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“Fairly sure,” the Fanaith said slowly. “The uniforms looked convincing enough. And they were headed toward the judicial precinct, last I saw.”
I slammed my fist down in frustration, making her jump.
I wanted to destroy the bar, tear apart the entire district.
But that wouldn’t help.
I needed to be smart, like Emma.
Like her friend, Sherlock Holmes.
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to think it through.
None of this added up at all.
Unless it was some elaborate ploy by Conii to get Emma out of the way and Plarr shut up for good. That conniving serpent was certainly capable of using her influence to arrange such a deception.
Cold fury washed through me at the thought of Emma terrified and alone. Conii would pay dearly for this—just as soon as I got Emma to safety.
I managed a curt thanks to the cowering Fanaith before storming off to find the bumbling squad members who were supposed to be guarding Plarr. Someone would answer for allowing Emma to be taken right under their noses.
It didn’t take long to locate the sole survivor, a twitchy youth named Noitc, who nearly collapsed in relief at the sight of me unharmed. Babbling nervously, he confessed that the squad had abandoned their post after getting a message from me.
One I obviously hadn’t sent, because after they went to the designated coordinates, they were attacked by a pack of Voleks.
“It l-looked totally legitimate, sir, I swear! The security protocols matched, and everything!”
This was one of the many reasons we needed Havek back.
I barely restrained myself from crushing the fool’s throat for his idiocy.
Emma was gone because of his incompetence. But losing my temper wouldn’t bring her back any faster.
Seething with quiet rage, I left Noitc quaking in his boots and set off.
I fingered my percomm. I should notify Alkard and the others, let them know what was going on.
Except there was a reason he sent me on this mission alone.
Knowing Alkard, he had at least one other scheme to free Havek underway. More likely, he had a whole stack of them.
I couldn’t risk distracting him from that.
Even worse would be drawing attention to the Syndicate’s movements. We had too many secrets, too much information that could never be revealed.
I needed to solve this by myself.
Where would Conii take Emma?
Her old base in the Serpentine where Mera and Kovas were captured?
No. Word on the street was that Conii’s rival Munk made that sector too hot for her.
Word on the street.
If anyone knew where Emma was taken, it would be one of the Arkani. Those mysterious hooded figures made it their business to trade in secrets and information. And their network of eyes and ears was unparalleled in scope.
Fingers tapping as I ran, I set up another meeting with my contact.
