“I got the feeling the ECP people were happy to see Voodoo. They wanted to brief her on a job they were doing,” Aria informed the group.
“That’s what she needs... a distraction,” Ghost admitted.
“So while my sister is assisting ECP, and the man she’s running from is across the street, what are we doing?”
“Investigating,” Ivy replied. “I know Voodoo believes the attempts on her life were made by Carter, but there’s nothing to support the claim, only assumptions and circumstantial situations. I want proof.”
“And there’s always the fact that Carter claimed she’d tried to kill him,” Ghost reminded the group.
“Which is bull. I know my sister and I know her fear was real. She had made a life for herself, a good one, and then she ran. She never tried to kill him. There was nothing gained by it.”
“Not true,” Seven said. “If she had a good life and believed Carter could take it away, she had motive to remove the obstacle. Now, I’m not saying she did, but we all know firsthand how deadly Voodoo can be.”
Everyone nodded, all agreeing that Voodoo could’ve killed him and no one would’ve been the wiser.
“What do we know about this attempt on his life?” Aria asked.
“I don’t know anything. This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Chaos admitted.
“We found out yesterday when Ghost escorted him out of the office,” Ivy answered.
“I’ve done just a cursory glance and nothing stands out, but I’ll need some time to dig deeper,” Byte said.
“Wewill need time to dig deeper. I’m in this. I want the truth more than any of you. I want my sister back. You guys see her every day, can call and talk to her whenever you please. You have more than I have, and I want to settle this between her and Carter more than I want my next million dollars.”
“Hackers! We chose the wrong line of work,” Seven jokingly said.
“Alright, let’s get a game plan going. Right now, we can’t do anything actionable until Byte and Chaos give us something to work with. Seven, you and Aria go home. Spend some time with Tori and we’ll call you when we’ve got something,” Ghost said. “As for the four of us, we aren’t leaving this building until we find what we’re missing.”
“Perfect, but I do need to go by my sister’s place first. I have to check on something. After that, I’m one hundred percent yours. I want this over.”
“Do you need a ride?”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll take a cab or Uber. It won’t take me long.”
After exchanging phone numbers with everyone, Chaos summoned an Uber. She confirmed the driver was who’d been chosen for her, and briefly looked over at the now empty parking lot. No sign of Carter. For some reason, this made her uneasy. Like Ivy had said, there was comfort in knowing where he was.
After she exited the car at her sister’s apartment, she walked straight into a hard body. She went to apologize and gasped.
“Hello, sis.” Those were the last words she heard after Carter pushed the needle’s plunger into her neck.
CHAPTERELEVEN
Slowly, Chaos opened her eyes. Her throat was dry, and her pulse was racing. She looked around the room and wondered how she’d gotten into her sister’s apartment.
Carter.
He’d drugged her, but hadn’t bound her. She sat up and saw her cell phone was beside her. There was a water bottle and a bag of M&Ms. Did he drop her off and leave?
She reached for the bottle and after confirming it was sealed, she uncapped the lid and downed half of its contents. It was then that she noticed a note lying under her phone.
“Don’t run. Let’s just talk,” she read aloud.
She looked around and caught sight of Carter. He stood at the kitchen sink, waiting for her to agree to stay put. He seemed almost vulnerable and regretful. Was this the same man who’d tried to kill her sister? What was his endgame?
“I’m not going to stop you if you want to leave,” he hastily said. “Or if you want me to.”
“What do you want?”