Deserted - Auctioned

Oh. Oh, fucking brilliant. See, that was a problem that didn’t exist in Washington.

“I think I’ll just wait here with you.” Gray attached his flashlight to one of the belt loops on his pants and hoped the light would scare away any dangerous critters. Then he brought out his phone. He wanted to study the pictures he’d taken.

“So, what’ve you got?” Darius and Willow were seemingly skipping past greetings and going straight to intel. “No, I didn’t read them yet. Fill me in.”

The photo Gray had taken of the license plate rang a bell. DC plates. Taxation without representation, it stood out at the bottom. He swiped to the photo of the registration certificate and pinched the screen, zooming in so he could read.

The car was registered to a Buck Raymond.

The certificate expired three years ago.

“Hold on, Squeezy, I think Gray’s got something.” Darius stepped closer and peered at the screen. “Good fucking job, knucklehead.” A spark of pride hit Gray in the chest. “Gray found the registration for Raymond’s car,” he told Willow, turning away. “It—yeah. Three years ago.”

Staring at his screen had robbed Gray of his vision, and when he pocketed his phone, he had to blink repeatedly and wait for his eyes to adjust again.

“Jesus Christ,” Darius muttered. “Well, it makes sense that it’s a nonviolent crime. They would’ve searched more actively otherwise.”

Gray frowned over at him but figured he’d get answers eventually. Done waiting and sick of fearing reptiles and insects when he was willing to murder another human being, he checked the settings on his flashlight and switched to UV. He didn’t know the reach—whoa. Fucking hell! There actually was one! Just one, though. Thank God. About ten feet away. It glowed faint yellow in the dark purple light. It couldn’t be more than two inches long. Gray quickly scanned farther, around the boulders, even in the cracks, but found nothing else. Welp. All right. He knew the backlight worked, that was for sure.

He jumped up on the widest rock where they’d left their bags, and he was grateful for its size. He left the UV light on and rested it on a taller rock. That way, they’d see if any deadly stingers got too cozy for comfort.

Squatting down, he dug through his backpack to find the food kit he’d brought earlier. Darius had shrugged, clearly not prioritizing food for such a short outing, but Gray was getting hungry. Besides, if they were planning on being out here all night, they would need some extra energy.

By the time Darius wrapped up his call with Willow, Gray had turned a tin container into two bowls, which he’d filled with sandwich leftovers from the journey down to California, some cinnamon roll bites that’d gone a bit stale by now, and a banana cut in two.

“You’re amazing,” Darius said and sat down. “Remind me to listen to you more often.”

Gray chuckled and extended a bottle of water. “What did Willow say?”

“Well, after I called her earlier today, she started digging into Warren’s mother’s history,” Darius replied. “Turns out, she gave up a kid for adoption forty years ago—and not a baby because she got knocked up too young or anything. It was a five-year-old boy who was already a part of the family.”

“That’s fucking cruel.” Gray couldn’t believe how some people were allowed to bring children into this world. “I assume the lost boy is Buck?”

Darius nodded. “And given the age of the brothers, our guess is they remembered each other well enough and simply reconnected later in life.” He stuck a couple pastry bites into his mouth and chewed. “Warren is three years older than Buck, so his recollection is probably clearer.” He swallowed and took a swig of water. “It gets more interesting. Buck has two outstanding warrants in DC for tax evasion and possession of narcotics. Hardly anything worth going on a manhunt for, but enough to send someone underground.”

Gray shook his head and bit into his sandwich.

“Willow’s looking into the brother we already knew about,” Darius went on. “She doesn’t think he’s involved, though. He works as a paralegal in Chicago and has a wife and three dogs, according to his social media.”

“Okay. So, what’s the plan? I still think we should free Jackie tonight.”

“I’m on the fence,” Darius said. “Part of me believes we should go too. Not only would the resistance be less, we’d also have the house to hide out in while we wait for Warren to show up.” There was a “but” coming… “The problem is the communication between the brothers. Willow’s been going through Warren’s records, and he hasn’t dialed a single number that could belong to Buck. She’s been able to trace everything to other sources. Which means it’s likely that Warren has another phone. Maybe a burner, I don’t know. But it tells us that even though he’s kinda fucking stupid, he’s smart enough to be careful.”