War Bringer (24 page)

* * *

Kit, Val, Rocco, Ryker, and Ty moved Bladen’s boxes to the long conference table.

“This is what your mom hid before she died?” Val asked.

“Yeah,” Ty said. “Something about the jewelry box had been nagging at me since Allie brought it to my dad. I thought maybe my mom wanted to keep something of value from Bladen, just save one thing for me. But maybe there was more to it than that. I wondered if there might be a hidden compartment in it like Bladen had in the desk. It didn’t make sense that my mom would have risked her life or that of her friend to hide jewelry from the bastard—he’d already taken everything that belonged to my family. So I started poking around.”
 

He displayed the scanned image of his mom’s letter on the smart screen. “I found this, along with the instructions to get into her storage unit. We were lucky that the facility still existed and her unit hadn’t been touched. Max and my dad retrieved them while you were in Denver.”

Ty looked at the boxes. “I don’t know if she was killed because she took these boxes, or if Bladen had already decided to dispose of her once he offed her dad. Who knows.”

“Maybe this is what Amir’s guys were looking for when they tossed the house,” Rocco said.

“Could be.”

Kit took a pair of nitrile gloves from a box and then passed the box around. “I want this stuff processed for fingerprints, so let’s be careful with it. Shit has a way of disappearing, so let’s get every piece logged and scanned for backup.”

They pulled the items out of the boxes and set them on the table. Some were loose sheets of paper and some were ancient manuscripts. There were scrolls, leather-bound binders, ledgers, and journals. The newest documents in the batch were from a quarter century ago…the oldest were more than six centuries old. They were in French, German, English, Spanish, and Latin. Others were in a cryptic script that seemed a cross between simple symbols and some arcane text they couldn’t quickly identify.

That mound of data may hold the clues to King’s empire. It was a windfall that Ty knew could get their headquarters blown up if King ever discovered they’d retrieved it.
 

* * *

Kelan stepped through Fiona’s opened door. “Hey.”

She turned from the window and smiled. It was a warm September day, but she had a big sweater on. Her hair was wet. Maybe she’d caught a chill after her shower.
 

“You didn’t come down for lunch.”

“I didn’t feel much like being around anyone yet.”

Kelan nodded. “I understand. I brought our lunch up here. Will you have a bite?”

She looked at the tray he held—sandwiches, salad, melon—and nodded. They sat at the table. He handed her a glass of iced tea. “I could get you some hot tea if you’d prefer.”

“This is fine.”

When Kelan had finished the first of two sandwiches, he broke their silence. “Val would like to take you to the salon in town to have your hair extensions removed. Would you like to do that?”

She nodded. “Yes. When can we go?”

“As soon as you finish eating. I’ll let him know. Max and I are going to head back down to the tunnels. And I’m going to stop and see your friend Stacey. I want to see what she has to say for herself.”

“I don’t want to ever talk to her again.”

“I don’t blame you. I’m sure the FBI is going to be interested in the role she played in your abduction.”

Fiona toyed with the salad in her bowl. “I don’t think I can go back to school.”

Kelan nodded. “Why not sit out a few days and make up your mind then?”

She nodded, still pushing her food around.

“You know, everyone here was worried to death about you. They’d love it if you came out of your room and visited with them. Maybe go sit in the sun, or talk to the girls.”

“I will.” She looked up at him and smiled, but the gesture was so fleeting that it left him feeling hollow.

Kelan stood up. “I don’t know how long we’ll be. Don’t wait supper for us if we’re not back.”

Fiona’s eyes widened. “You’re sure it’s safe for you to go back?”

“Perfectly. The FBI is all over that place.”

She stood and faced him. He pulled her into his arms. “When you’re ready, we’ll do something fun. We missed your birthday. I still have your gift to give you.”
 

She rubbed her cheek against his chest. “I don’t feel much like having fun. Maybe we should just skip this birthday and wait for next year.”

Kelan rubbed her back. “We could do that.”

* * *

Walking with Val toward the salon that afternoon, Fiona enjoyed the sun’s heat on her face. The girls in the tunnels had lived with very little natural light for months and years. She thought of the other girls in the brothel. They could see the sun but not go out into it.

Val wrapped his arm around her. “Wanna talk? I’m a good listener.”

Fiona shook her head. “Not yet. I’m still trying to process all of it. What I saw, what happened.” She looked up at him. “My father’s like a cancer, isn’t he?”

Val considered that then shook his head. “No. He’s more like a tropical virus that until now has existed in a closed, controlled environment. But that environment has been ripped open, exposing him and spreading his disease rapidly. We’ll get him, Fiona. We’re closer than we’ve ever been, thanks to you.”

Someone moving toward them on the sidewalk caught his attention. Fiona felt him tense. It was a young woman. She looked Goth. No, that wasn’t quite right. She looked like a Goth fairy. She wore two camisoles, the outer one a pale aqua, the other peach. A wide, studded black leather belt hung low over her hips. Skinny jeans ended with black Army boots. A long finger held a black leather jacket over her shoulder. A coffee cup was in her other hand. Her makeup was impeccably applied—no, it was more like she’d sculpted her face with tones and colors that perfectly complemented her outfit. The smoky shadowing around her eyes made their pale green color pop.
 

Val had stopped walking and was grinning at her.

Fiona stopped too, but kept close to him. The girl didn’t miss the fact that Val didn’t step away.

“Ace,” Val said.

She nodded at him, then her gaze sliced toward Fiona.
 

“This is my friend, Fiona.” Val touched her long hair. “We’re going to get her extensions removed.”

A small smile touched Ace’s mouth. Fiona watched as her brows lifted. “Oh. Ohhh. Uh-huh.” She grinned as she met Fiona’s gaze. Her entire demeanor changed. Fiona looked up at Val to see if he caught the shift. After the mind game Stacey had played on her, she was much more observant. Maybe that was fallout from all that had happened, a scar that would always color her world. She hoped not, but once you saw things you didn’t pick up before, you could never go back to not seeing them.

Val was still fingering her hair as he looked at Ace, who chuckled and went around them.
 

Ace turned around, walking backward. “Hey, Val. I’m going for a hike up on Bobcat Trail Tuesday. Want to come?”

“What time?”

“One?”

He nodded. “I’ll meet you in the parking lot.”

Ace looked happy. “Nice meeting you, Fiona. Good luck with your hair!”

Fiona waved. “Thanks, Ace. Have fun on the hike.”

Val gripped Fiona’s arm and started forward, but Fiona didn’t move. “What?” he asked.

Fiona lifted a brow. “You like her.”

Val tilted his head and frowned. “Fee, have I ever met a female I didn’t like?”

“Don’t play it down. You
like
her.”

“So?”

Fiona frowned. “She thinks you’re gay.”

His brows lowered and the humor left his face as he glanced back at Ace. “No. And I’m not.”

“I know you’re not.” Fiona gave him an exasperated look. “But you’re missing the point.”

“Which is?”

“She went from standoffish to friendly as soon as she decided you were. Why would she do that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll find out on our hike.”

Fiona started down the sidewalk. “I hope you’ll let me know how it goes.” Val’s mood had darkened. She smiled, trying to cheer him up. “How is it that you know about removing hair extensions, anyway?”

“It’s a long story.” He looked at her disappointed face. “But the short version is that I worked at a salon the last two years of high school.”

They’d reached the shop. He opened the door, putting an end to their conversation, which was a shame, because now she really was curious.

Chapter
 
Twenty-Two

Kit and Ty went upstairs for a break. They took glasses of iced tea outside to the patio. “What do you make of Bladen’s library?” Kit asked.

Ty looked into the distance, burying his gaze in the hills beyond the lawns of his yard. “I think whatever it is, it’s older, bigger, and better organized than we ever thought. And given all the languages represented in the library, it’s not confined to the U.S.”

“True that. It’s going to take a while to get through all the documentation and start putting the pieces together.”

“I’d like to see Rocco given the lead on this.”
 

Kit dipped his head as if thinking about, then tossing, that idea. “Not sure about that.”

“He’s sick to death of monitoring social media accounts for whispers of insurgency.”

“We still need that done. And he has the most fluency of all of us in the languages of our enemies.”

“I speak those languages well enough to monitor chatter while he delves into the papers. If we just keep his mind busy, keep it active and engaged and held together, like a broken bone in a cast, he may heal.”

“Don’t think that works for a broken soul the way it does for a broken bone. He’s more like a cracked mirror where the pieces are still in place but refracting in different directions. He has to choose to pull it together. We can’t do that for him.”

“No, but if we can keep him focused on important work long enough, it may become his new normal. Might help him heal,” Ty said. “It’s not an impossible task. In fact, it’s perfectly suited to a linguistic savant like him. He has access to every documented language the government has; he can review all the keys established in translating all of the ancient languages. Maybe he’ll discover something new, an incorrect translation of something in the papers, or even just an alternate translation that we can use to halt the Omni World Order’s spread of power. He still needs handling, Kit. For the sake of the team and your sister and his kids.”

Kit nodded. “Make it happen.”

* * *

Kelan and Max got to the apartment complex of Fiona’s friend early Sunday afternoon. Four police cars were already there. Kelan and Max weren’t allowed near her apartment. Yellow crime scene tape had been stretched across the open hall, cordoning off access to her place.
 

They asked a couple of the cops what was going on, but couldn’t get a useful answer. None of the bystanders seemed to know what was happening either.
 

When they turned to go back to the car, Kelan saw another of Fiona’s friends standing in the crowd that had gathered to watch the cops. He recognized her from that night at the Swinging Monkey Tiki Bar. She looked terrified, but when she saw Kelan, her face brightened. She hurried over to talk to him.
 

“Kelan! How’s Fiona? I’ve been trying to call her, but her voice mailbox is full. What are you doing here? I thought you two were getting married this weekend.”

Kelan frowned. “What made you think that?”

“Stacey said you two were getting married this weekend.”

“She did?”

“Yeah. She was working hard to make sure Fiona’s wedding planner had everything Fiona might need.” Her face darkened. “Oh God. Stacey’s dead. Does Fee know that?”

“No. What happened?”

“I don’t know. I came over to get her for lunch.” The girl covered her mouth as tears flooded her eyes. “She was dead on the floor of her living room. I don’t know when she died.”

Kelan shared a look with Max.
 

“The cops said Stacey OD’d on heroin.” She shook her head. “That’s not possible. She never did drugs.” The girl gave him a sheepish look. “Well, okay, maybe some pot, but never anything involving needles. Ever.”

“Have you met anyone unusual lately?” Kelan asked. “Anybody asked you to do them a favor, run an errand, do anything that pertains to Fiona?”

“No. What’s happening, Kelan? Am I next?”

“Did you see Stacey with anyone you didn’t know?”

“No.”

He looked at Fiona’s friend. “We weren’t getting married this weekend. We were just going to celebrate her birthday. But we couldn’t do that because she was kidnapped on her way home Thursday night.”

The girl gasped. “What’s going on? Are women being targeted here at school?”

Kelan shook his head. “Not women in general. Just Fiona and anyone who helped her kidnappers get her away.”

“Did Stacey help them?”

“I think so, but she may not have known she was helping them. Is there anything that you can tell me that might help me find who did this?”

The girl thought for a second. “She said that you—or Fiona’s fiancé anyway—wanted to surprise Fee with the perfect wedding weekend, so she helped gather all the info on her sizes and likes and color preferences, everything the wedding coordinator wanted. We all thought it was so romantic.”

“Who was the wedding coordinator?”

The girl shook her head. “I don’t remember. I’m not sure Stacey ever told me.”

“You’ve been very helpful. If I could give you a bit of advice?” Her big eyes looked up at him. “Don’t get involved in this. Don’t ask questions. Don’t show any interest at all. Don’t raise your head and get yourself noticed.”

Her brows lifted. “One of my friends was kidnapped. Another has been killed. And you want me to pretend it didn’t happen?”