Chapter Thirty-Three
CHAPTER
THIRTY-THREE
The rest of the day was a fever dream of preparations, phone calls, and emails. Scarlett heard from the family lawyer, who was optimistic that the uniqueness of Brayden’s case had its advantages, but he saw no path to getting him released before his trial, which would be weeks away, if not months.
“When can I talk to him?” she asked after the lawyer had finished.
“I’m sorry, Lady Heroux. They were very adamant I’m to be his only point of contact,” he said apologetically. “Is there a message you’d like me to pass on?”
Scarlett debated asking him to tell Brayden she loved him but decided against it. “Just tell him I’m doing everything I can to get him out and that I miss him.”
By dinnertime, Scarlett had given several interviews to the papers.
The Soleil Times had confirmed the interview would be on the front page tomorrow alongside a feature about the attack.
Cass had lined up several candidates interested in helping with a break-in, and she and Scarlett had outlined a timeline and a plan for the night of the gala.
Elestine had called back to say they were on for the 7 a.m. meeting.
Scarlett was relieved by all the progress but exhausted to her core. In an attempt to boost her energy, she ate her first meal of the day with Beni, Cass, and Tyler—fries and a chicken burger from a nearby burger joint Tyler had found.
Beni bit into his burger with enthusiasm, making the corners of Scarlett’s eyes crinkle with amusement as she chewed.
“It’s interesting there’s disagreement about whether or not the evidence against Sigur Vieur is legit,” said Tyler after Scarlett had told them more than an NDA could cover. She needed to share the burden with someone, and she trusted them.
“Right. The Soleil Bureau claims to have more evidence, but they say the information is too sensitive to share publicly, because it could expose undercover agents. It’s so fishy.
The Ceruleans think the evidence is a ploy to get us to go to war against magic, and the Goldenrods think we should mindlessly trust the bureau for national security reasons.
” The fries tasted so good. She reached for her chicken burger.
The food was helping push back a low headache that had been irritating her all afternoon.
“Did you know some people can hack into the bureau’s systems?” Tyler’s eyes sparkled. He looked around nonchalantly, then he pointed to his chest as he mouthed, “Me.”
The corners of Scarlett’s lips turned up as hope lifted her heart. “Could you actually?”
“That’s next-level hacking.” Beni sounded awestruck.
Tyler glanced from Beni back to Scarlett as he chewed and swallowed, looking like an eager deviant. “Yes, it’s more difficult, and yes, I could easily tell you where those emails really came from.”
“No way.” Beni’s delight mirrored Tyler’s.
“How?” asked Scarlett. She was excited too, but also worried about the legality and whether this would hinder their already laid plans for the break-in. Were two huge risks at once really a good idea?
“Last I checked, the bureau has terrible cybersecurity. I could hack into their system tonight, if you’d like,” said Tyler with a relaxed shrug, as if it were as easy as buying the fast food he’d picked up for their dinner.
“You’d do that? I’d compensate you, of course,” said Scarlett. “What if you get caught?”
He snorted. “I’m not getting caught. And yeah, I’d do that for you. For free. Sounds like fun, and I’m curious.”
“Yeah!” Beni punched the air, and Scarlett couldn’t help but laugh.
Cass grinned at her husband. “You love this revolutionary shit.”
“I love you, my subversive beauty,” he said, blowing her a kiss. His phone pinged, and his eyes lit up as he took in the message.
“What?” asked Cass.
“Remember how I said I’d try with your stepmother?” he asked, eyes on Scarlett. He burst into laughter. “I may have just gotten the passwords to her email and her bank accounts.”
Scarlett shot up. “That’s amazing! How?”
He showed Scarlett his phone. “The dumbest way. This morning I sent her an offer for half-price youth-enhancing injectables if she purchased an entire year’s worth of injections at once. She filled out the form five minutes ago.”
Beni hovered behind Scarlett as she read the very realistic email Tyler had sent from an address that would’ve fooled even her. It looked just like something Laylani’s aesthetic spa would’ve sent.
“Ha!” Beni high-fived Tyler.
It was the lightest Scarlett had been since Brayden’s arrest. “Incredible work,” she said.
“Well done, babe,” said Cass, who’d joined them. She leaned over Tyler’s shoulder. “Shall we see what she’s packing?”
“We’ll look while we work on the bureau’s system.” He laughed maniacally.
Scarlett wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you.”
“I haven’t done anything yet,” he said, still chuckling.
“Thank you for trying,” she said, straightening. Finally, she was getting the upper hand on Laylani and Moira. She was gaining control. Leveling the playing field. If only Brayden were with her, she’d be on the cusp of total triumph.
With Cass and Beni behind them, Scarlett sat next to Tyler while he worked his magic. He put a bot to work on the bureau’s intranet and opened up Laylani’s accounts on two different screens.
“What are we looking for here?” asked Tyler.
“Anything to do with my dad’s death, my abduction, bribe-sized payments to Dr. Turner, or—and this one’s a long shot—the murder of my mother thirteen years ago,” rattled off Scarlett. She’d lived through it all, but she could hardly believe the list as she summed it up for Tyler.
“Nothing major, then.” He frowned at the screen as he did a couple of quick searches. There were too many mentions of Jules for her dad’s name to work. Nothing came up when he tried searching for “Turner.”
Tyler’s attention was on the bank account, while Scarlett scanned Laylani’s inbox for anything particularly damning, but all she saw was a bunch of online shopping receipts, RSVPs for social functions, and dinner reservation confirmations.
A ping came from Tyler’s computer. “We’re into the bureau’s system.”
“Damn, that was quick,” muttered Scarlett, making a mental note to propose security upgrades for the government websites. For now, it was a good thing security was lax.
Finding exactly what they needed proved more difficult than simply gaining access. After the first thirty minutes, Beni and Cass sat on the floor playing cards. Scarlett remained next to Tyler, scouring the screens in front of her for anything she could use.
An hour passed.
“It’s a matter of figuring out where the files might be stored,” murmured Tyler.
He had a script running on his computer searching the bureau’s files one by one for mentions of Sigur Vieur.
He and Scarlett opened promising-looking folders together.
There were many mentions of the country across the bureau’s internal system, but so far, they’d seen a lot of irrelevant top-secret documents.
The script stopped, blinking an alert.
“Another hit—looks promising.” Tyler’s eyes lit with excitement.
Cass and Beni got up off the floor to see what he’d found.
“Code— Where is the—? Oh, you fools.” Tyler’s voice notched up an octave with excitement.
Scarlett stared at him, her hopes rising.
Tyler pointed to his screen. “It’s written in code.
Look—in this file? The coded version. Now look at the decoded version.
There’s your dad’s name in the decoded file—Lord Jules Heroux.
” He pulled up the translator app he’d been using to check anything remotely relevant and read the first message out loud.
Kjartan Holm approved. Eliminate Lord Jules Heroux at the first opportunity. Report with confirmation.
Scarlett’s lips parted. Kjartan Holm was the chancellor of Sigur Vieur.
Tyler clicked into the reply.
Confirmed. The target, Lord Jules Heroux, will be eliminated by the end of day. Exit assistance will be needed by five o’clock latest.
“Then there’s a third and final message that just says ‘done,’” said Tyler.
“Are the messages real?” A painful lump formed in her throat. If they were, it would cast doubt on everything she’d been believing in so fiercely.
“No.” With a laugh, Tyler pointed to the screen again. “These IP addresses are both native to Soleil. Hang on. I’ll look in the police database to see the exact address they came from.”
“I know you’re helping me, but it’s kind of scary you can do this,” said Scarlett.
“Right?” said Cass.
Tyler smirked. “Don’t worry, I use my powers for good and gaming.
Here we go. The IP addresses on these messages point to two computers owned by people in Soleil.
Goddess above, these are some stupid criminals.
One of them lives at an address on the downtown side of the Sapphire Canal.
The other one is from the outskirts of Soleil, out toward the marshlands. ”
Scarlett tensed. “Who lives at the home on the Sapphire Canal?”
“Hold, please.” Tyler quickly searched a database of Soleil landowners. He pulled up the address, and Scarlett read in shock as he said aloud, “Lord Lyle Federsin.”
Scarlett stood so fast she knocked her chair over. It was the prick who kept heckling her whenever she took the podium in Parliament. He was part of Moira’s inner circle.
“This is fucking amazing, Tyler. I can’t wait to expose him. How can I take this to the prime minister?”
“I’ll put the bureau’s files on a thumb drive. Just don’t tell them where you got it.” Tyler winked.
“Of course. I’m so grateful.” She threw her arms around his shoulders.
“Thank you! If we can’t get a subpoena with this, I’ll quit my job.
” Unable to contain her exuberance, she hugged Cass and then Beni too.
Her smile faded as, once again, she wished Brayden were here to share this moment.
She wasn’t sure how any of these breakthroughs would help him, but she’d keep trying until something led to the truth behind the attack at the National Theater.
Cass laughed. “No quitting until you pass the border legislation. I want my father to be able to come see us for the winter solstice.”
“I want that for you,” said Scarlett. “Now, I’d better go call the prime minister.”
Tyler swiveled around to face her. “I’ll look at your stepmother’s accounts and let you know if I piece anything together.
Before you go, write down everything you know about the people you suspect of taking bribe money—their names and where they bank, for example.
You suspect the bureau, but do you know specifically who?
I can hack into the account of whoever you say.
If they have any unrecognizable payments, it could be a lead. ”
“Sure.” Scarlett recalled the conspiracy theory articles she’d read. “The second-in-command of the bureau. What’s his name?”
Turning back to the computer, Tyler did a quick search. “Aaron Fox.”
“Yes!” exclaimed Scarlett. “His involvement was a random theory from some online message board, but that’s the best lead I have.
Also, I know Moira banks at Barings, just like Laylani.
” She had hazy memories of Moira and Laylani bitching about how their branch locations were so inconvenient at some long-ago dinner party.
“If you could start with the three of them, that would be amazing.”
“It’d be my pleasure,” said Tyler, cracking his knuckles.
She smiled as she wrote down everything she could think of. I’m coming for you, Laylani. And you, Moira.