Inside Access

Chapter 9: Notes

Chapter 9: Notes

 The shrill ring of the phone made Brooklyn jump and drop the book she had been so engrossed in.

She wiped her eyes, taking a moment to glance at the clock, was it really 1:30 AM already?, and reached for her phone as she picked her book back up.

It was a thick book, written by a mythic historian on the mythic culture in Romania, the native homeland of haltijas among other mythics. She had been reading up on Warren's past, her mind trying to decipher his behavior in the only way she knew how. She hadn't intended to but she had gotten lost in the words and didn't realize so much time had passed. She chastised herself, she had work in the morning after all, as she hit the 'talk' button on her phone. The phone number was one she recognized and she smiled as she said hello.

“Hey, Brook.” the familiar voice floated through the speaker. She sounded kind of fuzzy but then she was calling from halfway across the world. “How are you?”

“Hi, Tina.” Brooklyn smiled as she sat back against her pillows. “I'm fine and you?”

Tina Cross, Jack's only daughter, had been in Africa for the better part of two years now studying non-humanoid mythics. Much like her father, her job was her life and she tended not to call the States all that often. Brooklyn was sure Tina had forgotten, or more likely didn't care, that it was so early in her time zone.

“Not bad. I just got into Cairo about an hour ago. You would not believe all the stuff I've been getting over here.” she answered. Tina was a no nonsense kind of women, work and very little else sparked her passion. Brooklyn considered her a friend, one she rarely saw or even spoke to, but a friend nonetheless. However, Tina was not the kind to call just to chat, especially not from such a distance. If she had called, she needed something.

“I'm glad you're enjoying yourself.” Brooklyn smiled. “Did you need something?”

“A few things.” Tina paused to say something to someone else, she seemed to be speaking French to Brooklyn's ears though she couldn't imagine why. “Sorry, my guide is impatient. We've been hearing a rumor of a sphinx running around in the deserts around here. He really wants to go out there and check it out.”

“I'm sure you do as well.” Brooklyn couldn't help but be impressed. Sphinges were incredibly rare and notoriously shy around people. Getting a photo of one was considered a feat in the scientific community, if Tina could find out anything about them, it would be incredibly precious information.

“First, as you can probably imagine, I want you to mail me anything you can find on sphinges. I want the best chance to find this thing.” Tina said.

“That won't be a problem.” Brooklyn promised going down a short mental list of books and files and papers she knew that contained information on sphinges. It wasn't a particularly diverse selection.

“Great. I also need you to pass on a message to dad for me.” she continued.

“You can't tell him yourself?” Brooklyn asked, a bit surprised. Sure, Tina and Jack didn't have the most loving of father-daughter relationships but they respected each other and got along well enough when they were together.

“I had to call you anyway, I figured I'd take out two birds with one stone.” she sounded careless, like it didn't matter to her. “Anyway, he asked me to keep an eye out for anything weird happening with the mythic populations.”

“And something has been happening?” Brooklyn asked sharply. There was only one reason Jack would ask Tina to keep her eyes open for something like this.