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“I’m as good as I can be.” I looked at Alexei. “While we’re interrogating you, did you find anything blackmail-worthy?”
“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head. “If Clive has any skeletons in his closet, they’re well hidden.”
“It’s logical the AAM would be careful,” I said, “especially when staffing something called the ‘Compliance Bureau.’”
“What about Jonathan Black?” Connor asked.
I shouldn’t have been surprised that he’d asked Alexei to take a look, so I kept it to myself.
“You said you weren’t sure if he was a friend. Given his interest in you, I think that’s a question we need to answer now.”
“I didn’t say a thing,” I said and held up my hands for peace.
“What did you learn?” Connor asked.
“He has connections to certain criminal ventures of the supernatural variety.”
“Dark magic?”
“Among other things. I didn’t get many details; the names of his clients are completely hush-hush. He’s very discreet. But there’s no dispute he reps criminals.”
I’d say that kept him out of the “ally” category, regardless of his request. I’d definitely be careful the next time we interacted. “Anything about him that definitively relates to this?”
“Not that I could find.” Alexei looked at me, apology in his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“No apology necessary. If you had more time, I’m sure you could find something. But the clock is very much against us.”
“So what’s the plan?” Lulu asked.
“She’s playing vampire lawyer,” Connor said, sipping his drink.
“Still mulling it over,” I said. “But I think I’m going to need a place to meet them again. Even if I’m right about my legal theory,I’m going to have to address it in person.” And since my father had already offered it up as a meeting spot to Nicole, Cadogan House seemed like the logical possibility. “Lulu said something about using Levi as a lure. I think we can make that happen, or at least try for it.” But I checked the time. “We need to talk to the Ombuds, to Gwen, but it’s too close to dawn for me to drive.”
“Not a problem,” Connor said and gestured to the artscreen. “You can chat with them that way.”
***
I contacted the OMB, and we let Connor futz with the electronics.
My screen buzzed. I pulled it out, thinking it was confirmation from Theo or a reminder to feed the starter again, but found something else entirely.
You lied to me. You will regret it.
—Your enemy
“I’m sorry to report Levi and I aren’t friends anymore,” I said and showed everyone the note. And realized, with great relief, that he’d made a very big mistake.
“He didn’t anonymize the message,” I said and grinned up at Connor. “He got sloppy and forgot to encrypt it, or whatever tech-scrambly thing they do. There’s a legitimate US number attached. That means I can respond. And we can lure him out.”
***
I sent the message to Theo for analysis. The group call took a little more time to coordinate, but with a scant half hour until dawn, everyone was available via screen.
Gwen in a very dull-looking CPD conference room. Roger, Theo, Petra at the OMB office. My parents at Cadogan House. Me, Alexei, Lulu, and Connor at the town house.
“Gorgeous room,” my mother said, getting the ball rolling. “Your home is beautiful, Connor.”
“Thank you,” he said and looked to me.
