Chasing Fate (Sentinel & Guide)

Chapter 57

[[Unedited, enjoy!]]

They spent the entire day and part of the night in that conference room, combing through reports. Jack was dead tired after explaining the process they'd gone through almost ten times. He didn't have any connections to the international clans, but Anton and his wife's ex-military connections managed to at least get the notice out. There was no guarantee that the distant Russians or Venezuelans would be interested in helping the official case, but they would definitely investigate it on their own. . 

Luckily none of the other sentinels gave any push back. It could be assumed that all the sites corresponded to at least one missing guide. They had a list of names, but none were coming up on the missing-person's list. The sentinels didn't recognize any of the names either. 

For one, all of the names were clearly masculine: Henry Ward, Charles Berry, Ronald Thatcher,  Michael Hayes, Bradley Rymes, Winston Pierce, Max Thomas. Secondly, all of the names were also distinctively white-sounding. Even the ones attached to far off places had names you'd hear in a bland sitcom. These were the kind of names with hundreds of results on Friendbook, barely any more unique than John Smith.

"These might as well be the names of Kev Dolls," Dion grumbled, clicking away on his computer, "There's no unique record for any of them. Couple petty criminals named Mike, couple speeding tickets for the Bradleys. Max Thomas is sitting pretty in the Iowa state pen for armed robbery and second degree murder. But he's been in there for too long to be the perp."  

Anton pinched his nose, "And we don't have anything from Moxo Reserve yet? That's the only place without a name on it."

Dion furrowed his brows and clicked through his computer again, "I think they just sent it. Captain there says none of the names match the reserve log book, but people don't half sign the thing, especially not day travellers. He sent the file though, past five years. It's big." 

"Well, thank him for that. Has his team combed the area?" 

Dion kept reading, "No, he says the rain that came up is still holding them in. The place is all mud." 

Anton cursed under his breath. It was likely that whatever remains were there would still survive the rain, just like Farrin, but every drop washed more evidence away. 

Fate had snapped out of her distraction earlier and had been helping all day, mostly by documenting and logging dates that Jack and the other regional sentinels agreed on. But she had a pounding headache that made it tough to concentrate. She could barely see straight, and every voice in the room sounded grating. Jack saw her struggling to keep it together, but couldn't figure out what had her so tired. 

It wasn't a pain migraine, but an aura. The symptoms were undetectable except to the victim suffering them. Even sentinels weren't able to pinpoint what caused them, as many of the symptoms were psychosomatic. It was a particular affliction of guides with no known cause, and no known cure. Jack had turned up his hearing to see if perhaps she was hungry, or if her heartbeat was irregular, but the only clue he had was the low hum of discomfort through their bond. 

Either way it was beyond time to get home. He could bring the case work with him. It's obvious they'd be pouring over the files for a while yet. He was shuffling the photos back into their folders when Fate sat up straight, clenching her teeth and speaking as if in deep pain.

"Look for Marina in the reserve logs." 

Anton raised a brow, Moxo reserve was about 2 states east. It was a middle-popularity hiking reserve, but there were plenty of good mountains in their immediate vicinity. All of the parks, reserves, hotels, and hospitals had received Marina's missing-person's report. But that didnt mean they got everywhere.