“A few days ago, we received a report from the NAHC that there was a match to the DNA discovered in Mira’s car,” he said as Adrian listened in as well. “The sample wasn’t entirely clean, but they were able to match it to a woman named Eva Damascus. According to the database, she has apparently been off the grid for a while.”
“Affiliations?” Beta Thea questioned as she typed away furiously on the laptop.
“Negative. No blood relations either.”
“History?”
“It’s pretty empty. From what was understood, the woman was an orphan because of the Aku Incident, but besides that, her track record stops after college.”
Aria raised her hand and asked, “What’s the Aku Incident?
“About forty years ago, there was an accident where the Aku Pack had to be dissolved because they were discovered,” Adrian’s dad explained with a frown. “It was before the universal laws were put in place, and there was a lot of unnecessary death.”
“What do you mean?” Ivan spoke up.
Adrian saw his dad tense up a little bit so Ben spoke for him.
“It sounds draconian and it is, but before the universal laws, all outsiders that weren’t permitted were sentenced to death. It also didn’t help that this was on the old continent where their laws were much less forgiving.”
“How many people died?” Ivan asked.
“They estimated it upwards to a thousand,” Ben replied. “It was the event that launched the conventions to create high councils in every continent and the universal laws.”
“When was all of this? How come I’ve never heard of it?” Ivan seemed bewildered, and Adrian couldn’t blame him. After all, this was only the second time that the Aku Incident was ever mentioned to him.
“Nearly forty years ago, and there is a reason why you haven’t heard of it,” his dad replied.
“But thousands of lives were taken!”
“The past is ugly, the old continent uglier,” Beta Thea agreed. “But there is nothing we can do about it now.”
Ivan didn’t stop. “Was there justice for these people?”
Adrian had always wondered about that too.
“No, it was something that they couldn’t do without exposing everything else.”
“What about the ones who were involved? Surely, they must have been punished.”
His dad shook his head slowly. “In the laws before the conventions, the Aku Pack had every right to do that.”
“Did the victims even know what they were doing? What was happening?”
Silence.
The air was only filled with one thought.
Murderers.
Alpha Joel cleared his throat. “I’m sorry but we need to continue the meeting.”
Ivan stayed silent but looked at his dad to see if all this was really true, but his dad wouldn’t look at him in the eyes.
Adrian wondered for a brief moment just how much turmoil his dad must have been feeling. Even Aria seemed to be taking this better than her dad, but Adrian still felt a little queasy by her facial expressions.
His people weren’t monsters; Adrian was sure of it, but there were always a few bad eggs in the bunch.
“So Eva Damascus was a product of the Aku Incident, what else?” Alpha Joel drove the conversation.
“She also studied biology and chemistry during her university years. She never officially graduated though,” Ben replied and handed him a file.
“How old do you suppose she is?”
“Probably in her late forties or early fifties, but no definite confirmation date.”
Beta Thea then asked, “Do you think she’s alone?”
“We’re not sure yet.”
“Any clear motives?”
“I think revenge would be motive enough,” Ivan said. “If her family was killed by the Aku, I don’t think she needs much else.”
Alpha Joel grimaced. That much was true.
“She also studied biology and chemistry, so the possibility of experimentation is high,” Ben said before he added, “There . . . have been more cases of shifters and nons going missing than dead in comparison.”
“That would be a good assumption.”
“Any ideas on location?”
“I doubt that she’d stay near,” Beta Thea said. “But Tahoe is too far and too popular. Assuming she’s not working with anyone else, it would be hard to drag anyone that far continuously.”
“Do you think she’d live in a residential or something that isn’t marked?” his dad asked.
“Both are smart options.”
“Do you think they’d be at Lake Washoe? It’s close, and it isn’t as packed with tourist as Tahoe,” Adrian said for the first time during the meeting.
“All the cabins in the area would be pretty run down by now, wouldn’t it?” his dad asked.
“Maybe, but no one would think that someone lives there because it’s so old, right?” he suggested.
Beta Thea shut down his idea. “No, I’m not seeing anything with the last name Damascus anywhere on the map.”
His dad asked, “Even past Washoe?”
“Nothing.”
“Was there ever a name change? Marriage?” Ivan asked while Aria remained silent.
Ben checked through his tablet and with a quick scan, nodded. “She was married twice. She divorced her first husband, while the second died from heart attack. Try Christian Brawnson. He’s the second husband.”
“Nothing under Brawnson.” Beta Thea frowned.
“How about Joshua Keller?”
Another negative delivered by Thea.
“Any relatives?” Alpha Joel opened another laptop.
“If Damascus was her surname, I doubt we’ll find anything. How about Chris Ackerman?”
Adrian listened in anticipation as each of the names were read off the list. Another name, another head shake. He wouldn’t lie, he was getting anxious. Mira had been gone for nearly two weeks, and with all the information that was given, he wasn’t so sure that she would be fine. Maybe that was too pessimistic, but with everything that he’s been hearing so far, it just didn’t sound like a good situation to be in.
Then there was Aria. She wasn’t handling it horribly, but at the same time, Adrian knew that she
