When Gunnar climbed back into the truck and shut the door, it was a solid minute before he spoke.
“Richard Rutledge is the CEO of ComTac,” he finally said. He must have been familiar with the organization. “It’s privately held, and he’s the principal shareholder. He has a lot of money.”
“So all that talk about protecting humans?”
“Some of it could be true,” Gunnar said. “Right now he doesn’t have an army of his own nearly big enough to fight the Paranormals. At least, not that your tax dollars have funded. But if the Veil opens again, if we have to wage a war again, the feds would probably give him plenty of money to build one.”
“So he wants the cash?” Liam asked.
“And the power,” Gunnar agreed. “I’m going to get guards on Gavin’s apartment, just in case.”
“Gavin won’t like that,” Liam said.
“I’ve already convinced him.” Gunnar’s tone was dry. “Will you take me back to the Cabildo? I need to talk to the Commandant.”
Liam gestured toward me. “And her?”
“She goes back to the store, where she’ll stay until further notice.”
I hated his presumptiveness, but I’d rather be in the store than anywhere else, so I didn’t bother to argue.
He had a right to be miffed at me. Better, I thought, to let him power through it. He ran as hot as Tadji ran cold. I ran somewhere right down the middle. Probably one of the reasons we were such good friends. Or had been until one man’s greed tore us apart.
• • •
By the time we got back to the store, it was past midnight and my body ached all over. I wanted to crawl into bed and hibernate for a month or two, but that wasn’t in the cards.
Liam and I sat at the table in the store’s backroom, waiting for Gunnar to arrive.
He’d crossed his arms, crossed his ankles on top of it, staring out the front door. I sat in the chair beside him, arms on the table, head on my arms. I closed my eyes, jumped back to consciousness when Gunnar came back in.
I sat up, pushed the hair from my eyes.
“You shouldn’t have let me fall asleep,” I said as Gunnar crossed the room.
“You looked exhausted,” Liam said.
I looked at him. The bruise on his cheekbone was darker, and he looked tired, too. “I think we could both use a nap.”
He half smiled. “Soon as we save the world.”
“What happened?” I asked.
Gunnar pulled out a chair, which squeaked in objection across the floor. “The Commandant approved the Chenal operation. He thought Rutledge was planning to bring in a rogue Paranormal. Rutledge is already back, had already talked to him. He told the Commandant the operation was sabotaged.”
Ice water ran down my spine. “He gave the Commandant our names?”
Gunnar shook his head. “No. According to the Commandant, Rutledge didn’t give any names. He stuck to his ‘rogue Paranormal’ story.”
Liam frowned. “Why not give us up? He had to know we’d go to Containment.”
“Why would he?” Gunnar asked. “He doesn’t know that Claire has a connection to the Commandant through me, or that I knew about Tadji’s family, the missing Sensitives, the entire deal. And I didn’t at the time. He’d have thought it would be too risky.”
Liam held up a hand. “So if he didn’t tell the Commandant about us, who’d he blame for the operation going bad?”
“He said there was a conspiracy against Containment that originated in Devil’s Isle—and a Para with a lot of computer equipment.”
“Richard Rutledge is the CEO of ComTac,” he finally said. He must have been familiar with the organization. “It’s privately held, and he’s the principal shareholder. He has a lot of money.”
“So all that talk about protecting humans?”
“Some of it could be true,” Gunnar said. “Right now he doesn’t have an army of his own nearly big enough to fight the Paranormals. At least, not that your tax dollars have funded. But if the Veil opens again, if we have to wage a war again, the feds would probably give him plenty of money to build one.”
“So he wants the cash?” Liam asked.
“And the power,” Gunnar agreed. “I’m going to get guards on Gavin’s apartment, just in case.”
“Gavin won’t like that,” Liam said.
“I’ve already convinced him.” Gunnar’s tone was dry. “Will you take me back to the Cabildo? I need to talk to the Commandant.”
Liam gestured toward me. “And her?”
“She goes back to the store, where she’ll stay until further notice.”
I hated his presumptiveness, but I’d rather be in the store than anywhere else, so I didn’t bother to argue.
He had a right to be miffed at me. Better, I thought, to let him power through it. He ran as hot as Tadji ran cold. I ran somewhere right down the middle. Probably one of the reasons we were such good friends. Or had been until one man’s greed tore us apart.
• • •
By the time we got back to the store, it was past midnight and my body ached all over. I wanted to crawl into bed and hibernate for a month or two, but that wasn’t in the cards.
Liam and I sat at the table in the store’s backroom, waiting for Gunnar to arrive.
He’d crossed his arms, crossed his ankles on top of it, staring out the front door. I sat in the chair beside him, arms on the table, head on my arms. I closed my eyes, jumped back to consciousness when Gunnar came back in.
I sat up, pushed the hair from my eyes.
“You shouldn’t have let me fall asleep,” I said as Gunnar crossed the room.
“You looked exhausted,” Liam said.
I looked at him. The bruise on his cheekbone was darker, and he looked tired, too. “I think we could both use a nap.”
He half smiled. “Soon as we save the world.”
“What happened?” I asked.
Gunnar pulled out a chair, which squeaked in objection across the floor. “The Commandant approved the Chenal operation. He thought Rutledge was planning to bring in a rogue Paranormal. Rutledge is already back, had already talked to him. He told the Commandant the operation was sabotaged.”
Ice water ran down my spine. “He gave the Commandant our names?”
Gunnar shook his head. “No. According to the Commandant, Rutledge didn’t give any names. He stuck to his ‘rogue Paranormal’ story.”
Liam frowned. “Why not give us up? He had to know we’d go to Containment.”
“Why would he?” Gunnar asked. “He doesn’t know that Claire has a connection to the Commandant through me, or that I knew about Tadji’s family, the missing Sensitives, the entire deal. And I didn’t at the time. He’d have thought it would be too risky.”
Liam held up a hand. “So if he didn’t tell the Commandant about us, who’d he blame for the operation going bad?”
“He said there was a conspiracy against Containment that originated in Devil’s Isle—and a Para with a lot of computer equipment.”
