Page 16 of A Man of Prestige

“What exactly am I looking at?” I question as I run a finger over a red string connecting a photo of my father with a photo of Conner’s dad.

“Well,” she begins as she places her hands on her hips, “the red strings connect who we know is an elite. The yellow strings connect the council members. The green strings connect TOD members. The blue strings connect council members to other people that aren’t TOD, but may in some way be connected. The orange strings connect family members.”

I stare at all the strings. It’s dizzying.

“And the colored dots?” I ask.

“Oh, right, uh, those are showing who we know might be involved in all the Confervo and Halfagher stuff.”

Conner is sitting on the bed, his back against the headrest, his long legs crossed at the ankles. “We have theories,” he says to Sebastian and me.

Alexis smirks. “Not theories, facts.”

Sebastian wraps his arms around her and rests his head on top of hers. I want to vomit. I’m happy for them, but I can’t help feeling bitter as I watch my two closest friends with their significant others.

“And what are these facts?” I ask.

“Well, one, we know that the elite is most definitely involved with whatever illegal activities are going on. But we don’t think all of the council is. I mean, you three aren’t,” Vivienne points out as she motions to all of us.

“OK,” I reply slowly.

“So, what if we only had to expose the ‘bad’ guys, and we leave the rest,” Alexis suggests. “We…clean house. A brotherhood isn’t bad by definition, but certain people have made it bad.”

Sebastian kisses the top of her head. I look away, focusing back on Vivienne.

“Then, we need to be sure we know all the players,” I state.

Vivienne nods her agreement. “Agreed. We know your three fathers, Jared, Adam, and Vance Blake, but we’re missing at least two elite members, and potentially some others who are on the council and may be involved.”

“Have you made progress on identifying them?” I turn to look at Alexis. “Have you remembered anything else?”

Alexis shakes her head. “No. I wish I could, but I haven’t been able to recall anything else.”

“We need to figure out the rest of the people involved,” Conner says as he puts his hands behind his head.

The way Vivienne looks at him has me wanting to step outside and give them privacy. Jesus, the chemistry between those two former enemies is fucking intense.

“I just feel like we’re missing some key links,” Alexis states as she stares at the wall.

Everyone nods in agreement.

My phone buzzes, and I see a text from the burner phone that I gave Ella.

Ella: We need to talk. Today.

Me: I have to be at my office.

Ella: I’ll meet you there. I can make up an excuse. We do get some supplies from there, so I’ll just make it so we ran out of something, and I’ll go pick it up myself.

Me: OK. Meet me in medical ward four, room eight twenty-seven.

Ella: OK.

I put my phone back in my pocket. Everyone is staring at me.

“It was Ella. Just checking in on the sample report to make sure I have everything I need.”

I hate lying, but if Ella wants to talk about us, then I want to keep that to myself for a bit longer.

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