Page 112 of Raven

It’s not a lifeless gray stone tomb anymore. There are plants everywhere, shelves, odds and ends—Katura’s doing. There’s some exotic tree that almost reaches the ceiling. There are colorful pillows. Clothes, for Christ’s sake—something the meticulous Archer Crone never left lying around. The first time I saw it and commented, Archer rolled his eyes. “Smoking is outside,” he said, and I grinned, and he chuckled, shook his head, and murmured, “Shut up. Don’t say anything.”

Right now, it’s cool and somewhat dim inside. No usual background music. No voices. But when I walk into the living room, the usual crew is there—Archer, Bishop, Marlow, even Katura—of course, Archer would bring her into this—and…

Maddy.

Archer is standing with a drink in his hand, watching me approach.

Bishop and Marlow sit on the couch.

Katura sits on the couch section next to them.

Maddy is next to her and gives me a quick glance, barely an acknowledgment. God forbid someone thinks we are actually an item. Though the people in this room know we are fucking. It’s all right. That was the deal, right? I’m good enough for fucking but not for being seen together.

The blinds are closed. There’s dead silence in the room. And suddenly, this feels like a funeral.

“Take a seat,” Archer says, motioning to the only empty spot on the couch next to Bishop.

Did they already tell Maddy they know? If not, does she suspect what is about to be revealed? Does she know she is finally caught? Fuck, I should’ve called her.

“A drink?” Archer offers, but he is the only one drinking. His gaze is too grim.

Marlow plays with his keychain. Bishop studies everyone in silence. Katura is on an iPad, probably working, always working. The girl is addicted to CC-TVs and spyware and the screwed-up puzzles that make up Ayana’s secrets. She is ingenious but never properly trained in IT or anything of the sort, hence her random strange ideas about investigations that surprisingly uncover more and more dirt in Ayana.

Only Maddy looks out of place in her nurse uniform, her hair in a bun at the back of her head.

Marlow speaks first. “So, security issue number one. Cunningham and O’Shea had someone on the inside.”

He is obviously starting from afar, except we discussed that multiple times before.

“We know that,” I say, since everyone else is quiet. “Who?”

Archer swings the booze in his drink, tonguing his cheek. He seems more tense than usual. “Kat is going through the guards’ schedules.”

Katura doesn’t raise her eyes from the iPad. “I’m running AI cross-checking all the schedules, breaks, badge scans, then cross-referencing them with all the employees.”

“That’s several hundred people,” Marlow says.

“Yeah,” she says. “And I’ll figure it out.”

This conversation is a repeat of many others, and I know that it is a pointless warmup to the main reason we gathered her.

“Can we get down to business?” I ask, irritated.

Archer exhales loudly. “We found Milena Tsariuk.”

I want to punch him for doing this slow-burn-secret-reveal. “You said that.”

He glances at Maddy. I look at her, then back at him.

“You realize why she is here, right?” he says.

Again, this fucking foreplay is unnecessary. I don’t respond, only stare him down.

“It’s Maddy,” he says.

There is no way going back or trying to deny it or speculating because the people in this room are the smartest ones when it comes to Ayana security.

I stay quiet for a moment, making sure I don’t give away myself before I finally speak. “When did you find out?”

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