Chapter 7
Ridge
The last quarter of the trail is the steepest. I take it at a pace that has my shirt sticking between my shoulder blades by the time the trees thin out, which is just as well.
The Sister Stones rise out of the undergrowth ahead of me. The spring at their base runs narrow this time of year. It bubbles between two of the stones and disappears into a patch of moss.
Reed is already there, with her back to the largest of the three rocks. She is in hiking clothes. Her hair is pulled back in a knot at the base of her neck.
She watches me come up the last of the slope.
“Councilor.”
“Ridge. Thank you for coming.”
“You didn’t exactly leave me an out.”
“I left you one. You chose not to take it. Let’s skip the preamble, shall we?”
She has a leather satchel at her feet.
“I’ll keep this as short as I can,” she says. “Two days ago, our IT department intercepted communications between someone from Draig and the Mainland. I’m not going to get into the details. They are not important; suffice to say that the intel was damning and worrisome.”
“What intel?”
“Eight individuals were named as spies for the Mainland. Assets of the Mainland planted among us. Actively supplying intelligence and in the perfect position to sabotage some of the key operations on Draig.”
“Eight.” I whistle low. “That’s a high number.”
“Yep.” She nods. “Sure is.”
“Who did the information come from?” I ask.
“We don’t know exactly. Like I said, the how and the why aren’t important. Our department is on it, but we may never know where the information came from.”
“Who are the eight?”
“I’ll get to that in due course. Let me finish.”
I dip my head once.
“Three of the names are human. Five are our own kind. All of them hold positions where harm could be done if they chose to do it. They all hold executive positions. Every one of them has been with us long enough to be trusted. That is the part that is most worrying.”
“Or that is the part that is meant to be worrying.”
She points at me. “There it is. That is why I called you and not someone else.”
“You think the whole thing is planted?”
“I think it is a little too clean. I think the choice of names is too useful. If we act on this in the way the intercepted information invites us to act on it, we will pull eight people out of key roles. If even a quarter of them are innocent, we have carved holes in our own defenses that we won’t fill in months.
Maybe longer. And all at a time when we can least afford it. ”
“And if you do nothing and they are guilty, you’ve got eight assets ready to act against us in the middle of…wherever we are heading.”
“Exactly.”
“So you have to look into all of them.” I fold my arms.
“That’s right…I do. I need to do it quickly and quietly without pulling any of them out until we know for sure if they’re dirty or not. It has to be without alerting any of them. Without putting it in any system that the sender of the information could have access to.”
“A tall order.”
“An impossible order. Which I’ve been told to carry out.”
I push out a breath.
“Who are the eight, Councilor?”
Her jaw tightens. “I’m authorized to give you two of the names.
That’s it. Head Councilor Vector has been very clear on this point.
Each investigator gets the names they need to do their piece of the work.
No one person holds the whole list. That way, if this leaks, we can narrow down where it leaked from. ”
“I don’t like it.”
“I didn’t think you would. I don’t like it either.”
“Give me the names you’re authorized to give.”
She looks me in the eye.
“Magma.”
The forest gets louder for a second or two before being drowned out by the beating of my heart.
“No. Can’t be! Not Magma. Not him!” I growl.
“Ridge—”
“No, Councilor. Absolutely not. Magma? I mean, come on!” My voice has deepened.
“Look, I know—”
“Magma has been on the frontline since before I got my first posting. He lost his rider in the second Mistveil incursion. He would do anything for Draig, even give his own life, which has almost happened more than once. You want to tell me a male who did that is taking money from the Mainland? That he is sabotaging us? No damned way. Your list is bogus.”
“His name is on that list, which means that he gets investigated just like everyone else.”
“I refuse to believe it. I won’t!”
“You could be right.” She shrugs.
“I am right.” I turn away from her. I walk three paces, turn, and walk three paces back. My dragon is up now, pressing against the inside of my ribs. “You can’t mean it. You’re actually taking this seriously?”
“In light of recent events, we have to.”
“He didn’t do this. I refuse to investigate him. I won’t! I’m telling you now. I won’t be part of a witch hunt against Magma. If you put him under investigation and the team finds nothing, which they won’t, I want it on record that—”
“Wait a second, Ridge.”
“—that I said from the start—”
“Ridge, stop. Listen to me!”
I do as she asks, but it isn’t easy.
“You’re not going to be part of anything that concerns Magma. You are too close to him. That is why you are being removed from the situation one way or the other.”
“Removed. What do you mean?” I frown.
“You’re being removed from Security Central, at least until we know for sure. You’re being reassigned. Somewhere useful, where you are not sitting across a desk from him every day and feeling like you are lying to him.”
“I would be lying to him regardless. Where are you reassigning me?”
“The Draig Shifter Hospital. Do you know it?”
“I know of it.” I nod. “It’s state-of-the-art, and they’ve saved many lives there.”
“It’s run by Dr. Keller. She trained on the Mainland and qualified at the top of her year, did eight years at a large exotic animal facility before she was recruited to us.
She’s been here for three and a half years as head surgeon and was recently promoted to Head of Shifter Medicine.
Although she is still the island’s top shifter surgeon, she also oversees everything to do with shifter medical care on Draig.
She is also the central signatory for every pharmaceutical shipment that goes to the two outlying hospitals on the west and south.
Controlled drugs, sedatives. Every box goes through her log.
She has access to everything and everyone when it comes to the three hospitals and twenty-five clinics here on the island. ”
“Let me guess; her name is on the list.”
“That’s right.”
“You want me to investigate the hospital’s top surgeon? Is that what you’re saying? I’m not qualified to work in a hospital, Councilor.”
“Here’s the thing: security at the hospital needs a review.
It needs to be ramped up. We’re not sure where things are going.
In light of the attack on the clinic, security has become paramount, particularly at the largest facility, where Dr. Keller happens to be based.
You are going in to set up a proper detail.
Review the entries, the cargo doors, the staff screening, and the emergency protocols.
Then there is Dr. Keller herself. I want security surrounding our top surgeon to be tightened, even at her private residence. You will have a dual role.”
“Which will include investigating Dr. Keller?”
“Yes, you’re going to use every piece of access that your cover gives you to find out whether she is clean or whether she is selling us out.
You have the run of the facility. You have a reason to pull records.
You have a reason to ask questions. You have a reason to put eyes on her diary, her shipments, her communications, and her staff.
You will need access to her home, her vehicle, her entire life.
Use all of it. Get into her computer. Her security detail would need to cover every aspect of her life.
I want her protected twenty-four seven. Dig deep, Ridge.
I don’t care what you have to do, just do it and get me an answer stat. ”
“I’m overqualified for that posting. Magma will see right through it. I run security for the entire island. I would never be tasked with setting up a guard rota at a shifter hospital.”
“It’s a huge concern. We’ve analyzed various points on the island that are of the most importance to survival and are also soft targets.
That hospital is the only site on the island that treats our most vulnerable and has been left under-protected for too long, and you decide to take personal charge of the review because you don’t trust anyone under you to do it properly.
That won’t be the only building or personnel we need you to tackle.
It will be the first of several. It is a major undertaking.
It needs to be done quickly, quietly, and with care. ”
“I’m still not convinced it will fly.”
“Ridge.” She folds her arms. “The Council is going to convene later today. You will be ordered to handle this yourself because of the importance of it. The press release is already written and goes out tomorrow. The wheels are already turning. You have been selected. We’ll sell it. You’ll run with it.”
I dig my shoe into the dirt before looking up.
“I can have all the systems and staff in place within a few days…a week at most. Will that be enough time to investigate Dr. Keller?”
“It’ll have to be. I want an answer on Dr. Keller inside that window, if it is at all possible. I need solid evidence, or we will need to bring her in for questioning. That would be a last resort.”
“Magma will see right through it. He isn’t an idiot.”
“Magma will not go against the Council. He will be briefed this evening. Let us handle him. I want you to stay clear of him and talk to him as little as possible in the coming days.” She glances at her watch. “You will be reporting to me on this matter and not to him.”
“I don’t know.” I sound as skeptical as I feel.
“Councilor Vector will present your reassignment as a temporary measure to address the security gap. Magma will be told you are taking point on the hospital review and potentially on further reviews as well. He will not be told why. As I said, we will sell it to him.”
I roll my shoulders to work the tightness out of them.
“So while I’m at this hospital, someone else is going after Magma?”
“He will be investigated, yes.”
“Who is doing the investigating?”
“I’m not going to tell you that.” She shakes her head.
“Right.”
“You cannot speak to Magma about any of this. Not a word. That is a direct order from Head Councilor Vector, put to me and through me to you. If you break it, the charge is treason, not insubordination. You know what that carries.”
“I do, and I’m certain that it won’t be needed, because he didn’t do this.”
“Then he will be cleared soon enough. You need not worry.”
Yeah, right!
“When it comes to Keller, I want you to assume she is guilty, which shouldn’t be too difficult since you don’t know her.
If you go in assuming she’s clean, you might miss something.
Let her prove you wrong. It is also safer for you.
If she is what the leaked information says she is, she’ll use what she has in that building against you without a second thought.
There are drugs on site that could put a dragon down for good. ”
“I hear you.”
“You’ll do it, then?” When I don’t answer immediately, she continues, “I have someone else lined up if you turn this down. I’ll be disappointed, but I won’t hold it against you. You will be reassigned regardless. I don’t want you anywhere near Magma until he is cleared.”
“I’ll do it,” I say.
“Thank you. We’ll be in touch. Be prepared to start tomorrow, bright and early. Leave Magma to us. He will be briefed that all your findings are to go directly to the Council. That you, for the time being, are reporting to me.”
“Understood. I will call him briefly once the news breaks. If I don’t, he’ll get suspicious.”
I hate this.
“Do what you have to.”
I nod.
She digs in her bag and hands me a file. “This is everything you need on Keller. Her credentials, previous work history, her address. All the basics. Good luck.”
“Thanks,” I mutter.
“We’ll be in touch.” Then she turns for the path and starts walking.
I’m under a gag on Magma. He isn’t just my boss; he’s my friend. We’ve had beers together. I kicked his ass out of bed two weeks after his mate died. I was there for him like he’s been there for me when I needed him.
Fuck!
I have to stay away from him and throw myself into this assignment until he is found innocent.
I know he will be.
He has to be.
I turn for the trail and start back toward my SUV.