Chapter 4 #2
At least the electricity is still on. I start the tarka dhal I made last night reheating in the microwave, pop the kettle on, then head to my bedroom to swap my coat for a cheap jumper with a basic hoodie over the top.
Not a style I’d ever normally wear, but unfortunately I have to dress as my undercover persona even at home in case someone comes over.
Dhiren definitely can’t afford any of my usual clothes.
I opt for a fruit tea instead of wine, retrieve the dhal, then settle on the sofa with the velvet throw over me and my laptop next to me so that I can google tips on how to get my boiler working myself.
Unfortunately, it’s such an old model that there doesn’t seem to be much I can do that I haven’t already tried.
I could just pay to get it fixed without waiting for the rental agency to arrange it, but the thing about undercover work is that you never know what’ll give you away.
Would Bryn see, and wonder how Dhiren can afford an emergency call-out fee on a warehouse worker’s salary?
Or maybe the gas engineer turns up and we get talking, and their sister works at Far Out Freight, then they mention me to the sister, and it goes from there?
No, it’s not worth the risk. Looks like I’ll be having a cold shower in the morning.
The lack of heating shouldn’t make a difference, but my flat is eerily quiet tonight.
Maybe because with the snow, there’s virtually no traffic outside.
That, and it’s been far too long since Jet played a prank on me, or Skye tapped his beak on my window to be let in to spill the tea, or I was able to go over to Ethan and Ayo’s for breakfast.
It’s not forever. I’ll see them all again. In fact, my next scheduled video call with Ethan is in a few days. That’s not too long to wait.
Despite telling myself there’s no reason to be lonely, I end up opening the group chat I have with my parents. My last few messages have gone unanswered, but that’s not unusual. It’s been weeks since I heard from them though, and I want to finalise arrangements for their visit.
I should probably just put on some music. That would be far more relaxing.
Sighing, I hit call on my mother’s number. It rings. And rings. And rings. Eventually, the call goes to voicemail.
“Hello, Mother. I thought I’d call and see how you are. I’m looking forward to seeing you and Father for the festival. Please return my call at your convenience.”
I try my father next, with the same result. I don’t leave a message this time; Father never calls back.
“Why are you wrapped up like a burrito?” Ethan frowns through the laptop screen, sitting at his kitchen island wearing a T-shirt.
“Because my boiler is dead as a doornail, the gas engineer isn’t coming until Tuesday, and it’s freezing in here.
” I cinch my favourite blanket as well as the velvet throw tighter around me.
I hate the cold, especially after three days of icy showers, and I’m layered in enough jumpers that I’m just about surviving.
“Don’t you get heat from the surrounding flats? I barely have my heating switched on, and that’s only for Ayo.”
“Yeah, well, not here. The flat below me is unoccupied, and can’t fire dragons self-regulate their temperature? So my neighbours probably don’t have their central heating on. The humans on the other side of me might, but not enough to keep this place at a reasonable temperature.”
“You haven’t asked Bryn to come and warm you up yet?” The twinkle in Ethan’s eye is not funny.
“Ha ha.”
“I’m actually not kidding. He could probably warm the entire flat for you.”
My tiger perks up at the idea, but I give Ethan a dry look. “So if the guy you had a crush on messaged you, asking you to come over and warm him up, you’d assume he meant for you to be his personal radiator?”
He smirks. “Fair point. Is he still flirting like crazy?”
“Every chance he gets.” I don’t hate it. I’m not sure anyone’s ever pursued me this persistently.
“And you’re still not tempted?”
“To break every single rule for a man who’d be out the door before the cum was even dry? Funnily enough, no.”
Ethan leans closer to the screen. “He’s asked you on a date though, hasn’t he? That doesn’t scream one and done to me.”
“Uh-huh, and I’m really going to risk the reputation of Soldati Security by dating someone with a criminal record.”
I don’t hold Bryn’s past actions against him—everyone deserves to be judged on who they are now, not previous mistakes they’ve already paid for—but at the same time, I’m a task force officer. I have to consider the potential impact on Ethan’s company.
A large proportion of Bryn’s record was sealed when I looked it up on the system. The parts I could read confirmed what he already told me, but said nothing about why he did it. I can’t take the risk. Besides, now’s not the right time to be dating anyone.
“Come on Raj, you know me. When have I ever given a shit about reputation?”
“Since you started a business in a city with extreme prejudices amongst the supe population.”
He scowls. “Maybe, but don’t let that dictate who you date. There are ways to put a positive spin on it if necessary.”
As much as I appreciate that… “I’m not going to date him.”
Ethan’s lips quirk into a slight smile. “Fine, I’ll drop it. So what was this new information you wanted to tell me?”
I pick up my full mug and cradle it with both hands, attempting to warm them, although unfortunately it’s quickly losing its heat. “As far as I can tell this isn’t commonly known, but a few days ago Bryn told me that he can see magic.”
Ethan’s brow furrows. “See? As in, visually?”
I nod and sip my coffee. “Yes, he can see the ward on my flat. I asked if it was a dragon thing, but he confirmed it’s just him.”
“Huh.” Ethan rubs his beard. “That could be incredibly useful. He could probably tell you all sorts of things about that warehouse that we’re unaware of.”
“Believe me, I’ve had the same thought. I’ve spent the last few days trying to decide whether to propose that we bring him in on the investigation.
I honestly believe he’d have no problem working against whoever is behind these disappearances, but it’s still a risk given how little we know about him. ”
I’ve been conducting background checks on everyone working at Far Out Freight, and although nothing has come up so far that’s helped confirm whether any of the four shifters are definitely missing, or what freight is being shipped, it’s provided a lot of interesting information.
For example, Bryn was an architect before his arrest. He worked for the same firm Ayo was initially using—Ayo’s former architect is actually Bryn’s aunt—and had no prior arrests or even a hint of trouble.
Several of the people on the mandatory work programme have similar backgrounds; respectable jobs, then one incident that landed them a several-year sentence.
I’m planning to talk to my friend Wren, who works for the mayor’s team, about putting together a proposal to review the justice system.
The previous task force had a strong anti-shifter bias, but the fact that so many seemingly law-abiding people have been jailed for a first offence suggests there may be more aspects of how the BSG operates in Birchester that need looking into.
Ethan gives a sharp nod. “I’ll get Kit to do a deep dive on him and see what it turns up.
Prepare an NDA and a contract in case we decide to bring him on board.
Make sure the contract protects him as an informant—I don’t want Far Out Freight trying to get charges brought against him for breaching company confidentiality or some other bullshit, given the history between him and the CEO. ”
“Of course.” I take a bigger drink of my coffee.
“Speaking of the CEO, Lance has an office in the warehouse—which you’d obviously expect—but he spends all his work time on-site.
In his office, on the floor, in the loading bay, you name it.
He’s very hands-on considering he’s running a multinational corporation. ”
Ethan frowns. “The CEO of a global distribution company? Yeah, you’d expect a head office in Realm Enterprises, trips to other locations, business meetings with external suppliers, things like that. He’s there all day, every day?”
I give a sharp nod. “That I’ve seen, yes. The registered business address is in the Realm Enterprises tower, but if he has an actual office in that building it’s sitting empty. Even the admin staff have their own office inside the warehouse.”
“I agree that seems odd. Could he be doing everything by video conference?”
“Maybe. I’ll keep an eye out, see what I can pick up on, but if there’s something illegal going on I guarantee he’s involved.”
“I assume you’ve run a background check on him?”
“There’s not much on file. His arrival in this realm pre-dates BSG written records, he started Far Out Freight in 1625, and he was heavily involved in setting up the current prison system in the mid nineteenth century.
Three years ago he was charged with illegal recruitment practices and given a one-year suspended sentence. ”
Ethan’s frown deepens. “So he’s not squeaky clean, but his record isn’t necessarily relevant given that our four shifters were legitimately employed by him.”
My stomach twists. “I’m sorry, Alpha. I really hoped I’d have found out something more concrete about their whereabouts by now.
The cat shifters at work are friendly but don’t seem to know anything, Bryn is open with me but his information mostly comes from Harley—who doesn’t seem to know much either—and the vampires keep to themselves.
I’ve been working on befriending the admin staff but short of mentioning Inali Li?ka by name, it’s hard to steer the conversation in the direction of their former colleague. ”
Inali is the fox shifter whose stepbrother thinks he might be in trouble. It’s frustrating me no end that I haven’t been able to confirm whether four different shifters are actually missing, or just out there somewhere, living their lives mostly off-grid.
“Raj, I know how it goes.” Ethan’s blue eyes are intense. “Remember Somalia? It took months before we were able to locate every cell of that terrorist organisation, and we’d never have managed it if it weren’t for you. I’m not expecting results overnight.”
I grip my mug a little tighter. “I know, but this is different.”
“Why? Because we’re in a British city? Or because this is supernatural in nature?”
My chest is tight. “Because we have civilians who are probably missing, and we don’t know what’s happened to them. What if they found out Far Out Freight are selling illegal magical items and were killed to keep them quiet?”
He leans closer to the screen. “Listen. It took almost six weeks for Inali to even be reported missing in the first place. Less for the others, but Ayo thinks word got around that we were taking the fox shifter’s possible disappearance seriously so others came forward as well.
You said even Dante wasn’t convinced we’d act based on his instincts, and he knows and trusts Ayo.
I promise you, we’ll get to the bottom of it. ”
I nod. He’s right. “If they’re still alive somehow, we have to find them.”
“We will.”
“And if they’re dead, we need closure for their loved ones.”
“Agreed.”
I exhale. “Sorry, Alpha.”
He looks at me with steady patience. “Would it make you feel better if I gave you extra work to do? Because Cal is bitching that Jet keeps making him write all his reports for him now that you’re not available, and my inbox is getting out of control.”
That teases a reluctant smile out of me.
Ethan’s inbox is crazy even when I’m working with him daily to keep on top of it, and it’s true that I’m usually the one who fixes the errors in Jet’s reports.
The speech-to-text feature he uses can be hit-and-miss, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s been trying to get Cal to write entire reports for him instead.
Even so, the day the stoic vampire bitches about anyone is the day the world ends.
“Yeah, send stuff over.” Maybe that way I’ll feel less like I’m letting everyone down.
Ethan’s lips twitch. “You know what? I’ll even be generous and let you read through my notes from the meeting with the coven council the other day. Maybe you can think of some way to get through to them, because Ayo and I aren’t getting anywhere.”
“I’ll see what I can come up with. By the way, how did the meeting go with the new architect?”
I managed to find three potential firms with portfolios that include period property renovations. All human, which isn’t ideal, but after some initial conversations Ayo narrowed it down to the best one.
Ethan scowls. “The guy’s a fucking prick.”
Uh oh. “What happened? I thought Ayo liked him?”
“He did, but the man who treated Ayo with respect seemed to vanish as soon as I asked one measly question. He proceeded to talk directly to me for the rest of the walkthrough, and practically ignored Ayo.”
Yeah, that’s unacceptable. “I’ll look for someone else.”
I’m not sure how I’ll find anyone when I already sent Ayo the best candidates. I refuse to give up, though. I told Ayo I’d help him with this, and I will.
“Thanks, Raj.” Ethan still looks annoyed, and it’s incredibly frustrating that I can’t scent him.
“So what else have I missed?” I ask, hoping to distract him.
He starts telling me the story of what happened when Skye and Jet pretended to be fake boyfriends for Mrs Roberto, then follows it with a rant about how Jet keeps pranking everyone else in the pack now that I’m not available.
I smile and laugh in all the right places, and ignore the pang in my chest. I don’t need to burden my alpha with how much I’m struggling.
He’s got more important things to worry about.