Chapter Fourteen
Aurelian
MARC FOLLOWED Aurelian down the corridor. “Steady,mon ami,” he cautioned, edging in front of Aurelian without breaking into a run. “This is the most powerful person on the planet, not to mention she employs both you and me.”
“I really don’t care about my job anymore,” said Aurelian angrily, not breaking stride, “nor—and forgive me, old friend—am I particularly concerned about yours.”
“Aurelian,stop!” Marc raised his voice uncharacteristically.
Surprised, Aurelian turned to face him.
“I understand you are angry, my friend.” Marc reached his hand out in a calming gesture. “But you need to slow down and think. For Kait’s sake. If you barge in like a herd of charging hippopotamuses, you risk alienating your best ally. Compared to her, you havenopower. You will be comparing penis sizes with an eight hundred pound gorilla!”
Aurelian stared at his friend.Okay, calm down. Marc’s right. You can’t throw a tantrum in there. Keep it together. For Kait. Deep breaths, Ari.
Out loud, he said, “Did you know the gorilla has the smallest penis-to-body-size ratio of any primate on Earth?”
Marc burst into laughter. “Oh,tais-toi, my friend.” They began walking again, more slowly this time.
“Is it hippopotamuses or hippopotami?”
“Idiot,” muttered Marc.
***
The office of Madeline Marx was about what you would expect from an interplanetary level CEO: a large space, designed to impress. It conveyed an aesthetic of cultured minimalism, with careful choice being given to the placement of each item, and the relationship of each item to each other item in the room.
Under other circumstances, Aurelian would have enjoyed it.
“Miss Marx,” he said, ignoring everything as he strode forward.
“Mr. Reynard, I presume. Hello, Marc.” Madeline turned from the corner window and approached them.
Aurelian was surprised at her apparent youth and the vivid red of her long, curly hair, but he tried not to show it. He shook her hand firmly. “Thank you for meeting with us,” he said.
The men joined her.
Madeline waved a hand dismissively as she took a seat at the head of a nearby table. “Of course, Mr. Reynard. May I call you Aurelian? Let us dispense with the pleasantries, shall we? You’re appalled at this disastrous situation, I’m appalled, you’re furious, I’m furious, blah blah blah. Enough. Let’s solve the problems.”
Aurelian blinked. Marc appeared accustomed to Madeline Marx’s approach and allowed himself a small smile.
“So,” said Madeline, folding her hands in front of her, “as I understand it, Kaitlyn Pine, an investigative journalist and sister of the murdered novice Talia Sommers, has been kidnapped by a faction within my own company and is currently being held on board theStella Maris, a luxury cruise liner scheduled to leave our planet’s orbit shortly. Is that correct?”
Marc and Aurelian nodded.
“Obviously, we don’t want them to leave.” She tapped at her phone. “Cornelius, get in here,” she demanded. “Now, what else do I need to know?”
“At least two members of the Board, Rachel Gentry and Harold Dawes, are behind a scheme to traffic women onto theStella Maris,” Aurelian began. “They have been doing it through a holding company named Holloway Holdings, concealed inside the House’s financial structure.”
Madeline put up a hand. “Cornelius, are you getting this?”
“I think I caught most of it, ma’am,” came a voice from behind them.
A slender, grey-haired man in an immaculate suit joined them at the glass table. He steepled his long fingers together. “Please continue.”
Madeline nodded at Aurelian, who went on. “Gentry and Dawes, for some reason, were behind the murder of Talia Sommers, whose actual last name was Pyne,” Aurelian continued. “When Talia’s sister, Kait Pyne, arrived on Tarma, she began investigating her sister’s murder. I assisted her.”
Madeline raised her eyebrows and glanced at Cornelius but kept silent.
