Chapter 5 #3
“Joe Bloggs?” Aidan murmurs questioningly.
I shake my head. “It’s a human thing. He means a random or common man.” The glare Noah shoots at the screen tells me he heard at least part of that.
Andrew answers. “Because centuries of research into these groups has shown us that Joe Bloggs, as you call him, isn’t an active danger.
He probably doesn’t even completely know or understand what the group he’s supporting stands for.
He would have heard some random rhetoric that fits with his own life motives and signed up to support the cause with a semiregular donation.
Yes, he’s a danger in that it’s his support and his voice within society that gives birth and power to these terrorist organizations, but if they asked him to carry a weapon against the CSG, or to murder or enslave a human, he’d probably be shocked and appalled.
We consider people like him to be part of a tertiary level of investigation—after the active members and their primary backers are taken care of, we look into those others to make sure they’re not a greater danger than we thought. ”
“Obviously, Tish and the CCA have found a way to subvert that process,” Noah points out.
“If Alistair and Aidan are right, they’re hiding large numbers of dedicated supporters in plain sight, seemingly unaffiliated with the CCA at all.
It also means that the numbers we have for CCA members are wrong.
We could be looking at a much more significant proportion of the population than we thought. ”
A sick, shocked silence falls. What a cheery thought that is.
“Okay,” David says wearily. “Revised plan. Percy will try to find out what kind of education our two captives received, as well as anything else that might give us some idea of how the CCA is running these… cult towns.”
“Avoid asking about the town directly,” Aidan suggests. “Make it about the lads personally. They won’t want to ‘betray’ their people, but might be willing to give up personal information in exchange for… what would you barter?”
“Better food,” Gideon says immediately. “They’re being fed sufficiently, but it’s very plain fare. We could also offer them more time in the gym.”
Ellie and I nod simultaneously. Those are exactly what would appeal to an incarcerated young hellhound. “See if they’d like a scratch-and-sniff book,” I suggest. “I imagine there’s not a lot of scent variation in the jail, and we hellhounds like to smell things.”
“Scratch-and-sniff?” Sam asks incredulously. “Aren’t they kids’ books? Wait.” He holds up his hand before I can answer. “I don’t want to know. Thanks for the tip.”
“Moving on,” David says smoothly. “Aidan and Alistair will begin making connections within the larger part of the Oregon pack and see what interesting tidbits they can find out about the Beker County people. It might be an idea to touch base with some of the felid clan members also,” he suggests.
“I know cat numbers in the Beker area aren’t comparable, but they do have some people there, so the same theories apply. ”
“Got it,” I say, and Aidan nods.
“Also,” David continues, “Alistair is going to keep his nose open for any sign of the elves.”
I salute him, and he flips me the bird.
“Noah and I will dig back into the CCA records and census numbers over the past fifty or so years and see if we can locate any more cult towns, here and around the world.” He sighs again. “Sam, are you good to coordinate us all?”
“Of course,” Sam says. “I’ve already set up the permits for you to access the archives and requested a security team to accompany Percy tomorrow.”
“You’re so sexy,” Gideon says to him, and the rest of us break into jeers.
“If you don’t mind me asking,” Aidan interrupts, sounding amused, “how’s the research into the elves going?”
Noah groans.
“That well, eh?”
“It’s slow going,” David says. “We’ve always assumed this was just purely folklore—and a lot of it is.
We’re trying to find common threads in stories from different areas, especially areas that wouldn’t have had a lot of contact with each other, in the hopes that we can find something that might be fact. ”
“Part of the issue is that we’re relying a lot on translations,” Noah adds.
“And sometimes translations of translations. Every translator has their own lens, so what might originally have been written as ‘people who came through a portal from another dimension’ could very well have been translated as ‘people who came from afar,’ and we’d never know the difference. ”
“The same goes for transcriptions,” David says gloomily. “Most of these stories started out being passed on in the oral tradition. Over generations, they might have changed somewhat, and the people who finally wrote them down probably added their own creative spin.”
That sounds like a lot of very complicated desk work. I keep my mouth shut just in case someone gets the bright idea that David and Noah need help. That’s not a job I want to be assigned.
“Do what you can,” Percy encourages. “Hopefully we’ll be able to get at least some information from our captives that you can use to refine your search.”
The call starts to wrap up, and I make eye contact with Sam. It’s not easy, but I’ve got skills. His brows draw together, but he doesn’t say anything, and a few seconds later, the screen blacks out.
“I’m going to deal with my emails, if you don’t mind,” Aidan says. “My assistant is handling all the routine stuff, but there were still more than fifty waiting for me last time I checked.”
“No problem,” I tell him cheerfully. I’m expecting Sam to call soon anyway. “I’ll run out to the grocery store so we’ve got food for breakfast. You’ll be okay without the car?”
“I’m going nowhere,” he confirms. “Once I’m done with this lot, I’m going to have an early night. Tomorrow we can go see Jun, maybe Riona, and fish for more information. Then see if we can talk to some of the younger shifters in the area.”
“Good plan. And hopefully by the afternoon, Percy will have either confirmed or disproved our theory and we’ll have some direction.”
I leave him at the island, grab my phone, wallet, and the car keys, and head out to the garage.
We’ve been here for such a short time that he’ll be safe on his own while I shop.
Nobody local knows we’re here yet, and I’m absolutely certain we weren’t followed.
Still, the longer we’re here, the more chance that Tish or his followers will find out, so this will be a quick grocery run. I can’t risk Aidan’s safety.
It’s not until I’m at the store and have the first few items in the cart that Sam calls me.
I tap my Bluetooth earpiece to answer. “Hi, Sammy!”
“Hi,” he says. “Everything okay?”
“Yes and no. Where are you?” I add half a dozen bunches of bananas to the cart and wonder if Aidan knows how to make pancakes.
“Just home from the office. Gideon’s gone up to his LEGO room.”
Gideon, freak of nature that he is, finds it easier to think when his hands are occupied.
At home, he builds a lot of LEGO. In other places, he compulsively organizes things—desks, shelves, cupboards, you name it.
If he’s struggling with a particularly tricky case, nobody’s stuff is safe from being alphabetized.
“Great. So, here’s the thing. I think you were right, and now I don’t know what to do.”
Silence. “You think I was right?” he says slowly. “About wha— No! You have a crush on Aidan?”
“Maybe.” I grab two jumbo boxes of cereal. “Mostly I think I just want to get naked with him and come in his hair.”
An outraged gasp has me turning to see a wide-eyed, red-faced middle-aged man staring at me. “It would be totally consensual,” I tell him, and his jaw drops.
“Alistair,” Sam says, but the man is louder.
“You can’t talk like that here!” he sputters.
I look around. It’s still a grocery store, not a day care, and yep, we’re the only two people in this aisle.
“Why not?” I ask reasonably. “I didn’t swear or anything.”
Sam groans in my ear. “Alistair, walk away from whoever you’re talking to right now.”
The man’s face is getting even more florid. “This is a public place. Keep your filthy sex talk to yourself!”
I can’t help it; a snort-laugh bursts from me. “Dude, if you think the words naked and come are filthy sex talk, you clearly need a better sex life. Or a decent porn subscription.”
The strangled sound he makes is almost exactly the same as the one Sam’s making.
“Alistair, do not —”
“If you want, I can recommend some for you. I think I might have a guest pass for—”
The man abandons his cart and flees. Like, he actually runs away from me. I don’t know why—I was only trying to be nice. Expand his horizons. Everyone deserves to have a decent porn subscription.
“I don’t hear yelling,” Sam says. “Did he leave?”
I add half a dozen boxes of Pop-Tarts in assorted flavors to the cart. “Yeah. Left his groceries and everything. Maybe he needed to find an adult store and improve his porn collection.”
“I’m sure that’s what it was,” Sam mutters. “Maybe tone down the talk about coming and porn while you’re in a public place, though.”
“We’re having an important conversation,” I protest, heading for the dairy section. “It’s not like I can wait until I’m back at the house to tell you this—Aidan would hear!”
“Would that be a bad thing?” he counters. “If you want to have sex with him, he’s going to need to know about it.”
That’s true. Sam has good ideas sometimes.
“Ye-es, but is having sex with him a dumb idea? He’s—” I glance around and lower my voice. There’s nobody close, but still. “He’s my species leader. And technically I’m working with him now, although we’re still debating which of us is in charge. He thinks it’s him.”
“He is the species leader,” Sam points out.
“And I’m the trained investigator. Since we’re currently conducting an investigation, doesn’t that mean I’m the boss?”