Page 90 of Semblance

“You don’t see it but there’s a camera positioned right over your door,” Shadow said. “When you insert your key into the lock, it sends a signal to an operator indicating your presence. The only way that door is opening is after the operator sees you and releases the remote locks on your door.”

“What the fuck?” I was stunned. “So all this time I enter and leave my place, someone is watching me?”

“Yes,” Shadow said.

Good lord. I tried to recall if I had ever done something visually embarrassing in front of my door such as fixing my bra or scratching an itch in my nether regions.

I hated the thought ofbeing watched, and more vexing, being controlled.

“I don’t appreciate having someone else dictate whether or not I can enter or leave my place and spying on me,” I said. “I’m not the kind of girl that does well in front of cameras.”

“They only monitor you entering,” Shadow said. “It was only meant to keep enemies out of your place.”

“So can I point out the obvious that your little security system didn’t work and someonestillmanaged to get inside?”

“Which is why we’re all surprised,” Takeshi said. “Our houses all use the same system by Skycom Security Inc. To have yours compromised puts the rest of us at risk as well.”

“I assume you’ve investigated Skycom?” Shadow asked.

Takeshi nodded. “I’ve had my people find out who was operating the system that night. It’s plausible an employee could have been bribed. With a bit of creative investigations into Skycom’s log books, I discovered the name of the individual who was monitoring Aria’s condo that night. Jason Weathers.”

“Great, so we find Jason, lock him in a room and grill him about who paid him off,” Brevin said.

Takeshi leaned forward in his seat. “My investigators already found him,” he said, a grim expression on his face. “He hung himself last night.”

“I’ll get the police reports immediately,” Donald sighed.

“The suicide has not been reported yet. My people left the scene untouched,” Takeshi said. “But we can all come to the conclusion that Jason Weather’s demise has been staged.”

“So now what?” Calisto asked. “The mastermind has covered his tracks. Seeing as how we all have Skycom Security at our places, we’ve put ourselves in the jackpot.”

“I’ve conducted my own investigation into Skycom’s business. Just last year, their company was purchased by an overseas media communications firm,” Takeshi continued.

Shadow smiled. “You solved the puzzle already, haven’t you?”

Takeshi nodded grimly. “The communications firm that purchased Skycom is Blueleaf Inc, the same corporation that broadcasts and televises all of Kingdom United soccer games in the U.K.”

“Lucien,” Shadow spat. “That mother fucker.”

“He’s betrayed us,” Takeshi confirmed. “Now the question is how do we approach this? Lucien knows the inner workings of the Midnight Society and all our weak points.”

“We find him and we put his head on a spike,” Brevin said, his voice filled with contempt.

“That’s probably what Jesus would do,” Lincoln leaned back in his chair and smirked, no doubt taking a jab at the fact that Brevin owned a Christian media empire.

“Now’s not the time for jokes,” Calisto said. “This is some serious shit that’s happening here.”

“I can’t help myself,” Lincoln said. “Consider it a defense mechanism for nervousness and anxiety. Some people have irritable bowels, I make wisecracks. Which do you prefer?”

Calisto ignored him and turned her attention to Shadow. “What should we do? It’s been a long time since the Midnight Society faced an enemy that’s one of our own.”

I could see the gears were spinning inside Shadow’s head as his eyes glanced over each member of the council. Finally he spoke.

“First thing we need to do is reinforce our defenses,” he replied. “Security to our homes and family is the first priority. We gut every single piece of Skycom equipment, down to the wire, and install a third party system. Calisto, I’ll leave it to you to find us a reliable company to provide us with the physical security we need.”

“I’ve already got one in mind,” she replied.

Shadow nodded before turning his attention to Donald. “I need you to dig up any dirt you have on Lucien. Because he’s a resident of the U.K., it’ll be difficult to hit him on American soil, but find everything you can on all the key players in Lucien’s organization. If they’re American, do whatever you need to do to temporarily hold them in a cell. Any high ranking official in any big corporate business must have done something shady in the past. Discover what it is and use it to lock them away,” Shadow instructed. “Meanwhile, pull all our resources over in the U.K. and see what they can do for us. By the end of the day tomorrow, I want Lucien’s business empire razed to the ground.”

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