Page 10 of Hack
"What are you working on?" Trenton glanced at Archer's file that was open on the screen.
Carter didn't try to hide the information. It would only make Trenton more curious if he did. "Just checking out a P.I. for a friend. He wanted to know his background."
Trenton nodded at the screen. "The guy left the FBI to do P.I. work?"
Carter shrugged. "Yeah, that's why my friend wanted to check on him, but he looks clean. There's not a single negative thing in his history. If anything, he'd be someone I'd highly recommend if I had to go off just what is on this file."
"But you're not someone to go off a simple background check. Have you met the guy? Something about him makes you nervous?" Trenton asked.
"I've met him, and he seems nice enough, straightforward. You know me, I have to check everyone I meet out. It's a bad habit."
"Not a bad one. You've caught some stuff on some people just because you were curious," Trenton pointed out.
"Yeah, but not this guy, it seems. He looks like he's everything he said he was. Well, he honestly looks much better than he said. The guy's humble, didn't lead on about half the shit here." Carter shrugged. "If he's hiding anything, he's hiding it well."
"What does your gut say?" Trenton asked.
Carter smiled. It was common for the team to always say trust your gut. What his gut said didn't matter on this, honestly. If he had a good chance of finding the man who had killed his daughter, he would team up with Satan to do it. Still, his gut told him that Archer was a good man. He might have secrets, but they weren't anything that would get in the way of working together. "My gut says I can trust him."
"Then follow your gut." Trenton smiled. "As for the growling, whoever you need to kill, don't go it alone, okay? The team's here for you if you need them."
Carter grinned. "I'm not killing anyone. I was just remembering some stuff from long before the team. I'm good, I swear."
"Fair enough, but I'm here if you need to vent, at least I will be after a nap." Trenton closed out the programs he had open and turned off the computer. "I'm starting to see double, and with this job, seeing two of everything is never good."
"Go sleep. I'll be gone before you get up, but yell if you need me. I'll be back in tomorrow to get back to work." Carter watched as Trenton stood. "Hey, thanks for all you do. You go beyond what we ever asked for when we hired you on."
"I just do what I'm called to do." Trenton shrugged. "See you tomorrow." He quickly left the room.
Carter sighed. Figuring out Trenton, even knowing his past, wasn't easy. He kept to himself for the most part. Even when he was hanging with the team, he didn't ever talk about himself or his life. As much time as they spent working together, Trenton was the one member who he knew the least about.
Trenton would remain a mystery for now. Carter needed to decide what to do about Archer. If what he said was true, he'd been hunting down Angel's killer for years. If that was true, then how come there was no mention of him in any of the case files? Over the years, Carter pulled up every bit of information tied to the case. He knew each time a new grave was found, and he knew when it was confirmed the killer was the same as the one who'd killed Angel. His blood ran cold every time he read that a young girl's body had been found holding a bouquet of flowers.
He closed his eyes, the memories of Angel's death still fresh in his mind. The police had kept him from hearing too many of the horrible details about the mass grave that Angel had been found in, but once he started digging on his own, he'd seen the photos and read the reports. It was something he couldn't undo, and to be honest, if he had the choice to not know what he did now, he would have still wanted to know. If his daughter suffered through it all, he could too.
He took a deep breath and dug into the most recent files on the case. The last reports were on the DNA evidence matching the Carmen family, and the lack of information found on the third brother, Lyle.
While the FBI had tried to locate Lyle, they had come up with nothing after Lyle left his family. It was like the man no longer existed. It was clear to Carter that Lyle had somehow managed to change his name and start a new life somewhere else. The question was, where?
Carter had dug through everything he could to find out, but even with his skills, he'd hit a brick wall. Could Archer help him get around that wall and move closer to bringing Lyle to justice?
As Carter shut down the computer and sat alone in the silence of the computer room, he made the decision that he would meet with Archer again and see what else he knew. If he could get him information, he would, but he also wanted to work with Archer, because if the two of them could find Lyle before the FBI did, then he'd be able to confront Lyle, and he wanted that more than anything. He'd failed to protect Angel from the sickening man, but he could make sure that Lyle never hurt another child. He just had to find him to do it.
