Four Days Earlier

  Jordan frowned as he walked around, inspecting every nook and cranny of the small apartment. Julia watched him as he did, raising an eyebrow and saying: “What are you doing? They’re obviously not home. We should leave.”

  She was holding onto Dio, petting him and trying to console him, even as the orange cat remained distressed at the absence of his family. Jordan turned to look at her, weighing what exactly he should tell her before landing on a simple answer: “Yep, I know. I only want to take a quick look around. Don’t you think it’s a little weird that they’re not here at this late hour?”

  When she nodded, he gestured around: “I just want to see if they’ve left any clue to where they might be. Some sort of note, or something.”

  It was a basic excuse, but Jordan had always hated lies, so he chose a half-truth instead. Though she was clearly still skeptical, Julia nodded slowly in acceptance: “Sure, that makes sense. I’ll look with you.”

  So, she was suspicious but had chosen to play along. That suited Jordan just fine. Time was of the essence, so he swept the apartment quickly, finding exactly what he was looking for in Lucy’s room. The clever girl had hidden something under a loose floorboard under her bed, and Jordan had loosened it up and taken a peek when Julia wasn’t looking. It was a SmartPad, which Jordan swiped and hid before carrying on. He ‘gave up’ the search soon after, shrugging and saying: “Oh well, I’m sure they’ll be back eventually! I’ll be back in the mornin’ to see if they’re around. What about you?”

  Julia remained a bit suspicious, a fact that she covered up with a cheery response: “Sounds good to me! I’ll see you then, handsome.”

  Jordan just smiled beatifically at her as he walked out of the apartment. He took the stairs four at a time, superhuman speed carrying him down the stairs and through the apartment lobby. Jordan slowed down as he hit the street, shifting to a mere jog as he dashed to a nearby café. Once he was alone in their single-person bathroom, Jordan took out the SmartPad and turned it on. The first thing he saw was a video file of Lucy staring into the camera and talking: “Hi, Danny. If you’re seeing this, I’m probably already gone…”

  Jordan watched in stone-cold silence as Lucy explained everything. What’d happened to her parents, Mark Amrine, John Cominski, the Marcovi family, everything. The more she talked, the frostier his expression grew: “I’ve stored everything I could find so far on this Pad. I thought about going to the police, but some of them…some of them are crooks too. I decided to wait and do more research instead. Maybe I can find a good cop with my research! Though if you’re watching this, then I guess that was the wrong move.”

  She visibly saddened on camera, and Jordan felt something catch in his throat. He was an inch away from losing control of his strength and shattering the Pad: “I don’t know what’s gonna happen, Danny. I’m scared. I hope you come home soon.”

  And with that, the video ended. Jordan stiffly closed the video tab and began perusing the other files on the Pad. There was a copy of the satellite recording where Amrine and Cominski had planned to kill her parents. Making that copy was technically a federal crime, though Jordan didn’t blame her. There was also a list of known Marcovi associates on Tryptar and Akaadia, a file documenting evidence relating to her parents’ deaths, and Lucy’s musings on Cominski’s role in all of this. Her theory was that Cominski was using his position in the Ministry of Treasury to help the Marcovi launder money. As his subordinate, Lucy’s mom might have figured out what was happening, leading to her and her husband’s elimination. Lucy had been working on finding hard proof for Cominski’s misdeeds before she’d disappeared.

  Jordan’s expression lightened slightly when he saw the dates on the files. Lucy had been working on this just earlier today. By the looks of things, she must’ve vanished just a few hours before he got here. That meant the trail was still fresh. He stowed the Pad away again and brought out his own device.

  He had a few calls to make.

  …

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “I understand. I’ll send you whatever I find.” A gruff voice crackled stoically from his Pad’s speakers, the tail end of an intense, audio-only call. Jordan’s response to the shadowy figure on the other end of the line was emotionless and professional: “I will send the payment when you do. What is your price?”

  “No charge. I owe your father a favor. I’ll let him know that our account is settled.”

  Jordan nodded slowly. His father had given him the man’s contact info in the first place: “Very well.”

  Jordan responded, but the person had already hung up. With that done, he began typing in the numbers for the final call he needed to make today. It was a visual call for multiple people, and Jordan watched as six windows on his screen were steadily populated by some of the few fighting men he could trust. They all picked up after just a few rings, and he couldn’t help the small smile that came to his lips when he heard a familiar, combative voice: “What do you want now, blondie? Can’t you see I’m on vacation?”

  Jan Stanoslav glared back at him from one of those boxes, alongside the other five surviving members of their Pioneer squad. Minus Danny, of course. Before anyone else could say anything, a woman’s voice could be heard from Stanoslav’s side: “Janny, be nice! Those are friends of yours, aren’t they?”

  The usually gruff ex-con flushed, responding defensively: “Oh, I didn’t mean anything by it. Tell her, Jordan!”

  Jordan’s grin grew larger as he spoke back: “It’s very nice to meet you, Mrs. Stanoslav, and yes, that’s your husband’s way of saying he likes us. I’m sorry to say I’ll be borrowing him for a bit. Is that OK?”

  “…So long as it’s for a good cause.”

  “Yes, Ma’am, it is.”

  He watched as a pretty, brown eyed woman came into frame, scrutinizing him thoughtfully, before saying: “Ah, well, I suppose I can trust a handsome fellow like you. Don’t take too long!”

  Jordan watched as they all took his meaning and moved to more private, secluded locations. Before Jordan got down to business, however, he couldn’t resist a small jape: “Your wife has good taste in men, Stan.”

  Stanoslav only rolled his eyes: “You wanna keep joking, or do you wanna tell us what this is all about?”

  That sobered up everyone. Jordan nodded seriously: “Right. Here’s the situation…”

  He explained things to the best of his ability, couching the facts that could incriminate Lucy in ambiguity. Only one real bottom line needed to be clear: “Daniel’s little sister is in big trouble. I’m gonna need your help to save her.”

  Jordan wasn’t going to run after Lucy by himself. Too many young Pioneers got a taste of power and started to feel like they were invincible. Dad had constantly warned him not to fall into that trap. There were plenty of big fish out there who could swallow an Epsilon class Sergeant in one bite. He didn’t expect to meet anyone like that on this mission, but it couldn’t hurt to have backup.

  The others took a few moments to process this information, and the first to answer was Gon. His vibrations were quickly translated to the human tongue and broadcast in a tinny, mechanical voice: “I’m in. We’ll get Lucy back, no problem.”

  Devin O’Riley was next, grunting thoughtfully and commenting: “I know how I’d feel if my son were kidnapped, and I know the chief would help me out if I were in his position. I’m helping.”

  Pounding his leg in emphasis, Stanoslav commented energetically: “Like I always say, Jan Stanoslav pays his debts. We’ll have the kid back in a flash.”

  Ramirez’s cultured, good-natured voice flowed smoothly across the line: “Well, I was going to help. But with Stan there, I can only imagine that things will go very poorly.”

  “Hey! I was there on your last two missions!”

  “Yes. And I would say they went quite poorly.”

  The men, even Stanoslav, chuckled at that. Ramirez then got serious, commenting, “In truth, I would be happy to help the boss. I’ll be on the first ship over.”

  Jordan gave a small sigh of relief. He’d been hoping to get those four on board at least, since they were the most tenacious fighters of the whole group. A part of him hadn’t even wanted to invite MacNeil and Ibrahim, not out of malice but out of pity. Neither man was made for military life, and he was worried enough about them as it was, with the threat of the final mission looming on the horizon. All that said, he could use every piece of help he could get.

  It was a long silence before Ibrahim could only shake his head morosely, looking down in dejection: “I’m sorry, Jordan. It’s hard enough dealing with…everything else. I don’t have it in me. I just don’t.”

  But Jordan was already shaking his head in denial, saying, “You’ve got nothing to apologize for, Omar. Nothing.”

  Even as he said this, Ibrahim had already left the call in apparent shame, leaving a glum silence in his wake. Before anyone got over this sudden, negative twist, another voice turned things around: “I’ll do it!”

  James MacNeil piped up, small fires burning in his sparkling green eyes. In that instant, Jordan was shocked to see MacNeil’s old confident self. This time, it was tempered by experience and focus, giving him the air of a determined warrior. Well, that was unexpected.

  “You sure? This could get ugly.” Jordan responded cautiously, not wanting to pressure the boy. To cement that fact, he continued: “You don’t need to make up for Ibrahim. We can-“

  “I’m not!”, MacNeil interrupted him, that fire in his eyes turning from energetic to a little angry: “I’ve faced the same dangers you guys have, and I’ve survived. I won’t be a burden.”

  Jordan met those eyes, giving them his full attention, before nodding once in acknowledgement: “Welcome aboard.”

  Right as he finished that sentence, his Pad pinged. It was his father’s contact.

  He had a lead.