Page 58 of Old Secrets

“We’ll try not to take too long.”

She waved her hand and let herself out.

Jake graced me with a wicked grin. “And what sort of attention would my vixen like this morning?”

“A sinful shower followed with a soak. I suspect this will be our last chance for some rest and relaxation before we dive headlong into the serious work.”

Some quality time alone with Jake resulted in a skip in my step, and to keep me from bouncing everywhere, he tossed me over his shoulder and hauled me from our room that way. Aiko stared at us with wide eyes.

“She’s a little energetic, and I don’t want her to destroy any furniture. The next stage when she gets this level of excited is to destroy furniture.”

I laughed, hanging my head at the reminder of how I’d been introduced to the pack. “I’ve gone at least a year without destroying any furniture.”

“Has it been a year? I’m not taking the risk in an establishment this fine. Where do you want me to contain her, Aiko-san?”

“We’re gathered in the conference room.” Either realizing we were a few cans short of a six pack or resigned to the situation, she guided us through the hotel.

Jake set me back on my feet once we were out of reach of the door, took hold of my hand, and did his best to keep his stride short and slow so I wouldn’t have to bounce to keep up with him. “Dare I ask if there has been more progress?”

“Various law enforcement agencies and the Inquisition in the United States are quite busy due to recent events, but the Inquisition has done a sufficient job of masking their trail. While some deaths have been deemed questionable, there has been insufficient evidence to create a suspect list.”

I connected the dots; the Inquisition had agents who were working on those cases, putting in enough substantial work to make it seem like they were doing their jobs while barring anyone else from solving any of the mysteries.

Using the same tactic Greenwich employed irritated me, but I’d learned to keep my mouth shut about the questionable things. They were always done with a reason. Sometimes, that reason was to prevent Normals from learning the truth about the world and the other species living in it.

Sometimes, that reason was to be the swift hand of justice courtrooms could not provide.

I squeezed Jake’s hand and scurried along to keep up, as Aiko meant to deliver us to the conference room in a timely fashion. “Do we have any leads in China?”

“The Chinese delegation has information for us, and they’re preparing for your flight to their country. They seem quite pleased with themselves, so I’m assuming they have begun making progress. I suspect that progress comes in the form of photographs for your parents to use.”

I’d take progress in any shape possible. “And our odds of success?”

“We simply do not have the resources to completely eradicate Greenwich, but we should be able to eliminate the heads of their organization. Our basic look at their operations in the United States indicates that they have been thoroughly unbalanced. There are also reports coming in from London regarding unusual auras. Upon learning the source of the auras, the Inquisition there has taken steps to make certain those individuals quietly disappear. Unfortunately, they were not given the same orders as the operatives in the United States, so they have done a few live captures. They are not being kind to their captives, but they are getting information.”

Well, that would complicate things. “And what will happen to them after they have been questioned?”

“Your parents will be invited to deal with them personally; they were involved with the London shooting. I have been informed that justice is sometimes a dish best served cold and personal, and this should give them closure. I was also reminded that they are not human, have been tortured for longer than any of us have been alive combined, and require a great deal of soothing to their souls.”

That was something Mellisa would say, and I understood her point.

My parents had been put through worse than any hell, and the courts could not provide the kind of justice they needed. “Please express our gratitude to those in London,” I replied.

Aiko smiled. “I shall do that. At first, they were going to offer that to you and Jake-sama, but your psychologist stated you have the justice you need—they do not. Be warned: your parents have settled into a rather protective mood. They do not know how to be parents at this stage. All of their children were taken from them.”

“They’re already doing better than my ma, and I’ll make sure they know that. They have time to learn.”

I also had time to learn how to be someone’s daughter again, although I suspected I’d have a far easier time than them. I did not have the fear of loss whipping me. While I did fear loss, it simmered rather than boiled, and given time, it would cool to nothing more than a memory.

At the elevators, Aiko pressed the down button, and we headed to the conference room two floors below our room. Once inside, the group had grown, with the Chinese representatives numbering in at eight. Eric and Andrew offered polite bows, which we returned. That triggered a landslide of bowing, an amusing affair that took five minutes to resolve before everyone either stood at attention or sat for the discussions. Jake and I sat across from my parents, who fidgeted.

I recognized their restless energy for what it was: a need to hunt.

Eric stood, placed a briefcase on the table, and pulled out a thick folder. “We have been spending our time working with the Americans on gathering the relevant data to set up an appropriate timeline for your daughter’s journey overseas. While surveillance for that time period is not as robust as we prefer, we were able to acquire some photographs. One of the photographs is particularly sensitive, as the murder of your family member was caught on film. We simply hadn’t known it. Fortunately, the building with the recordings has a policy to never delete data, and they had fully digitalized their film. They had preserved the date and time stamps, allowing us to check their records upon learning the location of her murder. I am aware you have seen her body in the aftermath. But if you need photos around the time of death, well, this is the best we could do.”

Eric then said something in Chinese, and after a long moment, my mother replied in a wavering voice.

Bowing deeply, Eric offered the photograph with both hands.