Page 22 of Peripheral Vision

“The money going through these networks… it’s endless, and it’s all in their underground dealings. If you want to catch them, you want to hit them where the big deals happen, the auctions, and the shipments. But they happen everywhere from border to border throughout the country. Virginia is a very small fish in a big sea of sharks. There are at least two people I know of that run the whole operation on the East Coast, and one of them has the connections while the other one is the muscle. He’s behind moving the… assets, keeping them contained. He knows how to get people to shut up, how to get rid of them if they start asking too many questions. Every time a place gets raided or someone’s about to talk—” He looks at me pointedly. “They just move the operation to the next city or county, leaving no trace.”

I pause, contemplating the information he’s given so far. Some of it we knew, like what was being trafficked, because you never have just one source of revenue. “If you don’t know their names, do they have an alias, a nickname they go by?”

“The guy at the top, the one with the connections, he goes byThe Wraith. He never uses real phones, doesn’t show up to any drops. He uses people for that, obviously. But he’s the one pulling the strings. So much so that even law enforcement and some government officials are involved in his scheme—they’re all paid for, making it nearly impossible to touch them without being on your ass instantly. That’s all I know. You bring down The Wraith, you bring down the whole thing, at least on this side of the US.”

Releasing my grip on his head, I stand up. “Do you know any oftheir other drop points? Where we’d get a lead to The Wraith’s location?”

He shakes his head. “I’ve told you all I know. I swear.”

It isn’t ideal but it’s more than we had before. “Thank you for your cooperation.” I look at Nathan, nodding. He withdraws his nine from where it was tucked between his back and jeans.

Ezra doesn’t even try begging for his life, knowing that he won’t see his family again. He knew what he was getting into when he started in this line of work. As I exit and the door begins to close behind me, all I hear is the resounding echo of Nathan’s gunshot. He follows me out shortly after, the splatter of blood across his shirt. “What do you make of that?”

“I think that our lives just got a hell of a lot more complicated.” He isn’t wrong. We knew the network was large, we knew there were issues like this all across the country, but the fact that we have nothing but an alias to go off of complicates things.

“If The Wraith is true to his namesake… then we’re going to be chasing a literal ghost. But if we can figure out who his muscle is… that would be a good start. Ezra didn’t say anything about him not showing up to drops, and if he’s in charge of moving products and people, then we have a better chance at smoking him out first.” The question remains though, where do we start?

Nathan appears to have the same thought I do. “The East Coast is a large perimeter to search for two guys… there has to be intermediaries that they use in other states, meaning they probably operate out of just one or two. They wouldn’t go to their people, they would make their people come to them.”

Inhaling a deep breath of the afternoon air, I nod. “We better get to work, then.”

Chapter

Fifteen

DYLAN

The weekend goes by too fast, and Monday finally rolls around, which means it’s time to start classes again. I’m thankful we didn’t get too far into the semester because I already have quite a bit of catch-up work to do just from the past couple of weeks alone. I dress in suede brown heeled ankle boots, denim skinny jeans, and a short-sleeved white top that I throw a brown cardigan over due to the chilly morning air. Mercifully, there were no further incidents with my stranger and I was left alone to mull over what the hell I was going to do about him. Historically, they say that stalker’s behaviors will escalate over time, just as the police said. He’s already become… intrusive, and he’s under the impression that I somehow belong to him. I would be lying if I said it didn’t worry me if I were to start dating anyone in case his advances become more threatening.

I spoke to Thea again over the weekend and she and I determined that even if the police won’t do anything right now, I could start to create a paper trail so that if the behavior does escalate, I have something solid to fall back on. I went to the police station Saturday to make yet another report, relaying that I was having issues with this guy back in Norfolk. They essentially told me the same thing: thatuntil they have more evidence there’s nothing to do but wait. I’m not quite sure how to gather evidence considering he knows how to get into the one thing I have to catch him in the act—my security footage. I guess I just have to play the hand I was dealt, which means going on with life like normal until something significant enough happens.

I say goodbye to Alaska once more, Clara and Grant offering to let her out in the middle of the day for me since I won’t be home until this afternoon. I’m choosing to stay on campus in between classes to study and catch up on the work I’ve missed so far. Before I leave the house, I make sure to double-check the locks on all the doors and windows. Not that I think that would keep him out—if he wanted to get in, he would find a way. Especially because my traitorous dog is useless, but I love her anyway. I scan the street before getting into my truck, as I have done every time I leave to see if my shadow follows me or fades into black.

The drive to campus is thankfully uneventful; I have the radio playing softly in the background,Coldby Jessie Murph droning through the speakers. My first class starts at 9:05, giving me enough time to run and grab some caffeine and breakfast before it starts, that is if I can find a parking spot. The lot in front of my building is packed, between the students milling around and the vehicles. It takes me a little longer than I prefer before I have to pull into a spot about as far from the hall as I can get without being back on the roadway. I pull up the map on my phone searching for the coffee shop that I thought I had seen when I was here the other day, finding that it’s also a little farther away than I’d like. If I speed walk though I should be able t—a familiar contact pops up on my screen as my phone begins to ring.

“Who is this?” I answer.

I hear an intake of breath on the other line before Callum responds, “Ouch, and to think we were making progress.”

“Hard to make progress when I don’t know who I’m talking to,” I tease.

“You are relentless, aren’t you? How many other handsome British gentlemen have you met since you’ve arrived on campus?”

I chuckle. “Wow, someone is mighty full of himself. I can count on… one finger. I think his name was Oliver? Is this the Oliver that I met when I was touring campus the other day?”

His tone shifts slightly. “You wound me. I’m going to have to hunt this Oliver fellow down and tell him to lay off.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” I say, smirking to myself. “He was a little too polished for my taste. I like my men a little more rugged and with a touch more… sarcasm. If they work in a bar that’s a plus, too.”

Callum exhales a laugh, clearly pleased by my response. “Are you saying I meet your impossibly high standards then?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, we’re still in the preliminary stages of our friendship,” I say as I hop out of my truck.

“Friendship? Well, that is a step up from colleagues. What is it going to take to break the friend zone?” His voice takes on a much more serious tone.

Putting him on speaker, I pull up my map again. “For starters? They could direct me to a decent coffee shop without making me walk halfway across campus. The one I’m looking at right now is possibly far enough away that I’d have to drive, and considering I barely got off by the skin of my teeth with the parking spot I found, I don’t really want to leave.”

“For starters, huh? So you’re saying there’s a chance.” Clearly that is the only part of what I said that he focused on.

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