A tense silence hung in the air of Kent’s office.

Maria and I had just finished explaining what we had found out during our trip to Greece. From the phone to the woman working for the Houses of Doom. But nobody said anything in return, not for a few minutes at least.

The phone was resting on top of the desk, everyone’s eyes on it.

“You should have told us,” said Birgit, finally breaking the silence.

“I know, but I didn’t want-”

“I knew Jensen for as far back as I can remember! He brought Ahmed here! You should have told us! That you knew him. That he was a villain!”

I looked down. She was right. No matter what excuses I blurted out, it wouldn’t change that fact. It was a selfish thing, keeping all these secrets from everyone. Still, no matter how much I accepted Jacob’s past and life as my own, I couldn’t–I couldn’t go back to being like him.

And acknowledging it–letting everyone see that life–felt dangerously close to that.

“She’s not wrong Alex. You can’t build anything on a weak foundation. Much less trust in your leadership.”

“I’m not a leader.”

“In any case,” said Ivan, his eyes flicking back and forth between us all, “no more secrets, alright? Especially when they have to do with what we found out.”

“Speaking of which,” said Ahmed, “we’re here for a job. And I can’t say we have good news.”

“Oh, because ours was fun-fucking-tastic, huh?” said Maria with a dry laugh.

“Kent Smith is, by all accounts, a normal man,” said Ahmed. “The oddest thing is how close his whole family is–or was, I suppose–to Alpha Surge.”

“He did live in New Weston. Where Alpha Surge operated out of. And he worked at World Weekly. They covered Alpha Surge quite a bit. Maybe he met him as a journalist.”

“Afraid not, buraz,” said Ivan. “The man mostly wrote fluff pieces or covered natural disasters. No inbetween. Not a single article covering the big blue, unless it had to do with the disasters he covered. The closest thing to hero coverage for our friend was the article he wrote for the Atlantis attacks. Odd if we consider the man we saw last year, huh?”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Lily Long is the star of the paper. She covered Alpha Surge from debut all the way to death. Not to mention Alpha Surge’s flightpath.” Ahmed was the one to talk now, holding out a battered notebook and placing it on the desk.

“I’ve heard my parents talk about that,” said Birgit, her eyes wide like she just solved the whole mystery. “He constantly went to some small town in the middle of nowhere in America!”

“And guess who was from that small town in America?” Ivan’s smile grew even more. “That’s right, friends! Kent Smith!”

“Which leads us to the final connective point between them. That book. Kent Smith in his apartment in Atlantis. A quick, but thorough, google search led us to it.”

“You broke into his home?” I couldn’t help the anger rising in me.

If I wasn’t so aware of my hands, still bare, I would probably be more animated. The urge to smack the table had to subside however, and I managed to calm myself with a few breaths. I felt Birgit wrap her arm around mine, interwinding our hands very carefully.

But breaking into someone’s home? Someone who was missing or dead as far as we knew? It felt invasive and wrong, even if I knew logically it was the only thing we could do.

“We didn’t have a choice.” Ahmed was the one to respond. “We had to get this. And it might lead us to the thing we need most.”

“I understand. I-I’m sorry. I overreacted. I know you did the right thing.”

“The issue is that, after a certain point, it’s all in gibberish. Random letters like in his mail to you. And the stuff that isn’t is useless to us.”

“It’s alright,” I said, putting on my most reassuring smile. “We’ll figure it out. This is already a lot of information. If we can find someone close to Kent Smith, then we’ll be set. All we need is a way to contact someone.”

“And I think that’s where I come in.” Birgit untangled herself from me. “I-I looked into Jensen’s office.”

She tensed even as she said those words. It didn’t show of course. She was good at hiding it, but I could tell. See how she held herself different, more enclosed with her arms and legs twitching ever so slightly, like she wanted to leave.

“And?” Maria asked.

“Jensen had the same idea as you,” she said. She nodded to Ivan and Ahmed. “About getting to Alpha Surge through Kent Smith. But he went missing before Alpha Surge.”

A collective what echoed across the room.

Birgit nodded.

“It was in his notes. They were in Danish so I didn’t think to bring them. And he found his way in. Sofia’s name and the Inter School tournament. All written down in there. Sofia is studying at the American university for heroes and she’ll be coming here. With Kent Smith’s wife. Because she’s living with them–as their neighbour.”

“Doesn’t that seem a bit convenient to anyone else?” said Ahmed, his arms crossed over his chest. “Jensen is a smart man. Why would he leave these things behind as notes?”

“Are you saying I’m lying!?” Now was my turn to place a hand over Birgit’s shoulder, comforting her. “Because I’ve got some words for you if you do!”

“Of course not!” Ahmed said instantly. “I’m just-I’m just wondering if Jensen had some ulterior motive. What if he wanted us to find this information?”

“Then there’s only one way to find out,” said Maria, looking down at the phone. “The only one that can answer our questions is Jensen himself.”