Chapter 313: Chapter 313 - Matters Of A Practical Nature, pt1
The run back to the rest stop felt longer than it had the night before, even without carrying anyone. My pawed feet found the same deer paths, letting Vrika have its fun while my mind kept drifting back to the farmhouse. To brown eyes that had watched me leave.
With something that looked quite like a flicker of orange. A flicker of danger.... and all sorts of things that tell me I’d regret ignoring the request to stay. In some ways, it only made me want to leave more.
Her need for me to stay.
> The witch knows what she’s doing. Understood the potential uses of the necklace right away. And Kyrie needs rest without me hovering around making her tense once her wolf starts coming back. <
Vrika gave me a skeptical look from where it ran in place in the mindscape’s center. It’s not very good at separating what it is doing in reality from in here. Kind of like that thing some humans do where they lean to a side while focused on their video game character.
Not that I’ve ever done that!
The black wolf had been blissfully quiet since we’d left the witch’s farm, but its blue eyes held *opinions*. Things I obviously didn’t want to listen to, so I took back control of the body and transformed into a human.
Materializing the container in the small clearing nearby, I strolled into it and collapsed my naked form across the bed. With one side feeling firmer than the other... I’m reminded that I let her place her preferred settings.
I also realize that this side smelled like the white blazer I’d folded and set on the shelf. Like crisp snow and iron, a fragrance combination that I went a day around her without ever smelling.
"Even though she got to have the comfort of my blanket. Even left it there for her. Is that not... unfair?"
Rolling over, I take two steps in that clothing’s direction and immediately pivot to grab my phone... when blue eyes judge me again for my hypocrisy. Several missed messages from Claire were available for me to scroll through on the brightly lit screen.
BK: [I see you’re just leaving my little project around to get towed! Vehicle relocated to secure lot. Sending coordinates.]
BK: [Apartment doors handled this morning. Temporary lock placed, new scanner ordered. Bedroom door frame reinforced and rehung. Nothing should look suspicious.]
BK: [Found some interesting footage. Call when you can.]
BK: [Boss lady on schedule for overseas meetings I can flub. Cover holding for now. Even with Luca.]
BK: [Your Anise contact was blowing up and she showed up at your apartment, so I gave her a cover story. You’re welcome.]
I should have known to think more about the vehicle situation. I’ve certainly seen signs in parking lots at the grocery stores about them being ’towed’ if left overnight.
The middle text about finding something is the most interesting. And the last one is the most worrying. I’m genuinely scared to take a look at the messages from the seamstress now.
While getting dressed in something available I had stored away - the same outfit I wore to leave the city and go after the caches... I called the woman who had covered our backs. The phone rang and rang, until finally it stopped.
"Well, if it isn’t the runaway magazine model."
"Hello to you, as well, Ms. Thomsson."
"...How’s our patient?"
"Recovering."
It’s probably safe to tell her how much better she is and where the Alpha is - but I don’t. Kyrie has her stuff back so if she wants to let her assistant in on where she really is right now, that is her choice.
"Good to hear. I was starting to worry when you both went radio silent. That I backed the wrong player. Everything sorted out on your end?"
I hesitated, unsure how much to share about the mystical side of the healing process. Claire seemed to take certain supernatural elements in stride, but explaining ritual circles that focused sympathetic magic toward an end felt... complicated.
"As sorted as it can be. You said you found something interesting?"
"Yeah, about that. The records show Aaron Whitecrest as the last one to handle the canister storage before the drill. He’s had a solid record with us, but..."
The family name made my stomach clench. Paul’s family - Victoria, more specifically. A woman who stood, talked, and walked like she was part of a bloodline that felt entitled to power.
I’ve never met the others, but Paul’s parent seemed alright on the phone that one time. More importantly, she raised such a sweet kid that I can’t see her as part of some deep plot within the Rimecoat.
Besides, most plots involve fewer people than one might think. Sure, some might know that their loved ones were acting strange or are up to something... but that doesn’t make them accomplices exactly.
"...But?"
"While his access logs show him working late the night before, alone, there’s a gap in the camera feed. For the scheduled period right when he would have been swapping equipment. Could be a coincidence, but..."
"It’s not. He sounds like a ’patsy’."
My voice came out flat and certain and the sound on the other line grew quiet for long enough that I was able to open a bottle of water and drain it. Even had a protein bar unwrapped and crunching before she spoke.
"You sound pretty sure about that. How do you figure?"
"In my... experience with these situations, people with perfect records will be skipped over in the first round of anyone’s critical thinking. That they could be involved or the culprit is dismissed by virtue. So using them as cover is perfect."
More than one assassin assumed the identity of palace workers who were known to be flawless in their duties. Of course, some also played the longer game and actually were those same excellent workers from the very start, instead of stealing identities.
I’m not sure if it is really a deeper betrayal or not, in that case. Not against the people they had always intended to try and kill, at least.
> I did always feel bad for those other retainers who got along with them until that point. The suspicion levied against them all because they thought they were dealing with a nice person... was unfortunate necessity. <
"Is that really it? Just that and you deduced that Aaron is innocent?"
"No. And I did not say they were innocent - you can be involved in the plot and still be taking the blame."
"Then, what? Wait, do werewolves have a sixth sense I don’t know about?"
I chuckle and finish the food and some more water. It’s easy enough to tell that her curiosity is coming from a place of already having come to the same conclusion - though hers was probably born from evidence instead of suppositions.
"I’m not a tech expert like you, but if he could remove video so easily - why would he *only* take the most incriminating part out? If he did not want you to believe he was potentially responsible, that doesn’t sound realistic to me."
Grabbing a silver knife and its sheath, I loop a belt through and wear it on my hip. I also put in a set of those sound blasting earpieces. Then I stroll out of the steel container and Stash all of it away once more, while still talking on the phone.
"That’s like blasting one obvious hole to the other side of the defensive wall right outside the supposed traitor’s house, when they had the means to have blown the whole wall up."
"A very weird analogy, but I get what you’re saying. Could have taken out all day - or at least a number of hours from the server. But they barely erased anything."
You know, those ’bluetooth’ ear things that Kyrie uses would be nice. I wouldn’t have to hold the phone to my face any longer. Maybe I’ll order a set...
"We wouldn’t have any reliable leads at all if we were actually missing so much. Though we would still look into him because there are physical document reports of his intended presence that day."
"Well, there you go. That’s essentially why my first instinct is that someone too obviously at fault is being used to cover for someone else."
"You know, Citra, people can just be stupid, too. Especially criminals."
"I’ve learned that it is effective to treat the ignorance of others as a possibility for most of life. But the moment you have any shred of proof of malice being conducted by an opponent in the shadows? You should never treat them as anything less than your match."
> Or the consequences will be dire, wolf or no wolf. <