Marc sat back and rubbed a hand over his face. He seemed to have aged ten years since he had arrived. “This is much worse than what I had imagined,” he confessed.
“Do you think we’re right?” asked Aurelian. “Is the House selling women as unwilling slaves?”
“I don’t know,” admitted Marc. “I follow your train of logic and it appears to make sense, but without hard evidence…” He shrugged.
“That’s where I come in,” said Kait.
Both men turned to stare at her.
“That’s the plan, right? Aurelian trains me, I get into the program, and get the inside track on what’s happening?”
Marc was silent, his expression dubious, but Aurelian exploded. “Are you out of your mind?” he shouted. “After everything we’ve said! The novice program is a hornet’s nest, and you want to go poking your head right into it?”
Kait felt her own anger build. “Then, why are you training me, Aurelian? What’s the point, if you never intend to let me go?”
Aurelian abruptly shut up, his face turning red.
Marc eyed each of them in turn. “Ah…perhaps we should take a break and consider this. I’m going to the balcony, to have a cigarette.” He shoved his chair back and left the room.
Kait looked at Aurelian. “You have a balcony?”
His face still red, he nodded.
Kait, caught between her flash of anger and a strange amusement, said, “You own the second floor as well? Aurelian, anything else you want to tell me?”
Aurelian heard the amusement in her tone and started to come down from his own anger. “Kait Pyne, I don’t even know where I would begin,” he answered helplessly.
“That’s fair.”I don’t know where I would, either.
They both sat in silence.
“Aurelian, I don’t know how we are going to get the evidence we need without me going in,” Kait ventured.
“There must be another way,” said Aurelian stubbornly. “Everything we’ve found out up until now has been without you risking your life. I don’t see why that has to change now.” He rubbed at the day’s growth on his chin. “Maybe I can get more information from Colin.”
“Okay.” Kait nodded. “You try Colin. I’ll use your network access to see what I can find out about Rachel Gentry and Harold Dawes. Maybe we can catch a break there.”
Aurelian nodded.
“And we continue my training,” Kait added. Aurelian looked as if he were about to protest, but Kait said, “As a contingency, Aurelian. Not as a first choice.”
“Very well.”
“Unless, of course, you don’t want to,” said Kait with a slow smile.
Fire rose in his eyes.
“That’s what I thought,” she said, satisfied.
“Mon Dieu, you are a difficult woman.” Aurelian sighed.
“You’re just figuring this outnow?”
