Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
She moved past me into the study, and I closed the door behind us.
“What’s going on?”
She stood behind a chair, her long, dark hair glinting in the light from a nearby lamp. As the only other American on the council, she’d been social friends with my grandfather from time to time. This meant I knew her a little better than the others and naturally trusted her more. Whether I should or not remained to be seen.
She inhaled through her nose, then spoke. “I’m sure we shouldn’t be speaking of this outside the game room, but I honestly don’t know the proper procedure for this, Locke. And I’m not sure who on the council I can trust.”
I frowned. There was a reason why the council didn’t conduct our business through conversations. Selene knew this as well as I did. But the idea of her breaking protocol could only mean—
“One of the players has made an illegal move outside of the game,” she said in a hushed voice.
“What kind of move?”
Her eyes met mine. “Using information in a game to expand personal wealth.”
I stared at her for a moment, uncomprehending. Not wanting to comprehend.
Betraying the rules of the game was unfathomable. Because of the nature of what we did and the secrecy around our legacy, we couldn’t simply boot someone out of the group. If someone left the Paxis Council, they left in a box.
This rule was so well-known, it hadn’t needed to be enforced since before my grandfather’s tenure on the council.
It was also the reason the entire council had to approve any new members, regardless of bloodline or legacy. Santi Alvarado wouldn’t be allowed to learn the truth of the game unless he proved worthy.
Which seemed impossible now that I was going to drown him in my own pool.
“Which of us?” I demanded.
She shook her head and shrugged. “I haven’t gotten that far.”
I let out a frustrated breath. “How do you know this, then?”
Selene moved to take a seat in one of the two armchairs in front of the large desk, so I joined her in the other. “Remember the last tournament? Your grandfather and I made a collaborative move.”
I thought back to the decision to invest in microchips to advance counterfeit-resistant medical supply tracking. As a group, we’d decided Mercier’s own company couldn’t be involved without raising suspicion, so she’d advised which of her competitors should get the contract.
“I remember,” I said.
“A significant number of shares in my competitor’s company were acquired mere hours after that move was played, for a sum large enough to have gotten the attention of Wall Street.”
My gut cramped. “Who made the purchase?”
Her lips tightened. “A shell company. Malik Makida Ltd. Registered in the Caymans. My people brought this to me a few weeks ago, and they’ve been trying to trace the owners, but you know how impossible that can be, even with our resources.”
“It might be a coincidence,” I pointed out. “People buy stocks for all sorts of reasons all the time.”
She nodded but said, “I don’t know that I believe in coincidences like this.”
I wasn’t sure I did either.
“So what do you propose?” I asked. “We can hardly throw out a blanket accusation with so little information. It would incite mistrust and would only prompt the betrayer to cover their tracks even further.”
“Of course.” She leaned back and crossed one leg over the other. “I think we must set a trap. In the game. Dangle a lure—another lucrative opportunity—and see if anyone bites. That, at least, will confirm that my suspicions are correct and one of us is complicit.”
“And if no one bites?”
Selene lifted one shoulder in an elegant shrug. “Then perhaps I’ll start to believe in coincidences.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and stood up again to pace. “Okay… so we wait for the game expansion? Later this week?”
She shook her head. “We need time to act if and when someone takes the bait.”
I groaned and considered the situation before landing on the answer.
We’d planned to quietly find the contraband on the MV Helvig Star and return it to Draković. But if, instead, we moved through official channels and allowed the Helvig line to take credit for stopping the plot… and then planted several rumors about Helvig’s strong dedication to stopping terrorism in its tracks… it would boost the company’s reputation in the industry, leading to global growth and profitability.
An unmissable opportunity for an investor.
“I have an idea,” I said.
“What is it?”
“You’ll see first thing in the morning when I make my move.”
Her face widened into a grin. “Your grandfather would be proud of you, Locke. Not surprised, just proud.”
I managed a ghost of a smile. “Thank you.”
But while I might trust Selene more than the others, I knew better than to take everything she said at face value. That was why I wasn’t sharing my plan.