“Define recently.”
“Maybe within the last six months?” It was a guess, but the way they’d spoken about the Glebe incident had made it sound fairly recent. “Also, can you do a background on a man who was killed there recently when his vehicle went over a cliff?”
“We looking for anything specific?”
“Anything that twitches your radar.”
“I don’t have a radar when it comes to incidents. It’s why I’m a tech nerd and you’re the investigator.”
I laughed, but before I could reply, my phone beeped, telling me there was another call on the line. “Gotta go. You’ll let me know if you uncover anything?”
“With the way you keep repeating that question, anyone would think I never did.” His voice was dry. “Get some rest, Agent Kang, while you can.”
“And that doesn’t sound ominous atall.”
He laughed and hung up, and I accepted the other call. It was my brother Michael. “Hey, bro, how’s the family?”
“In better shape than you, apparently.”
His warm tones held a mix of concern and amusement, and I couldn’t help but smile. “That news travelled fast.”
“You are my sister, so of course they’re going to notify me when you land in hospital. How are you feeling?”
“Like I was hit by a small truck, but otherwise fine.”
“Part of me wishes to advise avoiding said trucks in future, but they are a hazard of the job, unfortunately. Why were you ringing? Anything urgent?”
“Initially, it was just curiosity as to why the board gave orders that I, and no one else, go see Tane?—”
“They did? When?” he cut in.
“Lowell received the order last night, apparently.”
“Neither Sophie nor I were advised of the fact, and that is extremely unusual. I shall run a trace on the call and see if it was indeed a Society number.”
“It could have been a board member using a personal phone. They must have them, mysterious beings or not.”
“They would never compromise their anonymity by using a personal phone. Their secrecy is vital for the Society’s continuing operation.”
Because if no one knew who was in charge, no one could figure out a means of compromising them. Plenty wanted to, of that I had no doubt. “Tane has been telepathically compromised, too, so we need to get him checked as a matter of urgency.”
“Damn, that isnotgood news.”
“Especially when the sole reason I was apparently sent to him was to receive a USB containing a conversation between two unknown people about keeping Monica alive until the operation was complete. Tane, by the way, had no idea what was on the USB or even who gave it to him and when.”
“You still have this USB?”
“Nope. Played it through once and the damn thing disintegrated via an embedded spell. Whoever sent it has obviously been watching too muchMission: Impossible.”
He half laughed. “Was there anything on it that might provide a concrete lead or two?”
“A couple of things—the male involved mentioned having contacts in the HCI, and some incident in Glebe. I googled the latter, but didn’t come up with anything more than a car going over a cliff.”
“If it involved a high-profile witch, you probably wouldn’t. I’ll get an archivist on to it, and see what they come up with.”
“I did ask Jack up here to also search, so don’t be surprised if you come across his tracks. I’ll text you the notes I have on the conversation.”
“Good.” He paused, and I could hear Rochelle talking in the background. “I’m to remind you that the twins’ birthday is next week, and they expect their favorite aunt to be there.”
