Page 32 of Guarding Truth
“I’ve got this,” Decia said, joining them. “I’m Officer Slaton.” Michelle nodded and began relaying her version of events to the officer.
Juliette stepped a few feet away and texted Noelle for a status on Ivy. She’d feel better once she knew Noelle had eyes on the girl.
“Caleb!” Juliette’s head swiveled toward the man racing across the grass entryway for the office complex.
She stepped in front of Caleb until he said, “It’s Blake,” and she moved to the side.
Blake approached with another woman, and he tackled Caleb with a bear hug. “I’m so glad you’re not hurt. I’d decided to move to the bigger meeting room to fit more people. I was setting up the large conference room when it happened.”
Caleb’s eyes watered, but he held it all together. He turned to the woman. “Juliette, this is Georgia Payne. Theo’s wife.”
The petite woman might have been twenty-five but could have passed for much younger. Juliette bet the past few days would add a few stress lines to her flawless porcelain skin. Dark circles rimmed her green eyes, which contrasted with shoulder-length jet-black hair, giving her a gothic vibe similar to Raven’s style. This woman had been put through the wringer.
“I’m so sorry about Theo,” Juliette said.
Georgia sniffed. “I just hope the police can find him before…they kill him. But he would have been caught in an explosion if he’d been here. Why are they doing this?”
Caleb put his arm around Georgia’s shoulder. “We’ll get him back.”
Blake flanked Georgia on the other side. They were like two pit bulls protecting their owner. “Why are these hackers targeting Cyberskies?” Blake asked. “What do we have that they want?”
No one had answers.
Juliette sized up Blake. The man was probably in his early thirties, tall, athletic, and dressed like he had some serious money in the bank. At this point, everyone was a suspect. She couldn’t move past the fact that the perpetrator had known Caleb’s meeting schedule. She mentally moved Blake’s name to the top of her suspect list.
A smudge of soot was streaked across Blake’s forehead. “Someone needs to pay for this,” he muttered.
Agent McGregor waved for Caleb to join him, and Juliette tempered herself from intervening. He didn’t need her monopolizing every conversation and smothering him. As he had reminded her often over the last couple of days, he could take care of himself.
While he wasn’t known for being an extrovert, Caleb still poured out concern for his employees.
Juliette’s phone buzzed.
Noelle: It took me a while to clear my presence with school security. But Ivy didn’t show up for second period. No one has seen her. School is now in lockdown.
She must not have hidden her reaction well, because Caleb was suddenly inches from her face and grabbed the phone.
“Ivy’s missing? We’ve got to find her. Now.”
* * *
WEDNESDAY, 10:05 A.M.
“This is like a scene from a horror movie.” Caleb couldn’t shake the images that buzzed through his mind like a high-speed train.
The smoking crater in the wall of his office building.
Ivy, tied up and bruised like Theo.
The masked man standing in his kitchen.
What if Rushmore had kidnapped Ivy? Was she hurt? Or would they kill her to get to him? He shook his head and took two deep breaths to settle the roller coaster of what-ifs building in his mind before they took him on a wild ride.
“We need to get out of here, Jules. Maybe she just ditched class again, but I need to be at the school searching for her. Now.”
“I agree. I’ll text Agent McGregor to let him know the situation, then head to the school.”
They managed to finagle Caleb’s car out of the parking garage, which had turned into a triage area for people needing minor medical treatment for burns or smoke inhalation. Juliette jumped in the driver’s seat after inspecting the car for any tampering. “You’ll speed.”