Page 21 of Siren's Gift

"I’ve been thinking about that, and I still don’t get it," Keiko said around her lollipop. "That’s not his style. He prefers grand gestures to make sure everyone knows what happens to those who talk."

"Exactly what I thought," I said.

"You knew about this?" Rin’s eyebrows drew together as he glanced down at his girlfriend. They had been inseparable since they met, and there was little they kept from one another.

She offered him an apologetic look. "Barely. I showed up at the last minute, but then I was forced to squeeze in an emergency salon visit." She held up her perfectly manicured nails and beamed.

Aaron stared at her hand. "What do your nails have to do with any of this?"

"One of Ichiro’s goons was waiting outside the diner’s back door, and he broke my nail." She shrugged. “So rude, right?”

I cut in before the conversation went even more off-track. "If it wasn’t him, was it a coincidence?"

Aaron’s gaze turned toward the water, his eyebrows drawn together in thought. "That would be one hell of a coincidence. Not just that Scott died, but that it was while he was with you. It may not be Ichiro’s typical way, but perhaps he wanted to send you a message directly without drawing attention to himself."

We contemplated that thought in silence for a moment.

"I don’t think he knows for sure you’re involved," Keiko said. "He’s testing you, to see how you’d react to the man’s death."

That made more sense than some of the other scenarios I had considered. "So he suspects me, but isn’t certain."

The others nodded as they saw the logic of the idea.

"If he thinks to scare me off, he doesn’t know me. No surprise there." I pulled out my phone and sent them the address I’d gotten from Scott. "Do any of you recognize this place?"

"Not the name, but I know the address," Aaron said as the others shook their heads. "From the ledgers. But it never had a name attached." His eyes widened. "Shit. The supply list makes more sense now."

"Makes sense how?" I asked.

Aaron smoothed his blond hair back, his only excited tell. "They’ve been ordering tubing and beakers, stuff like that. Usually, I only keep an eye out for weapons and magical items, so I hadn’t given the place more thought. But knowing what we do now…" He met my gaze just as I came to the same conclusion as my friend. "He must be producing the crystals there."

Eagerness rolled through me, though I kept it in check. We hadn’t confirmed this information, but if it was true, then we’d just made a huge leap forward in our investigation. Not only that but maybe Scott’s death wouldn’t be in vain after all. He might have given us the win we needed to bring Ichiro down.

"Keiko, Aaron, I need you two to stake out the place over the next few days. Learn what you can about their movements," I said, knowing they already knew what to look for. "Rin and I will gather information from the servers—blueprints, guard schedules, et cetera. I don’t want to do anything to tip Ichiro off, so we’ll need to be extremely cautious. More so than usual."

Finally, this was the lead we’d been searching for over the past few months.

Although I still had questions about our informant’s death and what Ichiro might know about my involvement, I wouldn’t let those thoughts stop me. I was more determined than ever.

The old man was going down.

It had takenmy team four days to gather enough information to make a move after our meeting at the Tidal Basin. We’d scouted guard rotations, hacked into the city planning department’s database to retrieve the lab’s layout, and stolen an access card, allowing us to disable key cameras and alarms.

Our plan wasn’t perfect—jobs like this never were—but we knew where the weak points were, and we had each other. It would work. Tonight, we would get the evidence we needed.

Darkness surrounded me as I stepped out of the car. We’d chosen a meeting spot that had few sources of light, and clouds obscured the moon. It was a few blocks away from the lab and would give us the secrecy we needed to prepare before breaking in.

I met the others on the sidewalk, our breaths appearing as small puffs in the crisp spring air. Crickets chirped around the site. This kind of evening would be peaceful if it weren’t for the tension building in my body.

Aaron glanced up and down the street. "I wish you’d reconsider doing it tonight. We don’t have enough intel yet and?—"

I cut him off with a sharp glance. "Most plans are better with more time, but we don’t have that luxury. We can’t wait for the perfect moment."

"I get it, Aaron, but Dominic’s right," Keiko said as she tugged a black mask over her head. While she could use her magic to encase herself in shadows, the mask acted as a backup in case the guards utilized some sort of anti-magic defenses. The fabric covered her entire face and neck, leaving just two slits forher eyes. "We have enough info to do this as long as we stick to the plan. No heroics."

"No heroics?" Rin stuck his lower lip out in a fake pout before pulling on his mask. "You’re taking all the fun out of this, babe."

"Someone has to keep you boys in line."

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