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Ari wrapped an arm around her shoulder as her father chuckled. "Your mother was so furious that you quit, but also so thankful you were there."
Meryn tilted her head at her. Brie answered the unspoken question. "My mother and my mother's mother as far back as we can trace were all law enforcement. My mother was FBI, one of the first Black females to serve, which is why she wanted me to stay in the program."
"Why not go back?" Meryn asked.
Brie gave a half shrug. "After my mother died, I lost the passion for it. Rathais approached me on campus after I finished my second degree and asked if I would be interested in becoming one of his deputies. It wasn't as prestigious as the FBI, but it felt right."
Gage laughed. "And he is so pissed that you will probably be moving here. He will have to find someone else to replace him now."
Brie frowned. "I was looking forward to becoming Sheriff."
Ari gave her a gentle squeeze. "Nothing has to be decided right now. We have enough on our plates as it is."
Meryn blinked. "Oh yeah, the dead people."
Brie had to hold back a smile at her statement. It was horribly insensitive and blunt, but somehow the small woman pulled it off.
Cord simply kissed the top of Meryn's head. "How about you all adjourn to the dining room. We'll continue drinks, but at least everyone will be seated."
Brie was seated between Ari and Rex. She recognized a few faces from this afternoon, but not all. Rex caught her looking from person to person and leaned down. One by one he began to put names to faces with small bits of information about each person.
Meryn overheard what he was doing and whipped out a tablet. "What's your email?"
Brie gave it to her and watched as Meryn's small fingers tapped rapidly. "Why?"
"Gonna forward you the information packet that Kari created that we compiled regarding all the problems we've been facing. That way you can read it later and ask questions at your own pace."
Brie exhaled in relief. "Thank you."
"Thank Kari. She's the one that color coded this thing. She said my notes read as if an over-sugared kindergartner was rambling off facts to his mom after school."
The woman Rex had introduced as Amelia winced, but nodded. "Everyone has their own strengths," she said soothingly.
The queen turned to her. "Brie, I know I put you on the spot at the processing center, but I really would like for you to take charge of this entire disaster. Your clear-headed suggestions have created the start of processes that will least traumatize my people."
"Your Majesty…"
"You can call me Aleksandra, if you wish. Your mate, Ari, is one of my most dedicated warriors, and I have a feeling you and I will be communicating quite a bit in the weeks to come, and 'Your Majesty' is such a mouthful."
Brie inclined her head. "Thank you. Aleksandra, I know that this isn't what you want to hear, but unless River uncovers something substantial that was overlooked by the killer, there was nothing at the scene to give us a direction to go."
The queen's face fell. "But you said…"
Brie nodded. "I know. I was standing in front of over a hundred grieving family members; that isn't exactly the time or place to admit that we've very little to go on."
"There'll be more," Meryn whispered.
All heads swung to face her as the queen gasped. "A premonition?"
Meryn shook her head. "No, facts. We're missing more than the seventy-eight found in the warehouse in Monroe. I'm willing to bet tomorrow's scones that there are multiple processing warehouses across the country, probably centered on where fae congregated while living outside Éire Danu."
"What can we do?" the queen asked, reaching for her mate's hand.
Meryn lightly tapped her butter knife against the side of her plate distractedly. "Look for large buildings that may be housing kidnapped fae, I guess, but…" the knife stilled. "Something isn't quite right. Like the timing of it. I saw some of the photos that were taken at the scene; they hadn't been dead that long. So why wait? What was the determining factor to kill them? Was it all in one go?"
"Meryn!" Amelia whispered.
Meryn ignored her cousin. "Yeah, that's the first thing we need to determine. How and when they died."
