The footage, and his narration, was circumstantial evidence at best. But he hadn’t heard my side yet.
After he finished, he gestured to me. “Your turn.”
“I was keeping an eye on Ares at the memorial.” I started pacing. “She was drinking a lot—coffee, not wine—but she had this look. Hyperaware, even though she could barely keep her eyes open. Like she expected something to happen.” I chewed the inside of my cheek. “I don’t know what she saw, but she freaked. She dove for me, like she was going to tackle me, but I couldn’t risk waiting to find out if she was protecting me or attacking me. I used her momentum against her and threw her into the wall.”
“Then she knew the gig was up.” Bishop scowled at the screen. “She got her legs working and bolted.”
“The way she took off, I don’t think she was running from us. She looked like she was chasing someone.”
“It all happened so fast.” Grier shook her head. “From my perspective, I couldn’t tell either way.”
“I didn’t notice Ares until she attacked,” Linus said. “I was too late to see more than her swift exit.”
“Get Reece on it,” I told Bishop. “Maybe his shiny new cameras captured who—or what—we missed.”
Goddess knows the invoice I signed off on, for essentially disposable cameras given they wouldn’t survive the blast, had caused me heart palpitations. They owed me more than their brief lives, they owed me answers, and I expected them to pay up.
Next on the list was another ugly possibility. “Midas, we need to locate Liz.”
Odds were good that if Ares was compromised, she would have eliminated Liz to maintain her cover.
“I’ll start making calls.” He stepped into the kitchen, dialing as he went. “This is Midas Kinase…”
Blocking out his low conversation, I watched the video from the beginning, with my nose almost mashed to the screen like it would help me see what I had missed the first time. Like where she was keeping Boaz. Or Addie. Or their parents. Their because our made me all the more confused as to how I felt about either of them surviving…or dying.
My mother wasn’t my mother, but she never had been really.
My father wasn’t my father, but he never had been either.
My twisted family tree gave me a headache.
When I came up empty, I watched it again, and again, and again.
Until Linus pried the phone from my hand and set it aside, forcing me to either step back or stand kissing close to him. He correctly guessed which option I would choose and shifted to farther block my view of the screen. “Have you heard from Ford?”
“No.” I checked my pocket. “Wait.” I had been so zoned-in on the video, I had missed his text. “Yes.”
The silent setting saved lives in my line of work, but it also caused a lot of calls and texts to languish until I remembered to check my phone. Someone ought to develop an app that sensed when the user was in mortal peril, muted all notifications, then flipped the switch again once the coast was clear.
Hmm.
Now I knew what to ask Reece for at Christmas.
“He says everyone in attendance tested negative.” I read it out loud. “They’ve all been sent home.”
“I’m sorry.” Grier leaned into Linus, but her eyes sought mine. “I know Ares was your friend.”
Big difference between was and is, and grief slammed into me in a merciless wave.
“I don’t see anything that points to Boaz or Addie,” I said quietly. “I thought when we found the bomber, we would find them. I let myself believe it was going to be okay, but that was silly, wasn’t it?” I trusted Linus to tell me the hard truths, always. “It’s not going to be okay, is it?”
“It’s not silly.” Linus rested a cool hand on my shoulder. “One way or another, we’ll find them.”
What he meant but didn’t say was dead or alive. I could read it in the grim set of his jaw.
“They couldn’t keep hostages in an apartment in the Faraday,” Grier reasoned. “The doorman would have noticed and told someone.”
“Unless they used the fire escape,” Bishop offered. “Hadley isn’t the only one enamored with them.”
“I didn’t expect the bomber—” I couldn’t call Ares by name, “—to have put them in a box and tucked them under the bed.” I tapped my foot to burn nervous energy. “I don’t see anything that indicates she’s purchased more food, water, or other supplies necessary to keep them alive. I don’t see anything that points to another location. I don’t see anything period.”
“That’s a good idea.” Grier snapped her fingers. “She wouldn’t have to have supplies delivered here. Think about it. There are apps for everything these days. I use the one for groceries all the time.”
“We need her laptop.” Linus stared at it onscreen. “It woke without a password when Midas touched it.” A careless thing for a security expert, unless it wasn’t. “We can access any of her linked accounts through it.”
“I’ll head down and grab it.” I wanted to move, and this would give me purpose. “I’ll be right back.”
Midas caught me on the way out with a hand on my arm. “I’ll have Ford bring it up in a minute.”
“He’s already there,” I guessed. “You posted guards at the apartment.”
“We need to know if Liz, or anyone else, attempts to access it.”
“Have you had any luck?” I gestured to his phone. “Locating Liz?”
“The hospital confirmed she’s on leave, but according to them it’s been over a month and counting.”
Recalling what Bishop said, I told him, “She was still seeing patients in the infirmary until last week.”
“Why break from one job and not the other? And then flake on those
