriage on file,” he’s shuffling some papers, probably double checking his facts. “But I did find something about an Alice Michaelson, one of his last known addresses. The lease was in her name.”
“She did say her name wasn’t Scott,” I explain. I hear a keyboard clicking in the background, he’s pulling more information up on Alice Michaelson.
“She talking?”
“No,” I breathe exasperatedly. “I don’t know if she can. She wants to, I’m thinking it has to do with her conditioning.”
“That’s fucked up.”
“You’re telling me.”
“Alice Michaelson, born November eighteen, age twenty-five. A musician, studied at Juilliard but never finished, disappeared shortly after. Parents last known address is in Chicago. They’re also musicians. No siblings. Her grandfather is the famous violinist Carter Michaelson.”
“That explains the finger twitching,” I sigh relieved to finally know something about the woman next to me. “Does it say what she played?”
“Area of study was the violin,” he sighs. “This the girl?”
“No doubt,” Alice shifts next to me, her eyes still closed but her breathing has changed. She’s awake. “Do a full work up and I will get back to you when I get home.”
“She leave with you?”
“Yeah.”
“Good, should I fill King in then?”
The last thing I wanted was to make that phone call. I didn’t need a voice of reason and that’s likely what King would be. He knows my history. He knows where my head is. He knows this will likely tear me apart and he’ll do what he thinks he has to, shield me from it. I didn’t want that though. If Sneak told him for me though, at least I’d have some time to prepare.