Page 132 of Gates of Tartarus

“Alright. I’m fascinated. What is so important it got you out of your bed and interrupted your recovery?”

Frowning, I close my eyes briefly, trying to find the words. “Elizabeth,” I begin hesitantly, and her face tightens with anticipated emotion. “I’m sorry I have to tell you. I... well, the team is fairly certain your organization has been infiltrated by members of Kronos.”

Her eyes narrow. “Impossible,” she replies in a flat voice, all traces of her light, teasing manner gone in an instant.

“Elizabeth…”

She holds up her hand in a sharp motion, cutting me off. “It’simpossible. The background checks we have to join our organization, well, join on any level thatmeansanything, are more thorough than the FBI. If you’re flagged on anything,anything, you’re out. You’re mentored and monitored the entire first year… It’s just not possible.”

Sighing, I lock eyes with her. “Iamsorry, Elizabeth. Truly. But either someone has infiltrated your organization or is purporting to befromyour organization, in an effective enough way to have some serious clout.”

Anger makes her voice tense; like a tiger before it pounces, she says quietly, “I’ll entertain you. What prompted your suspicions?”

I quickly fill her in on the events of Thanksgiving weekend and the last week. She knew very little – just that I had been seriously injured on a raid. Nothing further had been passed along. From what Smith said, he didn’t even contact theBritishteam until much later in the week, the workload was so unexpected and overwhelming. So she didn’t know about the victims, the blinding chaos and horror of the night. Didn’t know about the dank cellar beneath the factory floor, the living grave, the gullet of Death. Didn’t know about the cracks and crevices that were created inside me, permanent lines of scar tissue and raw, exposed wounds in my brain. And didn’t know about the one moment of clarity taken from the wild desolation in the darkness – the “Not with Gaia. Thank God.”

Elizabeth’s eyes flare open in clear surprise, her emotion slamming into me like a thousand needles in my skin. “What?” she gasps, shock crashing into me like an earthquake.

I press one hand against my head and wrap the other around my stomach, swallowing convulsively. “Please…” I barely push out, then turn and heave into the nearby garbage can.

“Fallon!” snaps Elizabeth, concern and anger warring in her voice, and I can hear her assistant pouring water in a rush and hurrying over to me. But the hands pulling back my hair are paper thin and cold, Elizabeth’s pianist fingers gentle against my throbbing skull.

“I’m sorry,” she says sincerely, quietly. “I’m so very sorry, Kailani. I believe you assumed I’d be able to maintain my composure, as it were. I didn’t imagine... I promise I’ll settle myself and get through this with no more outbursts. Water?”

Taking the cup offered to me gratefully, hands shaking, I walk back to my seat and collapse down.

Elizabeth leans forward towards me, face carefully blank, only her white fingers betraying her internal conflict. “Kailani. Can you please take me through this again, step by step? As much as I’m permitted to know, of course. Don’t compromise your investigation in any way. But this is… this is quite a blow.”

Slowly, piece by piece, I walk her through the events of the weekend. The call to the SPD that tipped them off to the factory. The delays in communication between the SPD and the task-force team that led to a later-than-anticipated scan of the property. The desperation of the women, their blank faces, empty eyes.

Elizabeth takes it all in with laser-like focus, nodding at points, making notes in her head. “Was there any indication of Gaia’s presence?” she asks, concern heavy in every word, and I shake my head.

“No… and none of the women were verbal, not at first anyways.”

“What changed?”

“We had trouble getting the last group out. I had to... I don’t know, CDS calls itpushing… I pushed some confidence, for lack of a better word, into them. Just to get them out of that hell-pit. And one of them just… just... came back to herself. Briefly, but she came back. And then apparently the team was able to get some basic details at the hospital, very scant details, but details nonetheless.”

Elizabeth nods, letting out a long, slow breath. “I just can’t understand what their supposed connection is to Gaia. I don’t – was she able to say anything regarding how she got there? Any description of whom she dealt with? I’m happy to run through my database of employees if you have any description at all. Were any of the other women able to help in any way? This is devastating. Just devastating.”

I shrug apologetically. “To be honest, Elizabeth, I’m out of the loop at the moment. I’ve been recovering, and haven’t been briefed on anything yet. I get paralyzing headaches after being up for two or three hours, need to be in dim light most of the day still… I don’t have those details. I know you don’t love the team at the moment, but maybe you could work it out with Jonah?”

Nodding thoughtfully, she presses a finger to her mouth. “I’ll contact Officer Shotridge, if that’s what you recommend. I feel personally attacked, almost.” Sighing, she shakes her head. “I’m sorry. I’m just – I have built this Foundation from the ground, piece by piece. No one will ever know the blood, sweat, and tears that went into its creation. It’s like a child to me, Kailani. Years of effort are on the precipice of being destroyed. I have kept Gaia faultlessly clean – at quite a cost, I don’t mind telling you. We’ve avoided certain donors, have taken no political stances, are scrupulous in the events we sponsor and the companies we support…” Elizabeth truly looks devastated. “If this were to get out, the press would have a field day. A positive field day.”

“Surely the years you’ve dedicated…”

Elizabeth laughs bitterly. “Oh Kailani. You ofallpeople should know a doubt is as much as a conviction in the public eye. You never,neverrecover from certain rumors. It doesn’t matter if the facts are proved out in your favor, doesn’t matter if the person accusing you is a murderer, or rapist, or felon. It will be attached to you forever, and the whispers will never cease.”

Shaking my head, I stare down at my trembling hands. I know that she’s right, know that what she’s saying is true. There’s no comfort I can offer. If there is a leak in this investigation, the work that Gaia has done around the globe for years will be nothing but dust on the wind.

Elizabeth looks down too and sees my shaking hands. Reaching out, she takes them gently in her own. “Your Agent Shotridge is here now, I believe?” I nod, and shehmmmssoftly to herself. “Alright. Would it be acceptable to you if I have Fallon escort you to my private meditation room – it’s quiet there, and you can rest while I speak with Agent Shotridge. I think, perhaps, you’re done for the day?”

“That sounds perfect. Thank you, Elizabeth.”

Her sharp smile flashes briefly through her worry. “Ah well. I’m still trying to lure you over to the dark side. Though perhaps I shouldn’t make such jokes considering recent events.”

Laughing quietly, I shake my head, then follow Fallon to the quiet, dark room and promptly fall asleep until Jonah wakes me several hours later and takes me home.

Ye Canna Change the Laws of Physics

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