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CHAPTER FIVE

MADS

Someone who wasn’t at the party… hmm…

I wander back to the kitchen where Rylee is just sprawled out on the floor, hugging the cat to her.

“She’s been like this for ten minutes. I think she’s just so happy she can’t move,” Orin comments.

“You and your wife have been known to travel,” I say.

Orin raises an eyebrow at the shift in the conversation. “Before I got my kids, we did. Since then, Cordelia still has the wander bug, but I chose to stay here and raise the two kids.”

“Have you met with the UK council?”

“I have.”

I show him the photograph. “Who is missing?”

Orin examines it closely. “I guess it depends since when. This does appear to be the current council… which you would know as you’re on it.”

“Do you remember any names of the council members who were there in the past?”

“Let me see,” he says as he inspects it again. “Well, you don’t have Bella Donalds, William Allred, and Harold Taft.”

“What happened to them?”

“Bella died. I can tell you that much. One day, the council members walked into the room and found that she was already sitting in her chair. They said she was acting strangely but she didn’t say a single word. Once everyone was seated, she blew up, maiming most of the council members.”

“Why have I never heard about this?”

“Because if the council is good at one thing, it’s keeping secrets,” Orin says. “Ha, I shouldn’t badmouth the council with your involvement, now should I?”

“How long ago did this happen?”

“Oh… fifty years ago?”

“And did she do it on purpose? Or was this a situation where she was forced?”

“I don’t know about that. It was clearly a threat of some kind. They believe the bomb must have been placed inside of her before she healed so no one even realized what she was bringing into the room with her. It’s a shame. She was a very nice woman.”

I walk over to Rylee and kneel next to her. “Do you know why Ender hates the council?”

She pulls her face out of the cat’s fur long enough to say, “Because they’re evil. They’re practically villains. They were mean to Finn too! They tried killing him. They’re very evil.”

The door opens and I look over as Finn and Marcus walk in. Rylee gasps. “It’s Finn and the evil one!”

“Are you going to shout that every time you see Marcus now?” Finn asks.

She beams at him. “Maybe.”

“How did you get here?” Finn asks curiously.

“Look at my kitty!” Rylee says.

“I see that. He’s a pretty cute kitty,” Finn tells her before shifting his attention to me. “And how did you end up here?”

“Finn… the kitty is the most important thing here,” Rylee demands.

Finn kneels down and pets the cat that is in absolute bliss.

It evidently has suffered from a lack of pets and is now eager to acquire as many as possible.

“Oh, you’re right. This definitely is the most important thing.

” He scratches behind the cat’s ears as it purrs up a storm. “How’d you get here, Rylee?”

“Oh, it’s a tale . En was like ‘Where do you want to go!’ and I was like ‘I want to go to Orin’s!

’ and then En thought I meant I wanted to live with Orin and not him and then he was going to leave me, and I was super sad, but Orin was like ‘Let’s all stay here’ and then…

where is En?” She pops up and looks around as if suddenly realizing that Ender isn’t involved in any part of this.

“He said he’d be right back,” I assure her.

She looks quite alarmed. “Is he going to leave me?”

Finn pats her head. “Of course he’s not going to leave you. He obviously loves you a lot,” he says as he eyes Orin. “I thought my father loved me a lot and would tell me if the man who chucked me off a bridge was staying in his house.”

Orin just hugs Finn and kisses the side of his head. “If I thought he was a threat to you at this moment, I never would have let him in. I promise.”

Finn doesn’t look convinced by any part of that.

I clear my throat. “I need to get going. I simply had to drop off the cat and will be on my way.”

“How did you know where to drop off the cat?” Finn asks.

Marcus glowers at me, and let’s just say, he’s quite good at it. Very menacing. “I generally don’t agree with Ender on anything, but you’re suspicious.”

I laugh because what else am I supposed to do? Agree with him?

“I guess Ender still had Claude’s phone and they could track it,” Orin says.

“What the heck? And you didn’t tell me he’s here? See if I ever force Marcus to go Christmas caroling with you again,” Finn grumbles. I can’t quite tell whether he likes Ender or not… and I also can’t quite tell whether he trusts me or not. How fun!

“I bet that was delightful to watch Marcus carol!” I say. “Do you have a video of that?”

The look Marcus gives me indicates that he would rather maim me than let me see it if there is one.

I give them my best smile. “It was good seeing all of you today. I am quite… lost in this big city, so if any of you get bored and would love to show me around, give me a call.”

“Of course,” Finn says.

“Not of course,” Marcus counters.

I head out the door and get into my car as I decide that I’m quite far from getting any answers I need.

I drive back to the hotel where I’ve been given a place to stay during my visit, but before I get out, I realize that I’ve been followed.

I lean against the hood of the rental car as I wait patiently for them to show.

When they don’t, I say, “Orin, what would you like?”

Orin quietly moves into sight and walks over to me. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but you’d do best to leave now. Tell them you’re done.”

“You know… I got to thinking that there’s only one reason you’d let a man into your house who tried to kill the child you adore,” I say. “Guilt.”

His jaw tightens. “Have faith that the VRC will fix everything. Unless you’re one of the ones who don’t want things to be fixed.”

I smile at him. “When you care to talk, let me know. Until then, keep Ender entertained. If he sticks his nose too deep, he’s going to wind up dead.” I push off the car, prepared to start for the hotel.

“Here’s the thing, Mads. You have absolutely no idea who to trust. Is the person telling you what to do even helping you? Or are you at the whims of another council member who is so mired in corruption that they’re going to pull you down too?”

“Well, if you feel like sharing more of what you know, I’d be glad to let you know,” I say.

“That’s just it. I don’t know much else. My interaction with the council is so limited.”

“But you know something about Ender.”

“Nothing that I would ever tell someone from the council.”

“Understandable,” I say.

“Just… you seem like a decent guy. Don’t let them fuck you over. They don’t invite new people into the council for just any reason. The last new person joined in, hell… 1910?”

“It was my charisma,” I assure him.

“Or it was because you’re expendable.”

“That too.”

“My guess is that they’re using you. They’re risking you because you don’t mean anything to them, even if they act like you do. They’re putting you in dangerous situations for their own gain.”

“If you think of anything else, send me a call or a text. I’m more than willing to discuss.”

Orin lets me go without saying another word as I head into the hotel and take the elevator up to my room.

The moment I step in, I can tell someone else was in here.

They took care not to disturb anything, but I know they were here.

What did they hope to find? Do they think I’m hiding something? Or do they not trust that I’m faithful?

My phone rings, and I see that it’s Vivian, so I answer the call.

“What did you find out this morning?”

“You would never believe how cute that kitty looked all cleaned up! They made him so fluffy!”

“Bloody hell, if I have to hear about this cat one more time, I’m going to come over and kick your ass.”

“Why are you so mean to me?” I ask. “I really think this is uncalled for.”

“What did you find out about Ender and the girl? Did you find out where they went?”

“Not yet. I’m seeing if the VRC can find him first. They’ve been keeping tabs on him, but I’ll let you know what I find as soon as I find it. Can you tell me anything about William Allred or Harold Taft?”

“Harold retired years ago. He chose to dedicate time to raising a family, I guess? It was a bit vague. I honestly think he was just tired of the work. He’d been involved for, oh…

a hundred and fifty or so years at that point?

William still does some council work but not much.

He’s a professor at some university now or something. Teaching history.”

“Do you have a way I can contact them?” I ask.

“I… could probably find it, but is there a reason why?”

“I wanted to show them pictures of how cute that cat is!”

She hangs up on me. Which… I mean, I’m not quite sure I blame her. What a delightful woman.

I wander the room for a bit, curious what they were looking for and whether they found it. I don’t see much of interest, and if they were looking for what I removed from the body, I took that with me. The safest place is on my person, of course.

I have an hour before the council meeting that I should get ready for. And with the way things are going, it’s definitely going to be fun.