Page 66 of A Touch of Treachery (Section 47 #3)

CHARLOTTE

Evelyn was sitting at her desk, although she got to her feet and scooped up some folders at my approach.

“Ready for the meeting?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yep. Care to tell me what it’s about since you’re the one who requested it?”

“You’ll find out along with everyone else.”

Evelyn’s dark eyebrows lifted, but she didn’t question me as we went through the turnstile and stepped into the elevator. I got off on level three, while Evelyn headed down to level five. I went to my cubicle, but it looked the same as always—a sterile functional space with only one personal touch.

I didn’t know if I would be coming back here after the meeting, so I plucked the crystal mockingbird figurine off my desk and slipped it into my pocket. Then I grabbed all the files and folders I needed, along with a flash drive, and went down to the fifth level.

A few cleaners and liaisons were typing on their laptops or murmuring into their phones. I went past them and stopped at Joan’s desk.

“Where’s Desmond?” I asked, eyeing his empty chair.

She shrugged. “I think he went up to level four looking for General Percy.”

My stomach clenched. Even though I’d prepared myself for this moment, it was going to be even more difficult than I’d imagined.

Joan’s forehead crinkled. “Are you okay? You look sick to your stomach.”

I opened my mouth to spout some lie—

“Charlotte.” Desmond’s low voice slid against my skin like a delicate caress.

He stepped up beside me. He was dressed in a powder-blue suit jacket, tie, and shirt, and his silver watch gleamed in his vest pocket like usual. My heart clenched, right along with my stomach, but I forced myself to smile.

Desmond stared at me, his face calm. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, and I didn’t know if that was good or bad. He leaned down and kissed me on the cheek, and I closed my eyes, savoring the moment. I was about to destroy my whole world—and his too.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Desmond murmured.

I nodded, my throat too tight to croak out a response

Joan glanced back and forth between the two of us, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. “I’ll see you two in the briefing.”

The liaison scooped up some folders from her desk and headed into the conference room.

Desmond gestured with his hand. “After you, Numbers.”

I ground my teeth to hold on to my smile. “Of course, Dundee.”

I clutched my files and folders a little tighter to my chest and went to the conference room. Desmond fell in step beside me.

In addition to Joan and Evelyn, Diego and Gia were already inside.

I passed Diego the flash drive with all the evidence I’d collected over the last several hours, and the tech guru slid it into his laptop and flashed me a thumbs-up, ready to rock ’n’ roll.

He also slid a black clicker across the table.

I clutched the small piece of plastic like it was a life jacket that would keep me from drowning in the storm of secrets I was about to unleash.

I dropped into my chair like a stone, reminding myself that I was doing the right thing. That this was the only thing I could do if I wanted to clear my father’s name and root out the last of Henrika Hyde’s influence at Section 47.

More footsteps sounded, and General Percy strode into the room. The door shut behind him, and the familiar buzz of the soundproofing rang out. His two bodyguards took up positions outside.

General Percy sat down in his usual seat at the head of the table. “What’s this update about Henrika that was so important it couldn’t wait until the regular afternoon briefing?”

I drew in a breath and slowly got to my feet. For a moment, I wavered, but I couldn’t ignore what I had learned and the ramifications it had for everyone in this room.

“I called the meeting. Henrika Hyde came to see me last night.”

Evelyn, Gia, Diego, and Joan gasped in surprise. Desmond showed no reaction, but Percy’s eyes narrowed.

“Henrika came to see you? When? Where?” the General demanded.

I hit the clicker. Footage of the interior of the Moondust Diner appeared on the film screen along the wall.

When I’d bought the place a few months ago, one of the first things I’d done was install a state-of-the-art security system that covered every inch of the diner, as well as the surrounding parking lot and streets.

I hit the clicker again, and the footage began to play. The others watched my talk with Henrika, including her asking me to come work for her.

The video ended, and General Percy fixed his angry gaze on me. “Why didn’t you report this immediately, Ms. Locke? If you had alerted us the moment Henrika arrived, we might have been able to capture her.”

“And she would have killed everyone in the diner. I wasn’t about to risk the lives of innocent people.”

The General grunted, but for once, he didn’t argue.

“Besides, I wanted to see if I could figure out what Henrika was talking about.”

Joan frowned. “What do you mean?”

“A few months ago, when I first met Henrika at the Halstead Hotel, she claimed to have information about my father’s death. Ever since then, I’ve been digging into the Mexico mission, although I probably never would have figured out what happened if not for Henrika’s little clue last night.”

“What clue?” Gia asked in a sharp voice.

“Seashell Imports.”

I hit another button, and the clamshell logo from the mailing envelope appeared on the screen.

Everyone stared at the logo, but I kept my gaze on General Percy.

He blinked once, and his mouth puckered slightly, but those were his only visible reactions.

If I hadn’t known better, I would have chalked up the micro-expressions to his usual dislike of and perpetual annoyance with me.

But I did know better—about a lot of things.

“What’s so special about Seashell Imports?” Diego asked in a confused voice.

“It’s a shell company,” I replied. “Used to funnel money to Henrika, starting about seventeen years ago, two years before the Mexico mission.”

I hit some more buttons on the clicker, and financial documents filled the screen.

“I kept thinking about something Niles Perran said at the Glittertop Resort. He claimed the reason Henrika was so much more successful than him was because a wealthy benefactor had given her a boost way back in grad school when she was first trying to get her business off the ground. And you know what? Niles was right.”

I faced the others. “Last night, I finally figured out who Henrika’s mysterious benefactor was: Jethro Percy.”

Evelyn, Gia, Diego, and Joan all sucked in startled breaths. Desmond blinked a few times and looked at his father. A muscle twitched in the General’s jaw, but other than that, he remained relaxed in his chair.

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken, Ms. Locke,” Percy replied in a cool voice. “My only interactions with Henrika have been to try to bring her to justice for her many crimes against Section 47.”

“Bullshit,” I countered. “You funded Henrika’s research for years . I followed the money trail, and it leads straight back to you, General.”

Percy waved his hand. “Documents can easily be faked. Maybe this is all just another scheme on Henrika’s part. She plants some false documents in your path to try to incriminate me because she knows the noose is tightening around her neck and that Section will apprehend her soon.”

I shook my head. “You don’t want to apprehend her. You want to kill her so she can’t ever point a finger back at you.”

The General harrumphed and looked at Gia. “Clearly, Ms. Locke has issues. I suggest you put an end to this charade before she says something she can’t walk back.”

Gia crossed her arms over her chest. “Actually, I find Ms. Locke’s presentation to be extremely interesting. Please continue, Charlotte.”

I let out a quiet exhale. Gia was going to back my play, which was half the battle. The other half would be Desmond’s reaction. His face was blank, but he kept glancing back and forth between me and his father.

I hit another button, and a photo appeared on the screen: Henrika and the General hanging on to opposite ends of that oversize grant-money check.

General Percy blinked and blinked, and his face actually paled, as if he was seeing a ghost. “Where did you get that?”

“It ran in the university’s student newspaper. You hid your tracks well, but no one can scrub away everything, especially once it hits the Internet.”

The corner of the General’s mouth twitched, as though he was agreeing with me, despite himself.

I gestured at the photo. “What was Henrika working on that first caught your attention? She started out doing cancer research, but I’m guessing somewhere along the way, Henrika discovered how to kill paramortals instead.

And despite your best intentions, you just couldn’t resist having such a powerful weapon for yourself. Right, General?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Percy snapped.

“ Lie ,” I hissed right back at him.

General Percy flinched at the venom in my voice.

“I don’t have all the details, and most of them don’t really matter.

Here’s what I think happened. You asked Henrika to veer away from her original cancer research and start building weapons for Section 47, to start building weapons for you .

I have records of the money you funneled to her through your fake companies, including Seashell Imports. ”

“So I invested in some of Henrika’s early research.” Percy shrugged. “So what? Section 47 does things like that all the time. We’re always trying to stay one step ahead of our enemies.”

Anger flooded my chest at how he was trying to spin the story, but I tamped down my temper.

“That’s true. But somewhere along the way, you and Henrika had a falling-out.

Maybe she wanted more money. Maybe she threatened to expose your arrangement.

Or maybe she just wanted to be out from underneath your thumb.

I don’t know, and I don’t really care. But eventually, you decided to get rid of her. ”