Page 90 of Dominion’s Collar

It's not a question. It's a summary delivered with the efficiency of a man calculating how much he doesn't know.

"Yes," I say.

"And she told you to come here."

"Yes," I say. "The man I'm investigating is a current member."

Cole's expression doesn't change. "Who?"

Before I can answer, the stairwell door opens. Luc comes through it at a pace that isn't hurried but isn't casual either.

"Gaudet," he says.

Cole looks at him, then back at me. "All right. Start with the witness."

"Cécile Doucet. Former Elysium submissive. She contacted me this morning and asked to meet at a coffee shop in the Marigny. She said she had more to tell me about Claire's death."

"Did she show?"

"No."

"Did you hear from her again?"

"No. Her phone stopped receiving messages."

"And that's when you noticed the sedan?"

"When I left the coffee shop."

Cole's gaze shifts to Luc.

Luc's face has gone very still. "Cécile Doucet?"

"You know the name?"

"I know enough to want Remy down here."

That gets my attention.

Cole is already reaching for his phone. "What else?"

"Someone has been interfering with my investigation for weeks. Sources backing out. Elysium records disappearing. Someone sent me financial records trying to point me toward Tomas Hébert. Vivienne received a warning after she talked to me."

"And you think Gaudet is behind it."

"I think someone is trying to dismantle my case. Gaudet is where the evidence is pointing. I don't know yet if those are the same person."

Luc's gaze meets mine.

"That's what we're going to find out."

Cole's attention snaps to Luc. Mine follows. Sebastien told me last night that Luc had been pulling Elysium's booking records. Hearing it described in a private room during the worst conversation of my life is one thing. Watching Luc say the name out loud in the Dominion lounge with the same flat certainty Cole uses is another.

"How long?" Cole asks. The question isn't directed at me.

Luc glances at him. "Weeks. Sebastien brought Rapier in after he put it together."

Hearing it confirmed strips away the last insulation between what Sebastien told me and what it means. He withheld the truth from me while simultaneously building the case alongside Remy and Luc. He lied to my face and worked behind my back, and both of those things were pointed at the same target.