“Didn’t you say you found the last man that this happened to?” I asked. “Did you talk to him about what happened?”
“We did talk to him,” Cain said. “He didn’t remember a thing. He said he fell asleep in his bed and woke up in the woods four days later.”
“Have you kept track of him? Maybe he remembers something now. “I said.
“He died yesterday,” Cain informed me.
My eyes widened. “How?”
“He had an aggressive form of leukemia. He was diagnosed two days before he was kidnapped and died shortly after he was found.”
I thought for a moment. “Leukemia is a blood-based cancer,” I pointed out. “They were all given blood transfusions and all suffered from either a heart
condition or anemia. Do you think this could all be connected? Maybe the clinic they were seen at for the transfusions is where they are being targeted.”
Cain nodded thoughtfully. “It’s a good start,” Cain said. “I think we should keep looking and see if we find anything else.” So keep looking we did.
Hours went by and both Jai and Daniel left to tend to other things they had to deal with, leaving Cain and I alone. bBy the time I was preparing to leave, there were countless papers strategically placed on the table in a spiderweb pattern with sticky notes attached to them.
I looked at my watch and noticed it was almost ten o’clock at night. “I think I’ll turn in,” I said to Cain.
He looked at the clock in the corner of the room and nodded. He’d clearly lost track of time too. I left the room wordlessly and walked down the stairs in silence. I had so many questions that I wanted to ask and so many things to say. I just couldn’t figure out how to ask or say them.
Trying to remember how to get back to my room proved to be a trying task and it took me a few minutes to find the right path in the maze of hallways that was Cain’s home.
After I finally found my bedroom, I unpacked my suitcase, sent Zak a text to tell him I had arrived and was safe, and then took a shower.
In a fresh set of pajamas, I sat down in front of the fire I had started in the fireplace and took my grandfather’s books out of my bag. After Jai had made a comment about them that morning on the
train, I had stowed them away in the bottom of my bag.
Opening the book on Lycanthropy, I tried to read it but I couldn’t concentrate.
I was starving.
It had been almost twenty four hours since I had last eaten. I had been running on fumes and adrenaline since then. Suddenly, A knock sounded at the door.
I closed the book and placed it on the couch as I stood up to go see who it was.
I was surprised to see Cain standing outside my door holding a large plate of steaming food, a fork and a bottle of water tucked under his arm.
“I figured you hadn’t eaten,” he said. “Mind if I come in?”
I smiled and stepped out of the way as I opened the door wider so he could come in.
He handed me the plate and the fork as he did so before also handing me the water bottle.
We both walked over to the couches where the fire was still burning in the fireplace.
“Settled in nicely?” He asked.
I nodded, not even waiting until I had sat down to get a forkful of potatoes in my mouth. I sat down on the couch across from him and crossed my legs.
“Your house is gorgeous,” I said, opening the bottle of water.
“It was my parents before it was mine,” he said, looking around the room as if he was recalling some memory.
“You grew up here?” I asked.
Cain nodded.
I felt a bit uncomfortable as he watched me eat, but I was too hungry to eat like a bird. A few minutes passed as I finished the food on the plate and set
the bare plate beside me on the couch and placed the fork on top of it.
“That was the best roast I think I’ve ever had,” I said, finishing off the water bottle.
“Sure it wasn’t just because you were hungry?” Cain asked.
I laughed. “Could’ve been…”
“I apologize,” he said. “I forget sometimes that food is a necessity.”
“No worries,” I said, laughing. “We might just need to remind each other from now on.”
He nodded. “I’d be okay with that.”
We looked at each other for a few seconds before I looked away. “You can ask me,” he said after a few silent moments.
I tore my eyes from the fire burning in the fireplace and looked at him.
“What do you mean?”
“All the questions you’re bottling up,” he said, leaning back andbplacing both his arms on the back of the couch.
I gulped watching the muscle in his chest and arms flex beneath his gray t-shirt as he did so.
“What is this?” I asked finally, gesturing to the room around me.
“What do you do?”
“International and domestic affairs,” he answered.
“So you do work for the German government?”
“I don’t work for anyone’s government.”
“You work for the UN then…?”
Cain shook his head. “No, this is a privately owned and operated organization,” he said.
“So… it’s a gang?” I asked slowly.
Cain laughed. I was in awe for a moment as I watched him smile.
“It’s not a gang, it’s completely legal,” he said.
“So what kind of affairs do you manage?” I asked.
He shrugged. “All sorts. We mainly deal in domestic affairs with the people in our community, but sometimes there are international problems
that we have to deal with too.”
“People in your community?” I asked. “What kind of
community?”
“Just people that are associated with our organization. These people have husbands, wives, and children. It makes up a community.”
“How many are there?” I asked.
“A few million,” he answered.
My eyes widened. “How have I never heard of this before?” I asked.
“We work with governments sometimes. They have problems that they can’t fix so we step in and help. In exchange, we have diplomatic immunity and they stay out of our business, which includes allowing us to continue to operate with discretion,” he explained.
“And how does my grandfather fit into all of this?” I asked.
“A few of the men that went missing were some of ours,” he said.
“I’m just trying to get to the bottom of it so we can figure out who took those men.”
“Oh.”
We were quiet for a few seconds while I processed all of this. Despite his willingness to answer my questions, Cain was still being vague about what exactly his “organization” did and who they were. It made me wonder what he had to hide and it made me wary to become involved.
“Any more questions?” He asked.
“What was it like growing up in this house as a kid?” I asked, looking around the huge room.
“It had to be hard to be a normalbperson.”
He hummed in response as he looked around the room. “There certainly was never a shortage of places to hide in hide-n-go-seek,” he said.
I laughed. “Sounds like a perfect childhood.”
“Well, I wouldn’t go as far to say perfect. I certainly had my fair share of issues. Unfortunately, money and status doesn’t rid you of those.”
The sorrow that filled his eyes when he said that made my heart hurt. “Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean it like that…”
“No, it’s okay,” he assured me.
We sat in silence for a few moments before he stood up. “I’ll let you get to bed,” he said.
I stood up as well and I felt my heart skip a beat as he began to walk towards me. Cain walked closer until he leaned down and picked up the plate and fork.
“Thank you for dinner,” I said.
“You’re welcome.”
I walked with him over to the bedroom door and opened it before he walked out into the hallway.
“Well… goodnight,” I said awkwardly.
His eyes caught mine as he turned around.
“Goodnight, Ella.” He said it so gently that I thought I would melt.
I smiled slightly as I closed the door and pressed my back against it. I placed my hand over my chest and felt my heart beating wildly.
Why does he do this to me?