Chapter 49
Drake
Reed and I burst through the chamber doors.
The Council members already gathered, turn to stare at us. Mouths drop open.
“It’s about time,” someone murmurs.
“I’m sorry we’re late,” I say, my chest heaving from the sprint across the compound.
Vector’s eyes narrow, but it’s Tairn who speaks first.
“You’re too late, Drake.” His voice carries a note of satisfaction that makes my hands clench. “We were just about to vote. I had called for the motion to proceed without either of your presence, but since you’re here, you’ll get to witness your rider’s demise.” He smirks.
“That’s enough,” Vector tells Tairn.
“We have new evidence to present.” I stride forward, planting my hands on the table. “I call for a halt in the proceedings.”
“The window for new evidence has closed.” Tairn leans back in his chair, his expression smug. “It’s time to vote on Harlow Santos’s guilt and your removal from this Council.”
“This is important,” Reed says, moving to stand next to me. Her voice is firm. “Critical, in fact. We need the Council to hear this before any vote takes place.”
“We’ve already delayed long enough,” Arrow says, shaking his head.
“I agree,” Ember chimes in. “We’ve been more than patient with Drake’s attempts to defend his rider. The evidence against Harlow Santos is overwhelming.”
“This is highly irregular,” Thorne adds, his weathered face creasing with disapproval. “Protocol states that all evidence must be submitted before the Council convenes. We’re already here.”
“But if there’s new evidence, shouldn’t we at least hear it?” Councilor Rynn asks, glancing between Vector and me. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Absolutely not,” Tairn counters. “This is clearly a stalling tactic. Drake is desperate, and we all know desperate males do desperate things.”
“How dare you—?” I start, but Reed puts a hand on my arm.
“We followed proper channels,” she says, her voice cutting through the noise. “We have legitimate evidence that changes everything.”
The voices grow louder, Council members talking over one another. Some demand we be heard; others insist we’re wasting everyone’s time. The chamber fills with the sound of argument, accusations flying back and forth.
“Enough!” Vector’s voice booms through the chamber, silencing everyone. He stands. “This Council will maintain order.” His gaze sweeps the room before landing on me. “Drake, you may present your new evidence. But keep it brief. Once we’ve heard what you have to say, we will proceed with the vote.”
I nod, my heart beating wildly. This is it. This has to be enough. If it’s not, I’m finished. Harlow will go to jail. Her life will be ruined, and it will all be because of me. I once told her that I would protect her if it came to it. I need to make good on my promise.
“What is this evidence?” Vector asks.
Reed walks to the chamber door, opens it, and calls out, “Vulcan, you can come in now.”
Vulcan walks in, looking distinctly uncomfortable under the scrutiny of the Council members. He clutches his laptop bag like it’s a lifeline.
“Who is this person?” Ember asks, her brows raised.
“This is Vulcan,” Reed announces, gesturing to the male beside her. “Meet the new head of our technical department.”
“Since when?” Tairn demands, his jaw tightening.
“Today,” Reed tells them. She asked Vulcan in the car on the way here. Stating that we needed him on the payroll, firstly because she was duly impressed and secondly because his testimony would hold more weight.
She offered Vulcan an obscene amount of money. He accepted, and here we are.
We have to get this right or— No! I’m not going there. We will get this right.
“You can’t appoint a new head of department,” Tairn says, his voice rising. “That requires Council approval. This is completely out of line, Reed.”
“It’s my department,” Reed replies coolly. “I most certainly can appoint whomever I see fit to lead it, and I have. I can safely state that Vulcan is the best male for the job. Once you hear what he has to say and what he can do, my decision will speak for itself.”
Tairn stands, sighing. “This is absurd. You’re clearly trying to manipulate this investigation by bringing in someone who will say whatever you want them to say. This male probably doesn’t even have the credentials to—”
“Councilor Tairn,” Vector interrupts, his voice sharp.
“Councilor Reed is well within her rights to make appointments within her own department. If you wish to object, you may do so at a future gathering. Right now, we are discussing the Harlow Santos case and the new information that Councilor Reed and Councilor Drake have brought before us. If you cannot stay on topic, you may excuse yourself from this chamber.”
Tairn’s jaw works, but he sits back down, his eyes blazing.
Reed clears her throat. “Thank you, Councilor Vector. As I was saying, Councilor Drake and I took the cellphone that was found in Harlow Santos’s bedroom to Vulcan for analysis.”
“You did what?” Ember’s voice rises above the others.
“This is completely inappropriate!” Arrow shouts.
“The evidence chain has been compromised!” Thorne yells, slamming his hand on the table.
“You had no right—”
“This is grounds for dismissal—”
“—tampering with evidence—”
“Order!” Vector’s voice cuts through the chaos, but the shouting continues. “I said, ORDER!”
The second call finally establishes a semblance of quiet, though several Council members are still muttering to one another, their expressions ranging from shock to fury.
Reed waits for complete silence before continuing.
“I agreed to take the cellphone to Vulcan because he is an expert in his field and is far more knowledgeable than our current technical team. As you know, they were unable to retrieve the deleted call log from the burner phone, and we needed someone with advanced skills to recover that information.”
“Drake tampered with the device,” Tairn states, his voice gruff.
“I want to be absolutely clear,” Reed continues, “I handed the cellphone over to Vulcan. I was present to witness the entire process. I observed every single step to ensure that no information was planted or manipulated in any way. This assessment was conducted with complete transparency and integrity. I stake my reputation on it.”
Tairn sits back in his chair, his expression thunderous.
“If it’s okay,” Reed glares at Tairn, “I’d like Vulcan to explain what he did and what he found. Please keep it brief,” she adds, widening her eyes at Vulcan.
She’s already picked up that he can get carried away when it comes to this stuff.
Vulcan clears his throat and steps forward.
“Right, so, what I did was create a forensic image of the device’s memory structure, which is essentially a bit-by-bit copy that preserves all data, including deleted files, in their original sectors. Then, I used a specialized recovery algorithm that—”
“In simpler terms, please,” Vector says.
“Right, sorry. So, when you delete something on a phone, it doesn’t actually disappear.
It’s more like the phone just stops keeping track of where that information is, but the actual data is still there until something else writes over it.
I used a program that looks for that orphaned data and reconstructs it.
However, I encountered unexpected secondary encryption—”
“Vulcan,” Reed says gently but firmly. “The findings, please.”
“Oh, yes, of course.” He fumbles with his laptop, pulling up a screen.
“So, despite some great encryption codes in place… That’s probably what got your tech team stuck.
I digress,” he quickly says, glancing at Reed.
“Anyway…um…I was able to recover the deleted call log. There were multiple calls to Mainland numbers. But more importantly, there was a local number that appeared repeatedly over the last few months.”
A murmur runs through the chamber.
“A local number?” Vector asks, his voice sharp.
“Yes, calls made to a burner phone.”
“That means you don’t actually know who owns the phone, right?” Ember asks.
“No, but I was able to triangulate the location using cell tower pings. Every time a phone connects to the network, it pings the nearest towers, and those pings are—”
“Vulcan,” Reed says again. “Get to the point, please.”
“Right. Sorry. The point is, I was able to narrow down the location where this burner phone was being used when it communicated with the phone found in Harlow’s room.
” He pulls up a map on his screen, showing Draig Island with several highlighted areas.
“Based on the triangulation from three cell towers here, here, and here, the phone was being used in this specific area.” He points to a spot on the map.
“The coordinates are 35.2847° N, 120.6589° W, with a margin of error of approximately fifty meters.”
“And what’s in that location?” Vector asks.
Reed takes a breath. “There’s only one building within those coordinates and that margin of error.”
“Which building?” Vector asks.
Reed meets his eye. “This one. The Council building.”
The chamber erupts once again. This time, the noise is deafening.
“That’s impossible!” Ember says, her face pale.
“You’re suggesting that someone who works here is a traitor?” Arrow’s voice is incredulous.
“This is madness.” Thorne shakes his head.
“How dare you make such an accusation!” Tairn’s voice rises above all the others.
“This is clearly fabricated,” someone shouts.
I glance at Tairn and notice the male has gone very still, his hands gripping the arms of his chair.
Vector lets them rage for a moment before calling for order again. When the chamber finally quiets, he turns to Reed. “What exactly are you suggesting, based on this evidence, Councilor Reed?”
Reed’s voice is steady. “I’m suggesting that someone in this building was in regular communication with whoever possessed that cellphone. Someone here is a spy. At the very least, there is something deeply unsavory going on, and we need to get to the bottom of it before more damage is done.”