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“I just got into the low security level of the Assembly’s network,” I said. “I don’t think I’ll be able to access the super secure areas from the phone, but we’ll have access to their basic records now.”
She scooted a little closer, her expression becoming more alert. “That’s great! I don’t even know what we should look up at this point, though. The faction that’s hunting us will have kept alltheirrecords separate.”
I nodded. “I’d probably have to be physically in their building to have much chance at those.” Even sitting in the coffee shop across the street a few weeks ago, they’d shut me down before I’d grabbed more than a couple of files. But we could use this entry point in other ways. “I know the names I saw on the form I dug up—the one where they approved the murder of that witch and her lover. And we know your father and that Frankford guy are involved too.”
“And my stepmother,” Rose said. She winced. “Or at least she was.”
Because Celestine Hallowell had recently become the victim of another highly suspicious accident. This faction of the Assembly had used a supposed car crash to cover up things they didn’t want getting out before. What were the chances she’d just happened to get hit, right after Rose had sent her running from the estate? Right before she’d been supposed to carry out Mr. Hallowell’s dirty work, binding Rose in that corrupted consorting?
But that didn’t mean her name wouldn’t be useful. “Right,” I said. “I can cross-reference those names with any of the witches you think we could turn to for help. See if I come across any connections between them, good or bad. So we can be a little more sure that they’re not under the influence of this group in any way.”
“That’s a good idea.” She looped her arm around mine in a gesture so comfortably familiar another pang of affection shot through me. “The first person I figured we should talk to is Margo Elands. I texted her from the burner phone you got me back when I was trying to figure out whether I even could kindle my spark properly with consorts who weren’t witching men.”
“She’d heard about other witches doing that?” I said, my eyebrows rising.
Rose shook her head. “Not any time recently. Just, like, a legend sort of thing. From what I read, she dabbles in the more obscure or questionable areas of witching history. And she’d seen a few of those etchings like the ones in the tower on my property—pictures of witches with multiple consorts. Apparently she’d mentioned those tidbits of history in the wrong company, and it got her fired from a job with the Assembly. She owns a New Age shop on Staten Island now.”
“She definitely sounds like someone who might be on our side, then. Let me see what I can find on her.”
I started a search of the database looking for any documents in the vast array that contained both Margo Eland’s name and any of the witching people we knew were part of the conspiracy.
“I’m not seeing anything about her in the database,” I said. “Let me try regular old Google too.” They might be witches, but they had real lives in the real world that could intersect in different ways.
Nothing came up there either. “Ms. Eland seems clean,” I said. “I mean, we’ll still want to be cautious, but I don’t see any reason to worry about her somehow being involved with that shady faction.”
“Yeah, that seemed pretty unlikely anyway,” Rose said.
I looked at her. “You were thinking maybe we could contact your mom’s family too, right?”
“Yeah.” She hesitated. “I’ve never even talked to them before… My dad always made it seem like they disownedusbecause they weren’t happy about the marriage. I figured they were all snobby jerks. But now I’ve got to wonder if he pushed them away because they knew something wasn’t totally right with him. I’m not even sure… What if he did something to my mom like he meant to have happen between Derek and me? What if he was controlling her magic?”
What if he’d been responsible for her death too? She didn’t have to ask that question—it hung in the air regardless.
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” I said to the questions shehadasked. “I can see if there’s anything to dig up here. What’s their family name?”
“Levesque,” she said. “That was her maiden name. Alora Levesque. I found an old photo once of her with her sisters—the older one was Irene and the younger one was Virginia. I don’t know about her parents, or any kids my aunts might have now…”
“That’s fine,” I said. “That’s enough.”
I started by searching for Irene and Virginia Levesque in the New York City area. It didn’t take long to find a large property on the outskirts of one of the particularly posh suburbs. Irene held that one. And Virginia’s name was on the deed of a slightly smaller estate just a mile away.
“It looks like they’re still in New York State,” I said. “And close to each other. Let’s see what else I can find…”
My digging turned up almost as much nothing as when I’d looked for Margo Elands.
“There are a couple of records in the Assembly’s database,” I told Rose. “A while back Virginia filed a minor dispute with Frankford about the tutor she hired on the Education division’s recommendation. It looks like she has a daughter who’s just a couple years younger than you. And Irene and your father served on a board together for a year, about thirty years ago. I’m going to guess that was how he ended up meeting your mother. I don’t see any sign that the two of them had any connection other than that.”
“Hard to tell without being able to access the deeper records, though, right?” Rose said.
“Yeah. I can’t be sure. Even with those we couldn’t be perfectly sure.” I ran my hand over my hair, the curls scattering under my fingers. “But if anyone from your mother’s family was on your father’s side, you’d think he’d have brought them back into your life. Another point of influence.”
“That’s true.” Rose rubbed her mouth. “At least we know where to find them now.”
That didn’t feel like enough. I frowned at the phone. Then something Gabriel had mentioned earlier came back to me. The enforcers who’d been holding us—one of them had said something to him about a “Cliff.”
A search of the Assembly’s database turned up nothing. I switched to the regular internet. First I checked for “Maxim Hallowell” and then “Charles Frankford.” My thumbs stilled over the screen.
“Did you find something?” Rose asked, leaning closer.
