To be Claimed by Her

Chapter 2

Owen's POV

A ~ report

Four women and three men between the ages of 21-28 have been reported missing over the past two months. Victims seem to be unrelated and scattered across the Charleston area. The bodies of two victims have been recovered. Remains were only DNA identifiable.

Victim 1: Cassie Turner, age 24. Student at Hampton Prep, biology major. Parents deceased, no living relatives. Roommate reported her missing on May 8th, body was recovered on July 12th in an abandoned warehouse in the business district. Cause of death unknown.

Victim 2: Daryl Jones, age 28. Last known address unknown - appears to have been homeless. Was reported missing by the director at Shining Light Shelter when he failed to come in for two weeks for meals on May 28th, body was recovered on July 3rd under the pier. Cause of death unknown.

I'd seen some horrendous things in my lifetime, but these images made my stomach roll. The remains didn't resemble anything human. It was as if they had been turned inside out and all identifying markers were just obliterated. I pinched the bridge of my nose, knowing I needed to bring this to the team. As I looked over the report, I realized one of the missing women had lived in an apartment very near to Kota's sister, Jessica. This was going to hit close to home, a little too close.

I picked up the phone with a low sigh: Family meeting 7:00 pm - new mission. Eight messages responded back, but Sean's was the one that caught my attention.

Sean: Is this about the abductions? I have the late shift, but can get Phil to cover.

Owen: Yes, you should be here. We need to take this case.

Sean: Do you think we're ready?

I paused before responding, - We can't stop living, Sean. Life moves on and we have to as well.

Sean: Ha! Says the man who hasn't picked up his violin in almost a year.

Owen: See you at 7, Sean. I didn't bother to check for a response. He had every reason to be concerned, but we couldn't ignore this. Besides, we all needed something to focus on. It had been ten months since our relationship with Sang ended. After eight years together, she claimed that between the missions, Volto, and the daily struggles of life, she couldn't take it anymore. With tears and broken promises of love, she had left. Needless to say, we didn't handle it well. It wasn't until a few months later that we, along with the Toma team, discovered that both Sang and Kaylie had actually been recruited by Volto shortly after the Ashley Waters mission. They had been feeding mission information to Volto and his followers for years.

Our team had managed to stay together, but just barely. We hardly took missions anymore and had buried ourselves in our other careers. The Toma team had splintered. Axel had stepped away from the Academy completely. Raven and Corey had taken off to Europe, trying to chase down leads on Volto, while Marc and Brandon stayed in Charleston, taking the occasional mission with other teams.

I walked into the family room, moving chairs for the meeting when I noticed the lights on at the old Walker cabin across the pond. Wonder if they finally turned it into an Airbnb? We'll have to keep an eye out. I'm sure vacationers will be a bit unnerved with nine men coming and going at all hours of the night. Before I could give it any more thought, I heard the front door burst open.

"Oy, what fuckin mission, Owen?" Gabriel yelled. Oh, this is going to go well, I thought with a slight grimace.