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“Not until earlier today. She showed up here ostensibly about what to do with your things and perhaps needing rooms here at Windsong for some of those traveling to Mystic River. There was something off and I had Hutch start running down her background. I was just about to discuss it with Hamish.”
“What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing checking out my mate?” growled Hamish.
“There was something in the way she acted that caused my hackles to rise. I realized that while Trudy has been here a couple of years, I didn’t know that much about her. Hutch found there wasn’t much to know. It seems her whole history is a fabrication.”
“I don’t believe that,” spat Hamish. “I won’t hear you sully my mate’s good name.”
“No one is doing that, Hamish,” said Colby, pushing a file across the desk to him. “See for yourself. It’s as if Trudy Edwards didn’t exist until about five years ago…”
“And I’m not sure of the information I found,” said Hutch. “But it seems clear to me that Trudy is not the woman everyone led us to believe.”
“My Trudy is a good and honorable lass…” started Hamish.
“Your Trudy works for the Master—the man behind the Shadow League. She’s the mole—at least one of them.”
Hamish stood up slamming his fist down on the desk. “I will not let you talk about her that way.”
Nora stepped forward, and Hamish snarled, with Hutch answering with a growl of his own.
“Can we dial back the testosterone?” asked Nora in as reasonable a voice as she could. “I understand your not wanting to believe, Hamish. I’ve only known her for a day or two and I don’t want to believe it. I couldn’t tell you who broke me out of jail, but I can tell you who came through the front door of the League’s safehouse up above the town.”
“No. I won’t believe it. You’re a murderer—an assassin. Why should any of us believe you?”
“That’s a fair question, and were I in your shoes, I don’t think I would, but I am telling the truth. You’re right. I was a killer, the Master’s best assassin—until I wasn’t. Until I met the guy growling at you, and then I couldn’t do it anymore. Trudy was sent to me to deliver another assignment.” Nora flipped the envelope to Colby. “When she was there, I sensed something and I’m almost sure I saw a glint of pain flash through her eyes. No one in this room—maybe even in this world—knows the Master the way I do. I know what he’s capable of. Trudy is working for him, but I’m not sure she is doing it free of coercion.”
“What do you mean?” asked Colby as he took the photograph from the envelope. His face showed little surprise. He looked up to meet her stare. “After Hutch, I am the most logical target. The only other viable target is Mark Hadley, but I think the Master would see me as a greater threat. I don’t know that he knows about the Fire Star Alliance, but we should let the others know just in case.”
“You’re probably right…”
“Then Trudy can’t be the mole, she knows who the players are,” said Hamish, defending his mate.
“Like I said, I don’t think she’s doing it out of conviction or her own self-interest. There’s more at play than this. I also think there’s a second mole and one who isn’t privy to the inner workings of the Alliance.” She walked over to Hamish, laying her hand on his forearm. “I think the Master either has something on her or is holding something over her head. I think she has stayed silent. It’s obvious the Master doesn’t trust her completely as there is another mole, and she didn’t know who I was when we met.”
Hamish paled as he sat back down. “She can’t be involved; she can’t. She’s a good and sweet lass, and I love her.”
“Nora said she doesn’t believe she wants to be doing this, right?”
Nora nodded. “Right. Can you think of anything that would make her go against everything else she believed in?”
Hamish hung his head and started to shake it and then stopped, looking up at Nora. “DFTD. Devil Facial Tumor Disorder. It’s all but wiped out their purebloods and now Tasmanian devil-shifters are being infected. It’s almost always fatal. It’s the reason she doesn’t want to be claimed.”
“She’d become a snow leopard like you,” said Colby. “That would keep her safe but do nothing for her people.”
“Isn’t Carson Payne in charge of genetic research and trying to figure out what the League is doing up in Reykjavik?” asked Hutch. Colby nodded. “My guess is the Master promised that they’d find a cure. She’s trying to save her species. Hamish is right. She’s a brave and good woman.”
“We can’t let her report to the Master, and we have to keep her safe,” said Hutch.
“Hutch, you and Nora go get Trudy. Bring her back to Windsong and don’t be seen. We’ll get to the bottom of this. If she is guilty of working for the League and we can convince her that her people have a better chance of survival with us than they do trusting the League, she may be able to help us with the identification of the other mole.”
“I’ll go fetch her,” said Hamish.
“No. I need you here at Windsong. Nora, I need you to take one of my men, go into Mystic River and kidnap Trudy, and bring her here.”
“If Nora is going, I’m going,” snarled Hutch.
“You’re supposed to be dead,” argued Colby.
“Maybe. But it already sounds like she knows I’m not. Maybe seeing me with Nora will give her second thoughts about what she’s been doing.”
