Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80829 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80829 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“The auditor…”
“Already got her, sir.”
Her? Malcolm’s auditor was a man… and he had retired two years ago. The Guild must’ve assigned him to someone else. “Is it Susan Calloway?”
“It is.”
“Are they having an affair?”
Leo blinked. “They are! How…”
“Three years ago at the Establishment Party. He got two drinks, one for his wife and one for Susan, and when he handed the champagne to her, her face lit up. Then her husband returned to the table, and she stopped smiling.”
He had reminded Malcolm and Susan separately after that party that rules applied to them. The guild had a code of conduct, and every prospective guild member signed a document stating they read it and agreed to abide by it during the contract stage. Cold Chaos didn’t tolerate affairs. If both parties were single, relationships between guild members were fine, but cheating on your spouse, in or outside of the guild, would result in severe sanctions.
Adultery undermined trust, destroyed morale, and eroded the chain of command. That was the official position of the US Army, and during his tenure as an officer, he had seen that directive ignored time and time again. From the senior NCOs who made bets on who would be the first to get into a freshly-minted attractive lieutenant’s pants to officers who led double lives every time they went on a prolonged deployment. It never ended well.
He wanted none of that in the guild. If you didn’t have the discipline or moral resilience to remain faithful to the one person who should’ve mattered most in your life, how could anyone rely on you in the breach, where lives were on the line?
He’d made his position quite clear. Both Malcolm and Susan swore nothing was going on, and Elias hadn’t seen any signs of trouble since. Meanwhile Susan quietly became Malcolm’s auditor and chose to ignore his gambling.
Elias hid a sigh. Some days he was just done.
“Is Legal aware?” he asked.
“Yes. They do not believe that the casino will attempt to collect against Malcolm’s estate. They’ve gotten enough money from him already, and hounding the widow of a dead Talent is a bad look. Not to mention the fraud involved in all of this.”
“Jackson?”
“No news yet.”
“It won’t be long now,” Elias told him.
Elias’s phone chimed as if on cue. He glanced at it. An 81 country code.
“Speak of the devil.”
He took the call.
Yasuo Morita appeared on the screen, a trim man in his forties, dark hair cropped short, a shadow of a beard darkening his jaw and crow’s feet at the corners of his smart eyes.
“Elias. Good to see you,” Yasuo said. The Vice-Guildmaster of Hikari no Ryu spoke English with the barest trace of an accent.
“Good to see you as well.”
“Your healer is on a plane heading home. My people sent over the flight information.”
Out of Yasuo’s view Leo waved his tablet and nodded.
“This was not done at our request,” Yasuo said. “Someone got overzealous in currying favor. This mistake has been corrected.”
“Good to hear.”
“You surprised me. Nicely done.”
“Glad to know I can still keep you on your toes.”
Yasuo smiled. “It won’t happen again.”
There were a couple dozen high-profile US-born Talents working in Japan. This morning nine of them simultaneously asked for leave and booked tickets home. It was a hell of a statement, and it looked impressive, but it wasn’t made for the sake of Cold Chaos.
The guild sandbox was small and great healers were rare. Especially healers like Jackson who went out of his way to step in during an emergency. Elias had called every Talent who knew Jackson or benefited from the healer’s involvement. Some knew Jackson personally, others through family members, but all agreed that interference with healers had to be off limits.
Explaining all of this to Yasuo was unnecessary. They were much better off letting him think that Cold Chaos had extensive reach.
“How is my brother?” Yasuo asked.
“Yosuke is well. He’s been promoted to the lead damage dealer of the Assault Team 2.”
“As he should be. When you see him next, I hope you will do me the favor of reminding him that our father hasn’t seen him in two years.”
“I’ll mention it.”
“Good-bye and good luck.”
“You as well.”
Elias ended the call. “When does he land?”
“Not for a while.” Leo grimaced. “There is a typhoon heading for Japan. They are rerouting everything. The plane just boarded, and he’s on a flight out of Narita with an overnight layover in Hong Kong. I will start the prep.”
Even if Jackson was delayed by a day, things were moving. They would finally crack this damn breach. Elias squared his shoulders.
Everything would fall into place once they entered the gate.
9
I raised my head from the body of a lake dragon and listened. Next to me, Bear stopped chewing. Her ears twitched.
Something was stalking us through the tunnels.
We left the spider herders behind three sleeps ago. Without a watch, I had no idea how much time had passed, and my circadian rhythms were completely off. There was no sunrise or sunset. There were only the caves. We walked and fought until we got tired, then we ate and rested. It felt like I slept in short bursts, a few hours at a time rather than the full seven or eight.