Page 33 of A Touch of Treachery
Charlotte didn’t say anything, but we kept holding hands, and we walked for the better part of a block in silence.I drew in one breath after another, just absorbing the calm, soothing blue of her aura.
“But enough about my mother.You asked about my meeting with my father.It was a bit more ...unpleasant than usual.”
I told Charlotte all about my talk with the General, including his threat to fire her.
Charlotte’s face remained calm, but her aura sizzled with anger, the emotion hot enough to warm my cheeks, despite the chilly night air.An answering amount of anger filled me.Why did my father have to be such an egotistical jackass?Why couldn’t he simply admit Charlotte was an excellent analyst and that we never would have gotten this far without her expertise?
“I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but I didn’t,” I confessed in a low voice.“I didn’t want him to make things even more difficult for you.It’s bad enough he banished you to the third level.”
“It’s okay.I got the impression during the debriefing that arguing with General Jethro Percy is a losing proposition.”
I laughed, but it was a hollow, bitter sound.“You have no idea.”I rubbed my pounding head.“And if the day wasn’t miserable enough, Joan, Diego, and I reviewed all the security footage from the Vault building and the surrounding area, but we didn’t find anything new on Bryce or Henrika.”
Charlotte’s eyebrows lifted.“I thought you weren’t supposed to tell me anything about Henrika.”
“I don’t care what the General says.You’re the best chance we have of tracking down Henrika.You’ll find her, Charlotte.I know you will.”
A pleased blush pinkened her cheeks.Every word I’d said was true, and I believed in Charlotte more than I believed in anyone else.
“What about Iris Berriston?”Charlotte asked.“What is she saying?”
“Nothing useful.She was contacted through anonymous channels and told to get you alone and steal the Grunglass Necklace.Iris thought the other thieves were there to back her up.She claims she didn’t know they were going to break into one of the Vault storage lockers, much less hack into the Section servers.”
Charlotte’s eyes narrowed in thought.“Did the three thieves who broke into the locker say what they were after?”
“The thieves claimed they were told to steal any weapons related to the Tannenbaum mission.Guns, explosives, and the like.They didn’t mention Redburn by name.”I paused.“They were also told to plant a bomb in the locker to destroy any weapons they couldn’t take with them.”
Charlotte tensed, her fingers gripping mine a little more tightly.“Did the thieves have any vials of Redburn with them?”
“No.Although Arnold, the fake businessman, had a brick of C4 hidden in the lining of his briefcase.The plan was to leave the bomb in the locker, shut the door, and detonate it.”
“So Bryce didn’t tell the thieves what they were really after, and he wanted to make sure all the Tannenbaum evidence—especially any vials of Redburn—was destroyed,” Charlotte said.
I nodded.“That’s my conclusion too.”
Charlotte’s eyes narrowed a little more, and I could see those mental gymnastics going on in the depths of her gaze.“What’s so special about Redburn that Henrika was willing to risk sending thieves into a Section facility to neutralize any samples of it?”
“I don’t know.”
“What about your friend?”Charlotte asked.“The paramortal scientist studying Redburn?”
I’d taken seven vials of Redburn from Tannenbaum Castle.I’d given three to Charlotte for safekeeping, which were currently stashed somewhere inside the Moondust Diner.Three other vials were stored at my safe-house apartment, which was located above an art gallery close to Section headquarters.
Last week, I’d sent part of the seventh vial to a scientist friend so she could analyze the formula, although I hadn’t told her what it was.Letting someone else examine even a small sample of a Redburn was a risk, but we needed to know more about it.
“My friend identified a few chemicals commonly found in other explosives, but there was one main component she couldn’t identify.Based on her analysis, the mystery component is what makes the formula so much more powerful than other explosives.”
More frustration pounded through me.I’d hoped by finding out what was in the formula, we could either neutralize it or at least come up with a way to defend ourselves against it.
“Tell me about Bryce Finkley,” Charlotte said.
I grimaced at the change in subject.
“I saw how you reacted in the lobby at the Vault building.Youknowhim.And you were very familiar with his tactics during the debriefing.”
“What did Gabriel tell you?He knows Bryce too, although not as well as me.”I muttered the last few words.
Charlotte shrugged.“Just that Bryce was a Section cleaner who would do whatever it took to get the job done and wasn’t concerned about pesky things like collateral damage or exposing paramortal powers.”
