Page 43 of Reverence

She said, “Did we manage to find anything relating to that call sign?”

“Did we manage to find Beverly, Eric’s wife?” Asher spoke to a few other agents, the chaos ensuing around us nearly made my brain short-circuit.

“We’ve completed a deep dive.” Kayden entered the conversation. “Unfortunately we still haven’t found any relevant information about him but we can easily turn nothing into something.”

He spoke confidently. “If someone managed to clean sweep their existence, it meant they’re not trying to be found.”

He paused, handing a file to Stephanie.

“Now there are only two individuals who can accomplish something of that magnitude.” He said.

“Hackers or someone working on the inside,” Amala spoke and Kayden snapped his fingers.

My gaze flicked to her for a few seconds, scanning her attire and posture.

Those black jeans clung to her legs with her phone fitting snugly into her back pocket.

“Exactly. If this Dominion character disappeared a decade ago and served in the military as a Lieutenant then surely there should be information we can find. Even the best of the best are prone to slipping up. I’ve gathered the list of names of the people who served in the military a decade ago from various bases but we’re most likely going to find what we need in the Army branches but we’ll look into the Navy, Air Force, and Marines just to be sure.”

“Thank you, Kayden.”

Stephanie smiled but her expression quickly turned serious seconds later.

“What we’re dealing with could be a real threat to the Bureau or it could be a pawn. A distraction from something more sinister. Either way, we’ll need to ensure we’re covering all our bases.” she said.

“If there is a mole, we’ll need to be discreet because it would most likely be someone in a position of power and we wouldn’t want to alarm them.” Nicolas and I looked at each other, raising our eyebrows.

“Vaanya, get me the footage of the street Eric walked along before being approached by Dominion and see what you can find. A license plate, the car’s make and model, anything identifiable that will help us find more information.”

“We found a link between this case and the Antonio Freeman investigation,” Trevor spoke and this made Nicolas’ eye twitch. “Messages from Antonio to an unknown number via an encrypted chat with the call sign being used once.”

“Antonio Freeman was involved with the distribution of narcotics. Are you saying there’s a possibility the head of this operation is someone else?” I asked, stepping forward.

“Seems that way,” Asher confirmed. “Nicolas, I want you to retrieve the case files on Antonio and see what you can find. If there’s a witness, a lead, follow it and take Mariana with you.”

Nick nodded, grabbed his jacket, and waited for his partner to follow before leaving with haste.

“Amala and Ares,” Asher paused.

“You’re going undercover.”

Twelve

Amala

The Bureau had booked the hotel room under an alias, while Nicolas waited downstairs in the parking lot, posing as our chauffeur for the evening.

I couldn’t remember when my life had taken such a drastic turn.

There was a time when you couldn’t have paid me to willingly associate with Valiente. Now, I’d been forced into his orbit, and he’d been shoved into mine.

The man could’ve passed for the plague.

An infectious disease lingering in the air, slowly invading my system with every breath I took.

While he changed into his formal attire in the bathroom, I dressed quickly in the bedroom, determined to avoid an accidental flashing incident. The last thing I needed was for him to walk out while I stood here half-naked.

Ten minutes passed. Then another and my patience finally snapped.