Page 79 of Wicked Deeds

Damon, as though sensing it was a good time to interrupt, came over with a plate of cookies and crackers. And, accepting the inevitable, four empty mugs for Cassandra’s brew. “Snacks,” he said with an encouraging smile.

Gwen’s answering smile attempted to be grateful and she took a cracker, pretending to nibble at it. I still wasn’t hungry, my stomach tight and uneasy. I was trying to stay calm for her sake, but the knowledge I could be Jack’s daughter still swam through my brain, making my thoughts slosh together uneasily.

Cassandra ended her call and joined us. I started to ask if her tea would be ready, but something in her expression changed my mind. “Is everything okay?”

“I have the name from the database of the man who matched with you.”

So fast? Sometimes I forgot the sheer power of the Cestis. Cassandra asked and people sprinted to do her bidding.

“And?”

“It’s not Jack Miller. At least, that’s not the name on the account, and the ID used to open it matches the name.”

I blinked. Wait, it wasn’t Jack? That seemed all too easy.

“What was the name?” Gwen asked.

“Edward Wheatley,” Cassandra said.

The cracker shattered in Gwen’s fingers as her hand clenched, spraying crumbs in every direction.

“Gwen? Does that name mean something to you?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Not Edward. But John Wheatley Cornelius is the name on my birth certificate. The fake name, I mean.”

“Yeah, that’s not a coincidence,” I muttered. My tiny spark of hope that it wasn’t Jack sputtered and died. “Damon, does Mitch or whoever is overseeing the hunt for Jack have a list of known aliases?”

“We have a few. Not enough, unfortunately.” He pulled out his datapad and started typing furiously.

“Can you find out if Wheatley pops up anywhere?”

“That would be sloppy. Jack isn’t sloppy,” Damon said but he kept typing.

“He could have tried to leave a clue for Gwen?” I said.

“I doubt it,” Gwen muttered. “He could’ve just used the same name. But it’s nearly twenty-three years since he used the name on my birth certificate. He probably forgot.”

“I’ve got a search happening to see if we can get any information on this Edward,” Cassandra said. “IDs can still be faked if you have enough money.”

Lack of money not being a problem for Jack.

“Thank you,” Damon said. There was something fierce and focused in those laser blue eyes. He’d been looking for a new lead on Jack for weeks.

And I knew who else I could ask about names Jack might use.

If I wanted to owe Usuriel a favor. I gritted my teeth in frustration. Better to try the regular way before I went looking for answers from the Lord of the Nichtkin.

“Okay. So Damon’s team will dig into the aliases, Cassandra’s people will verify the ID. We’ll get an answer. In the meantime, I think there’s been enough excitement for one morning. I, for one, need to blow off some steam. Gwen, want to come kill some virtual bad guys with me?”

“No,” Gwen said firmly.

I blinked. “Sorry?” Damn it, was she mad at me for all this? Hardly my fault, but maybe I was the nearest target.

“I want to know more about Jack,” Gwen said. “About why you’ve all been looking for him.”

“He did bad things,” Cassandra said bluntly.

“Yes, I know. But what bad things?”

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