“What did Sutton tell you?”
“Not to call you. But something weird happened this afternoon. Bullstow called. A man named Davies requested access to the family’s net logins.”
“Which logins?”
“All of them.”
Lila gaped at the request. It was unheard of for Bullstow to request so much private information, and she could not believe that the officer had any reason for it.
Her mind spun with the possibilities. Chief Shaw had nearly fired Sergeant Davies less than a month before for being involved in questionable activities, activities linked to Reaper. She must have hit another of Reaper’s traps during her hack that afternoon. Her blackmailer either knew or suspected that she’d been inside again and put Davies on it.
At least her fake ID wouldn’t be so easy to decipher this time.
At least…
Lila squeezed her eyes shut. Her mind had fogged too thickly after the anesthesia. She needed sleep before she acted on the information.
“Are you sure it was Sergeant Davies?” she asked.
“Yes. I looked him up, chief. He’s the son of Suji Park, owner of Toewon Research Group and the Eclipse chain of coffee houses. How he even got into Bullstow as a lowborn—”
Lila faded out as McKinley prattled on about the dangers of lowborn citizens buying their way into Bullstow. It was true, Toewon and Eclipse were lowborn businesses, but they were very prominent businesses on the rise, grossing more than many poorly performing highborn families, far more than the Wilsons ever had. Not only did Ms. Park sit on Saxony’s Low Council of Judges, but she had managed to get two sons elected into New Bristol’s Low House and another in Saxony’s. Placing an eldest son in Bullstow was the next logical step, and proved that Ms. Park was a shrewd player, for it was exceedingly costly for the lowborn to buy their way inside. The first boy from a lowborn family never became a senator, but it was a sacrifice and a start into highborn society.
It had paid off for Ms. Park. The New Bristol High Council had confirmed the Parks as the next highborn family less than a month before.
It could harm the Parks’ confirmation if Bullstow arrested Davies and tried him for impropriety now. The council still had time to deny the family and chose another.
“I found out who his partner is, too,” McKinley said. “Officer Muller, from the Weberly family.”
“Web Corp?” Lila asked, feigning ignorance.
“Yes, chief. Strange coincidence, huh?”
Lila rubbed her chin and made a noncommittal grunt. It was more than a coincidence, and Captain McKinley knew it. Web Corp was a highborn company based in New Bristol, though the bulk of their income came from oil fields several hundred kilometers away in Beaulac. As such, they were a direct rival of the Randolphs.
“I already told Commander Sutton about Sergeant Davies. I didn’t find out about his partner or their matrons until just now. I thought I should tell you directly.”
“Captain McKinley, you did not give Sergeant Davies the logins, did you?”
“Of course not. I told him to go through the proper channels and obtain the correct paperwork. He was pushy, though. Could be trouble.”
“Keep the commander informed when she returns to the security office. I’ll want to know about any further communication from Sergeant Muller and Sergeant Davies, whether I’m on vacation or not.”
“Of course, chief,” the captain answered before she broke the connection.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Come in,” Lila said.
Her younger brother poked his head into the room. Loose brown waves touched his shoulders, and his blue eyes mirrored Jewel’s. At sixteen, Pax Randolph-Blanc was well on his way to becoming a giant like his father, Senator Blanc. He already had the body of a man who could pick up a couch and fling it through the window, and his new fall coat already strained at the shoulders. In a few years, he would have to duck just to enter a room. In a few more, he might have to enter sideways.
“Hello, Lila,” he said, calling out in a voice so rowdy and full that it dwarfed his entire body. He had still not gotten used to the change from high to deep, and his face screwed up in embarrassment at his own loud bellow.
“Hello, Pax.”
“I kept the door open all afternoon. I didn’t want you to slip past me when you returned home. Here you are, all drugged up, and you managed to get past. I didn’t even notice until I heard the door close.”
“It’s my boots.”