“About that.” Clay hemmed and hawed. “Colby and I have been working that angle since you guys left.”
“You’ve been hunting the director.” Asa pounced on the lead. “Have you found him?”
“He’s still at the compound,” Colby told us. “Rogue agents attacked him on the grounds.”
“Parish was with him,” Clay continued. “He scooped up the director and ran with him inside. The compound was locked down for twenty-four hours, and all traces of the attack were erased.” He hesitated. “It must be bad, if they don’t want anyone to know how bad it is.”
The director might be my grandfather, but I couldn’t find an ounce of pity for him in me.
“Travel provides him with a safer cover,” Asa agreed, “one that might keep him in power a little longer.”
“Wait.” I heard my theory hissing like a popped balloon. “Then who…?”
“Did I mention we haven’t sat on our hands the past few days?” Clay sounded proud enough to burst. “Colby is a verified member of the Mystic Realms Live Guild.”
“I tracked down our suspects’ emails, handles, and social media links.” Her enthusiasm was contagious. “I can link the Amhersts to Ms. March and Lacky. There are six others we suspect are waiting on their turn to go active. Each more powerful than the last. I’m still cracking those identities.”
“That’s amazing.” I pressed a hand against my chest. “You’re amazing, smarty fuzz butt.”
Six was so much better than the sixty members on the Amherst’s original roster.
“It gets better,” Clay rushed out. “Tell them the rest.”
“The ringleader’s handle is Advent.”
“Any idea who he or she is?”
“Yeah.” She drew out the word, giving me time to dread the reveal. “I chatted with him earlier.”
“I’m sorry.” I attempted to find my Zen, but it was MIA. “You chatted with him?”
“In the game. In a side chat.” She huffed at me. “Relax.”
Secret Agent Moth could fuss all she wanted. I would never relax over direct contact with a suspect.
“Anyway, he vetted me some, and I let him. I was even super helpful and sent him a link to my website.”
“You have a website?”
A smile warmed her voice. “I do now.”
“This is taking too long,” Clay added his two cents, “and Rue won’t understand half of it anyway.”
“Thanks.” I would have smacked him if I could reach him. “Your support and encouragement are truly limitless.”
“The link to my website was malware,” she explained patiently. “Malware is malicious software.”
“Okay.”
“When he clicked the infected link, he gave the malware permission to download onto his laptop.”
“Okay.”
“The malware was actually spyware, and it gave me access to his computer.”
“Okay.”
“He has multiple email accounts, which, most people do, you know?”