The Pegassian Order

4. Traces of Chloe

Chapter Four

Elliot and Galen walked ahead of Duke, who was on the phone to his superior, requesting backup and supplies for their plan to investigate the riverbed and underground stream. Rafi trailed behind Duke, like the alpha wolf when leading his pack.

She listened to Galen who described Duke as helpful, and trustworthy. He explained how the kind detective was the only member of the police to show any concern for what happened to his daughter. It angered Elliot, but didn’t surprise her. Elliot glanced at Galen. It wasn't hard to feel bad for him. He was an old man with a gentleness that was hard to come by. Her mother would have liked him. She would have liked Rafi too, Elliot thought to herself as she cast a quick look over her shoulder to make sure her comrade was still with them.

Her eyes accidentally locked with Duke's. She wondered how long he had been watching her for. Caught in the act, he gave her a brief nod but didn't look away or seem particularly uncomfortable. Flustered, Elliot turned back to Galen. Duke was growing on her but she still didn't know if she could trust him. Rafi's behaviour made it clear, he didn't trust Duke, and there was no room for negotiation. But Elliot was grateful to have the extra back up in her search for Chloe, even if it was in the form of both Galen and Duke. At this stage, she would take whatever she could get.

The night was still with sudden bursts of crickets chirping through the pale dirt and clusters of shrubs that sprouted from the ground every few feet or so. Athens was a beautiful city, but its ruins were even more beautiful. They resembled something out of a film, with picturesque lush greens contrasting starkly against the beige and cream coloured powdery ground.

Rafi had a torch, so did Duke. Galen and Elliot used their phones for light as they navigated the ruins. The respective beams of light criss-crossed every so often, and darted around the surroundings as the group moved through the ruins in search of the riverbed. Every twenty meters or so, they would pass an old slab of marble or a pale, jagged, jutting piece of stone and Galen would teach them all a little more about Ancient Greece and the history of the rive they were about to explore.

It ran underground and was Athen's third river, which over time had retreated to running beneath the city. It astounded her that humans could take such a beautiful place and taint it with murder.

Something slithered in the darkness to Elliot's side.

‘Don't engage. Come this way.’ Galen advised her. ‘Don't shine your light on it, or you'll agitate it.’ He warned. As Elliot aimed her phone away from the shuddering shrubs, she caught a glimpse of scaly skin moving fast behind the shrubs.

‘It's over that way.’ Rafi pointed to an area of darkness to their far side.

‘I would advise turning off all lights, so not to agitate the wildlife or attract unwanted attention.’ Galen suggested. Nobody argued, and within moments they were all trudging through the night listening for hisses and chirps as they moved through the gravelly ground.

Duke joined Elliot and Galen as they walked cautiously through the dark.

‘The chief's refusing to send back up. Apparently these cases aren't sexy enough to warrant resources.’

Elliot frowned and as though it had somehow proved a point Duke was making, Duke threw up his hands in frustration.

‘I know, right?’ He shook his head, bothered by whatever conversation he and the chief had just had. Elliot thought of the snakes listening for them nearby. She wondered how many were out here. Her mind drifted back to the broken sculpture on Chloe's floor.

It made her think of Medusa, and how the Ancient Greeks believed the snakes were remnants of Medusa’s hair. At that very moment, a lock of her own hair toppled down from her bun and tickled her cheek. It sent a shudder dancing along her spine, and Elliot tucked it behind her ear.

‘Do you mind if I listen to the message left by your sister again?’ Duke asked. He had already listened to it twice. Much to Elliot's dismay, Rafi didn't have any equipment with him to analyse the audio. So replaying the message for Galen, Duke, Rafi and herself now and then, helped shed tiny bits of light on the situation for each of them.

Elliot knew everybody must have a theory. She assumed Duke thought Chloe was already dead, which wasn't a train of thought she was interested in following. She knew Galen was hopeful for a happy ending, and closure after losing his own daughter. And as for Rafi, he had kept silent for the most part but she knew where he stood. His theory was whatever hers would be. He took family matters seriously. He was a man of duty and he did his utmost to fulfill those duties.

For Elliot, he had been fulfilling the duties of a colleague and fellow treasure hunter for the most part, and now and then, somewhere between their fights and victories, he had begun fulfilling the duty of a loyal and dependable friend. At least, until he learnt she was still dabbling with substances. She had grown so used to his presence, that it was difficult to stay underground for the duration of her recovery.

She had been substance free for a few months now, but still carried a small hip flask and hidden in the heel of her boot was a small piece of folded cloth containing a single hit of drugs. Elliot kept it to remind herself she had it but chose not to have it. It reminded her she was in control.

With all of the distress surrounding Chloe's disappearance, Rafi and Elliot hadn't had a chance to smooth things over. The tension between them was dense and taut with things both had left unsaid. She couldn’t bear to face him, not now. Not while Chloe was missing. She decided she would talk to him when the time was right, and say thank you for what he did for her.

‘You been doing this long?’ Duke's voice reeled her back to reality. His boots crushed gravel as they walked. Now and then, his shoulder bumped into hers but she didn't move away. She barely acknowledged it.

‘Traipsing through ruins in the dead of night?’

Duke smiled, revealing perfect teeth and a dimpled chin. He was handsome in a pretty way. He had the classic pearly Greek skin but his hair was a departure from traditionally Greek features. Elliot hazarded a guess that one of his parents weren't Greek.

‘For a few years now.’ She replied.

‘Must be exciting.’

‘Can be.’ Elliot smiled. ‘How long have you been a detective?’

‘I made detective a year or so ago.’ He said. ‘I love this city. So much is always happening here. It has a buzz to it.’ He smiled and peered up at the sky. Stars were dispersed across the navy blanket of night, like sugar spilled across a table cloth.

‘It's kind of you to help Galen like this.’ Elliot said. She was finding Duke particularly difficult to read. He had a sincerity to him, but she didn't understand why he was helping Galen. Despite knowing not to be naïve, Elliot hoped Duke was the exception to the rule and was helping the old man out of compassion.

Duke looked down at his feet and shrugged with a poignant smile. He wasn't proud or arrogant about it.

‘He didn't leave me with much choice. He single-handedly dedicated more man hours to investigating whatever is going on in Athens, than anyone in our precinct did. He even put in more time than I have, and I've been working this case for months.’

Elliot's heart sank as she thought of what a crushing blow it must have been to be old and learn your child is dead. It was unnatural, it went against the order of things people were accustomed to. It was easy to imagine how proud Galen would have been of his daughter, who had followed the same path as him and become a teacher and seeker of truth too. There was a real sense of community among historians. It broke Elliot's heart to think he would grow old and never see his daughter's grandkids, or go on to see what she could have achieved. Elliot's mind slipped back to Chloe and how Chloe hadn't invited her to the opening. It meant her sister still hadn't forgiven her for what happened.

Their last conversation before Chloe's disappearance was angry and riddled with blame and disappointment. Elliot was intoxicated and took her self-loathing out on Chloe, accusing her sister of moving on too eagerly. The accusation landed like a rock against a fragile and stunning stained glass window, shattering it on impact.

Chloe had told Elliot she pitied her and kicked her out. The two didn't as much exchange a look after that. Elliot's pride eventually did give way, and Elliot began keeping tabs on her sister through news alerts in the Archaeology and Historian Society, aka the AHS, their mother and Chloe were members of. Elliot still had access to Chloe's email account and now and then would log in to keep tabs on what was going on. She hadn’t logged in for a few months now.

What if Chloe had emailed somebody about what she found? Elliot pulled out her phone and typed at the touchscreen, bringing up the login page. She punched in Chloe's login details and was pleasantly surprised to find her sister's password was still ‘Chloesucks’ from the last time Elliot drunkenly hacked her and changed it. A small smile tugged at the edges of her lips and as quickly as it appeared, it vanished. It felt alien on her face, especially right now.

Elliot accessed Chloe's inbox and scrolled through her emails. There were various invitations to corporate and national events all pertaining to historic discoveries and education. There was nothing related to her current project. Nothing on Greek history. Not even a casual mention of it. Did somebody else hack her? Or was she so concerned about her safety she erased all of her tracks?

Elliot exited the inbox and went to the sent box in hopes of her sister not having had time to erase everything. There had to be something. There just had to be, Elliot thought as she loaded up the sent box.

A single email subject, categorised as draft appeared on the screen. It had been sent a week ago, the subject read Medusa's Tragedy—Take a look at this.

It requested. Elliot clicked into the email and read the body of the email first. It was a series of attachments, images of pale stone with carvings of a snake and a horse in them. Elliot scrolled back to the top of the email. Her eyes widened as she read the name of the recipient.

Rafi Sulaiman.