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“Tutu’s,” I said without thinking.
To my embarrassment, the room went quiet and all my teammates turned to face me, their chairs scraping as they peered back at me.
“Correct!” Captain Reese beamed. “The most likely target is Tutu’s. Even if we ignore the vast amount of money kept in Tutu’s Crypta & Custodia, there are heirlooms, rare artifacts—I’m sure there’s even a few elven spells and weapons inside its vaults.”
Elven weapons and spells…that could be a powerful draw.
If Grove was right and an elf artifact had been used to create the gate the fae creatures were brought through, that indicated the would-be-thieves already had an interest in elven magic. Elven products had grown increasingly rare since the entire race died out centuries ago.
“The most obvious evidence that indicates Tutu’s could be the target is that their security systems have been set off every time there’s an attack,” Captain Reese continued. “We believe Orrin is doing this to measure the seals and magic protection systems on Tutu’s. The attacks have been gradually rising in terms of power, and they started after Orrin arrived in the city. Likely, there’s something in Tutu’s vaults that he wants—and he obviously has no problem with stealing as he makes use of Gisila’s artifacts.”
I sat back in my chair still not quite satisfied with the idea.
There’s no possible way a single fae could take on a security system like Tutu’s. Maybe he’s just trying to scout it…or maybe he has Gisila at his back and this is all for her.
“We have no definite proof that he’s targeting Tutu’s,” Sarge said, “Or that this is all his doing. Given that although we believe he’s acting alone, it is possible he could be working with someone else—Lady Gisila included—we’re opting not to approach Gisila to ask questions. We don’t want to spook him. Instead, we’re going to lay a trap.”
Captain Reese stared us down with werewolf intensity. “Starting tonight, one team will be on a stakeout on Goldstein Street watching Tutu’s. The other teams will continue to patrol as normal—keeping up the pattern of extra patrols on Goldstein, so Orrin will hopefully believe nothing has changed and will approach when he is ready.”
“As it has been only one day since Blood nearly caught him, it seems unlikely he’ll approach tonight,” Sarge drawled. “So our squad will be handling the stakeout and patrols this evening while the department gets organized. Starting tomorrow, however, we will be getting additional help from other squads who will take over constant surveillance, and we will continue with our previous schedule.”
That’s reasonable, and proactive.Even if it did seem short sighted to consider Orrin as the only perp, the stakeouts would ensure that once Orrin moved we’d get all the proof we needed.
“Since Orrin is particularly aware of Blood’s existence given their merry chase, her team will be patrolling the area frequently,” Captain Reese said. “With the hope that Blood’s presence will hide the missing third team, who will be on the stakeout.”
“This, obviously, will mess with tonight’s patrol routes,” Sarge said. “Each team needs to check in with myself or Captain Reese for your temporary route tonight. We’ll have the new schedules available tomorrow after the other squads select members to cover our surveillance shift. Understood?”
Everyone chimed in their approval.
“The groups tonight are Blood, Binx, Clarence, and Grove are Team Blood; Myself, Medium-Sized Robert, and Juggernaut are Team Tide; April, Brody and Tetiana are Team Watchers—they’ll be the surveillance team,” Sarge read off.
Captain Reese clapped her hands together. “Any questions? No? Then remember to see us for your new patrol routes before you leave. Be careful out there. Dismissed!”
Sunshine scurried up to me before I could even push my chair away from my table. “Jade.” She tried to smile again, but the dark circles under her eyes were so strong they almost looked like bruises. “Good job getting that gem. As usual, you are a priceless jewel.”
I rested my wrists on the edge of my table. “Were you the one who cracked it?”
Sunshine shook her head making her springy brown curls swish. “Nope. My boss did—though I worked on it with him.” She paused and licked her lips.
“Is something wrong?”
“No—well, in a way. I just don’t like this. Trying to stop a dragon shifter family conflict—since Gisila isrelatedto Tutu—is way above the paygrade of anyone in the task force. That’s something for the Regional Council of Magic,” Sunshine said.
“Sarge and Captain Reese don’t seem to think Gisila is involved,” I pointed out.
“She has to be,” Sunshine flatly said. “There’s no way she’d lose track of one of her treasures or not notice if he swiped it, even temporarily.”
“Yeah.” I glanced around, most of the squad was bunching around Sarge and Captain Reese. “Dragon shifters are jealous of their possessions. I suspect Orrin is doing this all under her orders.”
Dragons cared for their treasures more than anything in the world—it was why there were so few dragon shifters. They cared more about their treasure than each other.
“You’re the strongest of your squad,” Sunshine started.
“No.” I shook my head. “Medium-size Robert is. He could bench press me—Brody could, too.”
“I didn’t mean literal strongest,” Sunshine said. “I mean that on your team, you are the most lethal and the strongest fighter.”
I tilted my head trying to measure out her guess. “Not really. Sarge is deadly since we’re by so much water with the lakes. And Tetiana—”
