Page 34 of The Study of Magic
The Commander sipped his brandy. “She’s a good choice, isn’t she?”
“An excellent choice.”
“I’ll consider a tour. In the meantime, I need to demonstrate my displeasure with Tesso and Franis.”
“I’m sure you can think of something devious.”
After a moment, he said, “I’m going to hit them where it hurts.”
“Oh?” Valek raised an eyebrow. “Below the belt?”
“No. It’ll be right on the money.”
Ah, the money belt. “General Ute will appreciate the extra funds to get MD-5 back in shape.”
“Precisely.” The Commander relaxed back in his chair.
They discussed a few more things until Valek could no longer stifle his yawns.
“Go get a bath and go to bed, you look exhausted.” The Commander sniffed. “You stink of smoke.”
Valek laughed, downed his whiskey, and headed for the door where he turned and said, “I missed you, too.”
Ambrose’s chuckle followed him into the corridor. Before heading to the baths, Valek sent messages to all his agents working in the garrisons and manor houses, instructing them to hunt down every last bit of Criollo and destroy it. Remembering how the Commander had kept some in his suite to eat at night, Valek listed a number of places they should check.
* * *
After a glorious soak and a decadently long sleep, Valek went to Mogkan’s office to continue sorting through his mess and to search for information on the Criollo shipping. Except, if Mogkan had been hiding some of his activities from Brazell, the information Valek needed wouldn’t be here. It’d be hidden somewhere Brazell wouldn’t accidentally find it. Like the room Mogkan had chained his victims. A person had needed a strength beyond the physical to go inside there when it had been occupied. Even with the place cleaned up, he was reluctant to go back.
He gazed around the room. Sometimes the best hiding places were in plain sight. And there were plenty of potential spots right here. He’d start with the office and go from there. A part of him recognized that he was procrastinating, but another part didn’t care.
Ari and Janco arrived in the afternoon to report.
“We found the warehouse that trader described,” Ari said. “No one was there, and it was empty.”
“Did they see you coming?” Valek asked.
Offended, Janco huffed. “No. We went in stealth mode. We even surprised the fat mice that had been living on the Criollo crumbs.”
“We checked for hidden caches, paperwork, and for a door to a lower level. Nothing,” Ari said. “The structure is basically a barn.”
“Thoughts?” Valek asked.
“They might have been tipped off by a co-conspirator about our interest,” Ari said. “The foothills of the Soul Mountains are also quite close, and they’re filled with caves and abandoned mines. Easy to find a place big enough to store a bunch of boxes.”
“And almost impossible to find,” Janco said. “Yet…” He rubbed the scar bisecting his right ear.
When he didn’t say anything else, Valek prompted, “Yet?”
“If they’re inside a cave, we can’t track them unless there’s dirt. And even then, the dirt eventually dwindles. However, if we find the entrance, we can wait and see if anyone comes out or goes in.”
“But we didn’t see any wagon tracks going east. They headed north, northwest and west. The perpetrators may have finished with their deliveries and left to carry out the next step in their plan,” Ari said. “In that case, we should check all the manor houses and garrisons.”
“What about MD-5’s base?” Janco asked. “We can do another midnight raid. Maybe this one will actually be a challenge.” His eyes gleamed as he bounced on the balls of his feet.
“General Ute sent a squad up there to take care of it. Her first order.”
Janco deflated. “Oh well. Good for her. If the other generals don’t eat her for breakfast, she’ll make a good general.”
