Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
To Aiden’s surprise, Tariel led him and Mathias out of the supply cabinet to the kitchen. He was more surprised when the rest of the crew was already seated around the table.
“That must have been some comm call,” he said, pulling out a chair and gesturing to Mathias to take the seat next to him.
It was the one directly across from Nannette.
Aiden watched Mathias hesitate for a split second before he pulled out the chair.
The man flashed Nannette a grin that would have given Aiden butterflies before he’d met Evelyn.
Nannette flicked her eyes up and down Mathias’s body and returned her attention to what Lillian was doing at the head of the table. Her face remained as expressionless as a mannequin.
Ouch.
Tariel pulled out a chair on the other side of Aiden. He sat down in it more forcefully than Aiden had expected him to. Tariel was one of the most controlled men he knew. He did not flop into kitchen chairs in frustration, and never in front of an outsider.
What the fuck happened on that comm call?
“I just got off the comm with Pearl Locke. She fed me some bullshit story about wanting to track down a bulldog for a client with delivery on 14 And. She could just be fishing for information, but I think it’s far more likely someone has hired the Twins.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, that’s just what we need,” Nannette said.
“You’re on comms level communication with Pearl Locke?” Mathias’ tone was horrified fascination. “How the hell did you manage that?”
“We’re acquainted with a lot of people,” Elenor said. “Some are far more pleasant to deal with than others.” She sniffed.
“Some we should have set loose in a pack of rabid hyenas," Lillian muttered.
“And I’m a rampaging hippopotamus?” Elenor placed a hand on her chest, eyes incredulous as she looked at her wife.
“We’re well matched.”
“What my mothers are trying to say is that not every connection one makes in our line of business is a pleasant one,” Aiden said.
His throat felt tight, dread rising in his chest. He did not want the crew to have to deal with Pearl ever again.
He’d have gladly erased her memory from the collective minds of his entire family if the act wouldn’t have left them in danger.
He knew exactly the kind of damage the woman was capable of dealing, to say nothing of her ice-cold partner.
He wouldn’t let her get her hands on Evelyn.
“Why did she call you?” Veselko asked. His eyes were narrowed, arms crossed.
Great. Just great.
“Probably because I’m the one least likely to ignore the comm. Or try to stab her. Or send her a virus.”
“He makes a valid point,” Nannette said. She reached over to Veselko and patted his shoulder.
“Even if they haven’t been hired, we should be acting as if they have. I need to reroute our travel plans,” Cairn said. He turned to Mathias. “Are we dumping you on the station or somewhere else, lad? What’s best for your cover?”
“Wait a second. Tariel, did you trace the communication?” Lillian asked.
Tariel just stared at her.
“I’ll rephrase: Where was she reaching out from?”
“Las Vegas.”
“That’s actually pretty promising news. If she bothered to call at all, that means all the actions we’ve taken to disappear have held,” Elenor said.
“Still feel like I want to re-route our plans,” Cairn muttered.
Veronique rose from the table to go fill a kettle. Tea was her preferred drink when thinking. Coffee was for enjoying. Tea was for strategizing.
“Ounce of prevention, pound of cure,” she said over her shoulder. “Anyone else for tea?” She grabbed mugs for those who said yes.
“It’s probably best to get me back to the station this evening, the morning at the latest. I should have documented transportation logs for the trip back to Tanalia,” Mathias said.
“Worst case, I can knock those up for you,” Tariel said, waving his hand. “Documentation is not a problem.”
“I take it you didn’t see this coming?” Nannette asked. Aiden didn’t remember a time her voice had been so cold.
“Can’t say I did. Bright side, it can’t be too important.” Mathias flashed her another of those panty-melting grins.
Nannette sputtered. It was a good thing she wasn’t drinking tea yet, it would have wound up all over the table. Aiden bit the side of his cheek to keep from grinning.
Good luck with that one, Mathias. You’re gonna need it.
“Does it hurt your back hauling around an ego that heavy?” she finally asked. Aiden knew she could do better than that. The outrage was dulling her normally razor sharp retorts. Mathias must be having more of an impact on her than she wanted to let on.
Interesting.
“I’m just saying I’ve seen flashes of all the major moments in our little coup. If I had seen Pearl Locke in any of them, I’d have mentioned it earlier. Then again, I hadn’t imagined any of you were crazy enough to actually converse with the Twins.”
Cairn stage whispered, “Converse,” while making an explicit gesture with his hands. Mathias’ eyebrows raised in shocked delight. “Fascinating,” he said.
“Bottom line, they may or may not be on our trail yet. They may or may not have been hired to find Evelyn, but it would be suicidally optimistic to assume they have no interest in her, given they’re in Las Vegas.
That, and they’re the exact solution Emil would look to employ.
We move forward assuming they’re looking for us,” Aiden said.
He wouldn’t let himself fixate on what would happen to the lot of them if the Twins caught up with them.
He needed to be able to concentrate.“How does this impact our path forward?”
Veronique set a mug of steaming tea in front of him before carrying the last few mugs to the table and re-taking her seat.
“Tariel and Lillian have cloaked us quite efficiently. As long as we stay off station cameras when we land to refuel, we should be alright,” Elenor said.
She blew on her tea. “I have some questions about the training program you have for the boots on the ground, Mathias, but that can wait for a smaller conversation with Nannette and Veselko.”
Mathias nodded at Elenor. Nannette scowled into her tea.
“I have a rough draft of a script for Evelyn to start practicing. We can shoot and edit clips this week, but if we need to acquire wardrobe, it can be put off,” Veronique said. “Tariel is going to help me with the set dressing.”
“My long awaited return to the cinematic arts,” he said.
“Too bad you can’t add scrolling credits to propaganda ads,” Veselko said with a weak smile, but his eyes lacked their normal sparkle.
“I am accustomed to working in anonymity,” Tariel said.
“The Tanalian media servers have good security. The backdoor in the data stick is going to be helpful when it’s time to blast the airwaves,” Lillian said. “If you’re going to need the week to get your clips ready, I’ll take that time to start poking around the servers and do a test run or two.”
“We divide, we conquer, we get out alive,” Aiden said. “No exceptions.”