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Trinity
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OK. I will admit it. Reece's idea was a good one. Getting away for the night, taking the time to clear our heads and relax, it was a good idea. And I was glad that he made me do it. Yeah, I was angry at first because he lied to me and tricked me. But that didn't last long.
Once I got out there with Reece, once I was away from the case for a little bit, I started to see what it was that he was talking about. I had not been functioning at my best. I had not been able to think about things clearly. I had not been able to think of what to do next. We were following these people. They were so far ahead of us that we had nothing to go on and nowhere to look.
Well, that wasn't entirely true, was it? I mean, Rawlynne had told me about the genetics for the killers coming from Germany. That little bit of evidence was all that we had going for us. And I needed to tell the others about it as soon as I could. I needed to hold a meeting about it, and Dietrich was going to be one of the most prominent parts of that meeting.
I was sure that we were going to be visiting Germany very soon. And well, I didn't know the country all that well. I had never been there yet. But Dietrich had. He had spent a good portion of his life there. He and Shawn still vacationed there with the kids from time to time. If anyone knew where we should start with this part of the investigation, it was him.
.....
Later that morning, just after breakfast, I called the others for a meeting in Cadwal's formal meeting room. It was the largest one in his estate and the only one big enough for us to feel comfortable in. I waited for everyone to take their seats as I sat at the head of the table with Reece and Talia.
I hadn't wanted to include my daughter in this meeting since I felt like she was too young, but she was a part of this investigation. If I didn't bring her here, she would try to sneak in or somehow eavesdrop. It was easier just to bring her into the meeting from the beginning. At least I would know where she was. And Alexio and Rudy were standing behind her with firm expressions. They were working hard for her benefit.
“Alright Trinity, what's up?” Shane, the most carefree guard I had ever met, broke the silence after we had all settled in. He may be carefree, but he was also good at his job. And, thankfully, he knew when he needed to be serious.
“Well, the other night I heard from Rawlynne. The DNA from the samples we sent is not in the system. These people are still a mystery to us. The most that we can tell is that these people are related and that they are from Germany. They appear to be cousins or something. And the water was indeed infused with runes, but I don't know how they did it. That is something we still need to figure out.”
Not much of a meeting so far was it. I told them all that I had learned. All that they were still in the dark about. Now though, it was time for us to decide what we were going to do from here.
“What about the words themselves, Trinity? Were they found anywhere in other searches? I mean, we've been looking too, but I was wondering if they were found by the FBI. Perhaps there was another murder when these people were preparing for this mass attack. Maybe they were more sloppy back then and left clues.” Vincent sounded so hopeful that I didn't want to burst his bubble.
“Not that has been reported to me. My guess is that there are no other murders. These people are efficient. They are good at what they're doing. And it is in my opinion that they have been trained to do this.”
That statement of mine seemed to get a lot of responses. The men around me looked shocked, angry, and thoughtful all at the same time. They had to have been thinking it as well, I was just the first one to mention it out loud.
“Well, now that we have all shared this information, I think that we need to talk about what else to do. In my opinion, we need to look for these people at their source. Dietrich, I hate to say this, but I need you to take point here. I need you to tell me where to go in Germany. We need to find where these people are at. Where their headquarters is located. And you are the only one here that knows about these things.”
“I understand what you are saying Trinity.” He was speaking to me, but he was looking at the table. I knew that he didn't want to be thinking about the fact that his old friend and his family might be involved in this whole ordeal. “I will take you to my castle, from there, we can head over to where I knew Alaric to be. He is dead now though. I do want you to understand that. And I am not sure if his family still remains there.”
“I understand Dietrich. However, that is all that we have to go on. I have gotten way too many bad feelings here to ignore them. The man that you once knew in Germany. The culprits not being in the system though they are from Germany. The similarities to the things that you and your old friend used to do. And that manifesto. There is just too much that I can't ignore here. We need to go to Germany. We need to make sure that we see what is there. If nothing else but to be thorough in our search. This is what we need to do. This is the next logical step for us to take.” I was doing my best to tell him what it was that I was feeling, and why it was that I wanted to see this place.
“I know, Trinity. I know.” He sounded so resigned and depressed. He was looking at the table and not lifting his head at all. Shawn was even rubbing his shoulders as he tried to comfort him.
“Come on now. It's not that bad. I am sure that we will find something there. I know that it is depressing to think about, but we will be able to progress here. And the sooner we stop these people, the better. And even if they do have something to do with your old friend, Dietrich, you know that it wasn't him. This will not reflect badly on you or the man that you knew.” Reece, trying to offer his support, spoke up at that moment.
“Yes. I believe that you are right. Alaric was a good man that did what he needed to do. These people are nothing like him. They are the monsters that they claim we are. They are the ones that people need to fear. But they need to fear us, because we will never stop. We will do what we can to end this cycle of terror.”
There was nothing but determination in Dietrich's eyes when he looked up then. His words were strong, his face was calm, and his gaze was steady. He was definitely feeling a lot better.
“Let us prepare to leave here. We will head out at once.” I nodded to the men in the room and they rose to their feet. It hadn't been much of a meeting, but at least we had managed to accomplish some things.”
“Uhm, M..Mom.” Talia called out to me in a weak voice.”
“What is it sweetheart?” I asked her, worried about the way that she was suddenly acting.
“Were there any people killed last night? Did they kill anyone else?” Why was she asking me about this all of a sudden?
“No, Talia. There were no new murders last night. I mean, I am sure that people all over the world died, but this group didn't kill anyone else. They have been keeping to a schedule, and we still have a few more days before they strike again. Why do you ask?”
“O..oh, no reason. Heh heh.” She laughed nervously as she spoke. “I was just wondering. I wanted to make sure that no one else had suffered yet.” She smiled happily and got to her feet. “I am going to go pack now. I will see you in a bit.” She left the room then, Alexio and Rudy following her.
“That was odd.” I stared after her for a moment without doing or saying anything.
“It's Talia, that is to be expected.” Reece laughed. “She is my little oddball. She was always doing little things when she was a kid. I would be worried if she just suddenly stopped.” He was rationalizing it, I knew that. He just didn't want to see that anything was off about his little girl.
“Maybe.” I tried not to worry about it too much. Talia was getting older, but she was still just fifteen. This whole case was probably too much for her to handle. And she had always been such a sensitive soul. She is probably feeling so burdened by what has been happening lately. “I will keep an eye on her. As her mother, I need to protect her as much as I can.” I was speaking to myself more than anything. It was like a commitment that I was making for my little girl.
