Trying to understand Ellery’s mind would require more information than
what I currently had access to, so I really hoped Delacourt came prepared with
some answers. In the meantime, I studied the impromptu timeline in front of me.
Ellery escaped five months ago but killed Mike only a couple months back.
“Why did Ellery wait so long?” I wondered aloud.
Kayden heard and asked, “For what?”
“To go after Mike.” I got up and started pacing between the table and the couch, doing my best to burn off some of my restlessness. On the couch, Tag continued working on his laptop, but Kayden shifted to watch me. I rubbed the
back of my neck as I moved. “What was Ellery doing for three months?”
“Retrieving the missing information?” Kayden suggested.
It almost felt right. “Three months to pull it out from wherever he hid it?
That seems a bit long.”
“Maybe, but remember, the investigators are pretty sure one of the guards managed to shoot him, so if he was injured, he’d have to hole up.”
“Okay, but if he was injured, wouldn’t he go after Mike first, then retrieve
the information? If Ellery sucks up psychic abilities and Mike was a healer, wouldn’t Ellery be inclined to fix himself before moving on?”
“If Ellery was injured, there’s no way in hell he’d risk taking on Mike.” Tag
didn’t bother looking up from his laptop. “Hand to hand, Mike could take almost
anyone down.”
Shit, Tag was right. Besides fishing, Mike enjoyed moonlighting in bouts of mixed martial arts. Nixing that line of logic, I forged ahead. “Fine, let’s say it took Ellery a month to get his hands on the information. What’s his next move?”
“Selling it.” Kayden leaned back, tucked his hands behind his head and
narrowed his gaze at the ceiling. “Chances are his initial buyers pulled out after
things went tits up. We all know there’s no shortage of interested parties for experimental viral weapons, so it wouldn’t take much to set up new ones.”
True. “How long would that take?”
Tag lifted his head, his attention zeroing in on me as I paced. “Considering
you have to get word out to attract the right kind of attention—”
“More like wrong kind of attention,” I corrected.
He grinned. “And you can’t rely on standard phone calls and emails, it could
easily take a month or so to set up communications with middlemen or with the
buyers directly.” He shared a look with Kayden. “With what Ellery was offering,
the need to stay under the radar would be vital to staying alive.”
I stopped and looked between the two men. “What am I missing?”
Kayden grimaced and Tag ducked his head, fingers resuming their dance
over the keyboard.
Kayden finally spoke up. “Ask Delacourt.”
My hands went to my hips, and I narrowed my gaze. “How much
information is she holding?”
“Enough.” Kayden shot a look at the clock. “She’ll be here soon, so you can
pester her to your heart’s content then.” He sat up and stretched. “In the meantime, I’m hungry. Let’s order dinner.”
Not the most subtle of conversation changers, but since I wasn’t sure my stomach could handle anything, I let them argue the merits of pizza versus hamburgers without chiming in. I went back to the table and my notebook,
determined to get my questions ready.
Delacourt would be here soon, and when she showed up, I wanted answers.
