Hi!

What a great weekend. I don't know if it's only me, but time is flying like crazy right now, and I can't really believe it's the end of April. Oh, and I definitely can't believe we're into chapter 13 already!! Anyway, hope you're all doing well, and that you'll enjoy this one. It was fun writing it :-) Let me know what you're thinking.

Lara

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Chapter 13

My eyes went to Kenneth, then back to Andy.

"Would it have been possible for someone from the outside to hack into the system and access video surveillance and who went and came?" Andy said. "The kind of information the Raven needed?"

Kenneth shook his head. "No. Not that I know of. I could only pull it off because I know this system. I picked up some things while working in the IT unit. I don't think anyone from outside would have been able to do it. Not over such a long time, and definitely not without being detected."

Andy's eyes went to me. "That confirms our theory. Someone infiltrated the Circle."

I straightened, pushed myself away from the back of the chair. We needed more than this. There had to be more than this.

"Anything else?"

Kenneth shoved his glasses up his nose, glancing back at the screens. "It will take some time to go through all of the data. Some of the information is still encrypted, and we didn't get all of it before I had to get my ass out of the system." He looked back at me. "I mean, before I had to pull out."

"I'm part of the Circle, remember? And I teamed up with that one before," I said, pointing at Andy. "I'm used to swearing."

My smile faded as soon as I got a look of Andy's face. "What?"

He turned back to one of the screens. Something about the way his shoulders tensed told me something was wrong.

"The Circle's security apparatus is built up of five rings of security," Andy said, staring at the screen. "The three outer ones are made up of conventional security measures combined with some of the most intricate spells this world has seen. Even if unauthorized persons make it through to the second one, it stops there. Access to the two innermost is restricted, even to certain personnel working in the headquarters. It's in the first and innermost ring where they control the video surveillance and alarm systems throughout the whole building." He turned to face us again. "There are seven shape shifters in the security apparatus that have all access codes and could technically enter the first ring without anyone noticing. Two out of the seven shape shifters are members of the Fade Pack. They can enter into the system and have direct access to all the security cameras, right?" Andy said.

Kenneth nodded. "That's right."

Andy nodded. "Good. We'll have a look at them first."

I stared at the screen behind him unseeingly. The fact that Marrok wanted the information we got from the half-witches was suspicious, which was the reason why we were now focusing on the shape shifters first. Still... I remembered Alexander's words. They are what one would call sworn enemies. Would Marrok consider an alliance with the half-witches, but refuse to work together with the Raven? And if yes, what could the half-witches give to him in return? They weren't powerful. It didn't make any sense.

Andy nudged my arm. "Did you bring the information we got from the half witches?"

I nodded slowly, still half in thought.

"What did you get so far?" He said.

"I had a look at Chris Hayes' files, but," I shook my head. "Andy, this is crazy. I thought Hayes was only anti-vampire, but that's not true. She was anti-Circle too. There are dozens of links and references to anti-Circle sites, some of them bordering on radical. And that's not where it ends. It looks like she collected articles about former cases of the Circle that show the Force's work in an unfavorable light. I didn't get through all of it, but from what I could see she made references and personal notes on every single one."

Andy stared at me. "What about contacts within the Circle or the Inri Brotherhood?"

I shook my head. "Nothing yet. But you know what really bothered me? Her business transactions. The numbers are staggering. Andy, that woman had her hands in practically every non-vamp club or business venture in the Riverside area. I have no idea why the half-witches fried her computer, but if there's something in there that could compromise her apart from that, I haven't seen it yet."

"Show me."

We used Andy's laptop and started going through the information.

* * *

"The notes and remarks on old cases don't tell us anything," Andy said, running a hand through his hair. "And we can't go back and research every single one of them. We don't have that kind of time. It's obvious that she was trying to get information that could hurt the Circle."

"I thought that we might find something in her business transactions. Proof that she was involved with the Inri Brotherhood," I said.

Andy shook his head. "I don't see a connection to the Raven, less Marrok or one of the shape shifters. Well, apart from the obvious: They're all transactions and reports about business ventures in the Riverside district."

"Yeah, you're right, most of them are, but there were some that stuck out. There are transactions that weren't in the same folder than the rest." I scrolled down and opened the next file. "Look at this one. It doesn't have a name or reference. Which is weird. All the business ventures were marked, if even only with some sort of code. These are not."

I clicked. The folder opened soundlessly. Andy leaned closer, staring at the screen hard. I pretended I didn't mind that he was that close to me. Instead I returned my attention to the screen, studying the file's contents.

"Transactions, but these are ... different," Andy said. "It looks like the account numbers are hidden, so we can't tell where the money went to exactly. Look at the dates the transactions were made and the amount of money. It starts with a ten-thousand Dollar withdrawal a few months ago."

He grabbed the mouse and scrolled down. "These are irregular transactions, and there are only three of them. Round sums. It looks like they are all coming from the same account number."

I shook my head and turned to Andy. "It doesn't make any sense. Compared to the other figures in the files these are pretty unique. I mean, this basically could be the account history of a private person. Unless-" My eyes widened. "You think this is Chris' private account? What if the ten-thousand Dollars were payment ... for the mole?"

Andy looked at me for a long moment. "I'm not sure. We're working under the assumption that the mole was or is working for the Raven. If this was payment for the mole, why would it show up on Chris' computer?"

I stared at him. "Unless we were wrong about who the mole was or is truly working for."

He shook his head. "We can't be sure about that. No matter what, we have to find out who made those transactions." He turned in his seat. "Kenneth, can you trace back the identity of the account holders and where the transactions went?"

Kenneth had been typing away on his keyboard for the whole time I'd been there. He only stopped once for a toilet break. Now he didn't even look up, but kept moving his fingers as if he was in trance, riding out a psychedelic drug that let him see numbers and equations others couldn't.

"Do you have the account numbers and dates?" he said.

Andy nodded. "The account numbers are hidden, but the rest is there."

"Send it over to me. I'll have a look at it after I'm through with this stuff. Oh, and bring me some more of that coffee." He pushed his glasses up his nose again, a nervous habit I'd seen him perform regularly. "Lucky I'm not picky. Stuff tastes like hell," he muttered.

Andy's lips tightened. "Beggars can't be choosers, Kenneth."

I smiled at that.

Andy got up and vanished into the kitchen, while I sent the nameless file to Kenneth. By the time Andy placed — not to say slammed — the mug on Kenneth's desk, I was already on the next file.

I don't remember how long we sat there, working through the electronic heap of information, but it had to have been more than three hours. By the time dusk set in I was developing a slight headache that, sadly, didn't improve with all the work we still had ahead of us.

I put my head in my hands, groaning. "I'm going crazy. There's nothing in there that indicates that the Raven and Chris were in contact, at all!"

I heard the rustling of cloth and looked up. Andy was leaning back in his chair, arms crossed behind his head. He was staring up at the ceiling, and for a moment I caught an unguarded expression on his face. There was no steel and stone in it. Somehow he looked younger. Something about it reminded me of the day I first met him.

My eyes wandered from his face to his forearms and shoulders, where the fabric of his shirt stretched and gave way to the muscles underneath. No, I was wrong. There was no denying it. He had changed, in more than one way.

"Maybe I'm all wrong, but I still think Chris was the link between the mole and the Raven," I finally said.

Andy's gaze moved back to me slowly. He dropped his hands and leaned forward. "When he blackmailed you, the Raven only contacted you directly or with the help of other rogues, right?"

I nodded.

"It's likely that it was the same with Chris. All he had to do was visit her via portal, or send one of his rogues. Just because we don't have any documentation or proof, doesn't mean it didn't happen." He took another sip of his coffee, adding, "Anyway, it's the only thing we've got to go by."

I looked back at the screen. "Still, if you're right, we won't find anything, no matter how long we look."

Andy looked at me for a long moment. He set the coffee mug down and got up. "Then we'll have to find other ways to get what we want." He turned to Kenneth, who — to my knowledge — hadn't stopped typing since his last toilet break. "I'm going out, Kenneth. You can crash here or let yourself out. Same goes for you, Anna."

Kenneth produced something that sounded like a mixture of a grunt and a snort, but didn't turn around.

Andy, meanwhile, walked past me and toward the front door.

I hurried after him and grabbed him by the arm. "Hey! What do you mean you're going out? What's going on?"

He turned to me slowly. There was some sort of determination in his eyes, made of rock-hard concrete and steel. The look gave me pause. What the hell was he up to?

"We might have all these files, but they're not going to do us a lot of good if we don't know what or whom we're looking for, Anna. All we're working with at the moment are speculations and theories. I have a source that could point us in the right direction."

I made a grab for my jacket. "I'm coming with you."

He put a hand on my elbow and took my jacket from me. "No, you're not."

There was an urgency and a finality to his voice that I had trouble explaining. I did a mental headshake. It didn't matter, I didn't care anyway.

"You were the one who wanted to help me find the mole, remember?" I said, jabbing a finger at his chest. "You wanted to share information and work together in this, so don't even start with some sort of it's-too-dangerous-for-you-crap! I was the one who was in contact with the Raven and the half-witches." And the shape shifters, I added mentally. "If someone knows how to ask the right questions, it's me."

He stared at me for a long moment. There was something in his brown eyes that I couldn't decipher, something more than naked determination and granite.

Finally he averted his eyes and nodded slowly.

"Fine."