Page 64 of Suspicions on the Stage
I nod again. “Yep. This is small potatoes in comparison, but until my tenure is secure enough to make the changes needed to fulfillmy sentence? I will not have the freedom to do anything that needs to be done. I’m trapped until I get us where we need to be.”
“Hopefully, whatever you and those men have on the docket will be successful, then. I know Jackson and his team are working hard to get the charges dropped for Lucas. It’s pretty clear that there’s no other evidence aside from proximity, but small-city detectives with delusions of grandeur aren’t as easy to move as you’d think. The more outside pressure we apply, the more things ‘anonymous’ people leak to the internet to scare off our allies putting the screws to him.”
“How is he managing that when he seems dimmer than a five-watt bulb?” I ask in exasperation. “That guy couldn’t find his ass with GPS, a flashlight, and glow in the dark arrows.”
Pushing her glasses up as she looks away from the lock for a moment, Channing sighs. “Rainier doesn’t think it’s him, nor does Eli. They believe there are more powerful forces helping this windbag along—and he might not even know it. He’s a pawn, and the people keeping him in place are bishops, you know?”
Oh yes, I know—Magnuslovedchess until he played me and suddenly it was ‘stupid human shit’.
“They’re working on tracking it down, right?”
“Mmm, yes. Actually, Eli has a server dedicated to each task we’ve given him, working like a Trojan army. As for tracing the magical or supernatural vein, they’ve got Foley following leads Rain and Rick dig up. It’s pretty efficient and I have faith that they will get it done, Morgana.”
The nicknames don’t escape my notice, and my lips curl up. Channing Oswald is settling into that group nicely, and I have topray they don’t hire her away from me so they can monopolize her forever. I’m quite certain there’s Fate-shaped hands in that mix, and I would love that for her, but how I’d find anyone else to—Oh!
“Hey, Chan. Did you have Eli do his thing with that girl I sent you the name of? Dixie Abernathy?”
The frown she gives me looks hurt, but she nods. “Yes, he’s working on it. I’m concerned that picking up unknowns isn’t the best idea at the moment, though.”
Aw, she’s jealous; that’s actually cute, but I will not say it.
“Channing, I didn’t pluck her out of obscurity to replace you.” Her faux-shocked face doesn’t deter me, and I go on. “In fact, we found a girl thatallof my men and I got good reads off of, even Liam. She’s working in a shitty place for shitty people to support her schooling, and it occurred to me that if she passed muster, she could beyourright hand. All generals need their lieutenants to get things done for them, right?”
She blinks owlishly, completely stunned silent for a moment. “I… Oh. I mean, yes. You’re right. Of course you’re right. Icoulduse someone who is loyal to us to help with the workload, especially until we fill the rest of our ranks with trust-worthy people.”
I grin. “Exactly. I believe this girl is that person, and she’ll fit right in with us. I wanted to support her, yes, but I also wanted to support you. I think we have to build infrastructure if we’re going to achieve anything at this good old supe boys’ club school, and if we don’t, we’ll succeed momentarily, then it will fail again.”
“Damn, you’re good,” she says with a sheepish expression. “You knew I was worried about being replaced and didn’t make me feel stupid while you explained the plan. Honestly, your communication skills are so good that I’m not at all surprised you convinced the Society not to off you.”
“Sort of,” I mutter. “Mostly, I revealed what Magnus had been doing to earn his sentence, and once they saw the scope, my actions seemed less about personal revenge and more about saving them a great deal of future embarrassment when he inevitably got caught.”
“Powerful people arealwaysmotivated by their own self-interest more than anything else,” Channing says with a sad sigh. “You’d think they would want to get an abuser away from the vulnerable people under his care, but no… They were most concerned with retaining the rep here and restoring the local Council’s sports money.”
“If we could change that about the world, it would have happened long before any of us were born, Chan. That’s not even a ‘human’ thing; it’s a being alive thing.” I eye the clock and frown again. “We’re just about there. What will we be talking about when it pops off?”
“Your night out with the guys, sans the sneaky stuff.”
I chuckle, shaking my head. “Oh, no, lady. I’m not divulging that stuff to anyone.”
“But…”
The ripple of magic smacks into me, and I change course quickly since the pen thing has run out of juice. “You’re not spilling the tea aboutyourlove life, so I’m not telling you about mine.”
We both paste on faux-girly smiles as she replies, “Fine. I’m enjoying the company of several people who know alotabout what they are doing.”
I snort, unsurprised at that revelation. “Yeah, I guessed that much. And I’m happy for you, by the way. I don’t want to lose you to a traveling circus, obviously, but I also enjoy seeing you look this happy.”
“I wouldnever,” she says firmly. “Yes, this is fun and new and really hot. But I’m not ready to go running around being a concubine when my career is doing well. There’s a middle ground, and I will look for it if need be.”
Nice. I knew I was right about Channing, and here she is proving it again.
“Besides, if this girl passes the college background checks, there’s back-up, right?”
Her question is carefully worded, but I know what she means. If Dixie is acceptable and gets trained, it will allow her to occasionally accompany Jackson and his merry men if that becomes an occasional request. “Yes, that would give us options. See? I knew you’d find the silver lining in my decision.”
“Okay, so now that we’ve gabbed, we should go over your schedule for the day, yes?” Channing winks and I beam. “Stay on time, or you’ll miss going to the rehearsal Slade texted me about. He was hoping you’d be able to come see him in the orchestra, since they’re doing a first run-through of the musical.”
“Why didn’t he ask me this morning?” I frown, wondering why he contacted my assistant rather than me. “I would have said ‘yes’ and re-arranged things.”
