Page 53 of Undercover Shadow
Her expression flickered—surprise, perhaps at the compliment—but it was gone as quickly as it had come.
“You made sure I would be.”
“Nightingale, Leila?—”
“The files are ready.” She angled the laptop so I could see the screen. “We should review the presentation order before the others join.”
The shutters came down, sealing her away from me again.
I stood beside her, both of us looking at the screen rather than each other, and began planning how to present what we’d found.
The videoconference went live at sixteen hundred hours. My large monitor divided into multiple feeds, showing Con and Lex in Edinburgh, Ash and Sullivan at the borders, Archon and Prima somewhere in the Northern Highlands, and Gus and Renegade calling in from what looked like a hotel room. Typhon and Viper occupied their own frames, likely both from London.
“Right then,” Typhon said, his voice cutting through the ambient noise from multiple locations. “Obsidian, you called this meeting. What did you find?”
I pulled up the first image on the screen—the steel door in the cavern beneath Glenshadow.
“We discovered modern infrastructure and signs of recent activity,” I began, cycling through the photos we’d taken.
“Were they moving AIWS components?” Typhon asked.
Nightingale leaned into frame. “Unknown. The space was empty when we found it. However, the setup suggests they stored sensitive equipment or electronics.”
Viper’s eyes sharpened. “How long has this been in use?”
“Impossible to say with certainty.”
“Understood,” said Typhon. “Moving on, then. Infidel, Edinburgh status?”
Con’s feed expanded. “We’ve confirmed that James Dalgleish is the owner of the Imperial Gallery, where Lex and I noted suspicious activity during the Orlov investigation. Now, we’ve been able to document specifics. He’s been hosting private viewings over the past seventy-two hours. High-value transactions, but the buyers aren’t your typical art collectors.”
Lex appeared beside him, pulling up data. “Eastern European, Middle Eastern, Asian interests—same profiles we observed during our initial surveillance. We’ve been able to access transaction detail as well. The amounts are substantial—six and seven figures. As Con said, the suspects are more likely arms dealers rather than art patrons.”
“The Imperial Club is also back on our radar,” Con added. “The private members’ club where we intercepted conversations about Orlov’s consortium. Dalgleish, who is a member, has been meeting with Russian interests—likely the same individuals we heard discussing ‘the package from St. Petersburg’ and integration timelines.”
“So the gallery and club are directly connected?” I asked.
“Yes. Dalgleish uses the gallery for transactions and the club for negotiations. Classic operational separation—one location for money, another for business discussions.”
“The same shell company structure we tracked to Nova Perspectives during the Orlov investigation remains active,” Lex continued.
Nightingale leaned forward. “Nova Perspectives was connected to Orlov’s consortium?”
“Affirmative,” Con replied. “Which means whoever’s running Labyrinth now was part of Orlov’s operation then. The network didn’t collapse after the explosion at the Inverness facility.”
“Is Dalgleish your primary suspect for running the Edinburgh operation?” Viper asked.
“Based on the transaction volume and the buyer profiles, yes. But he’s not working alone. This is too sophisticated for a single person.”
Typhon’s gaze shifted. “Archon, Prima. Northern Highlands report.”
Archon’s feed came forward. The nondescript background could have been anywhere in the Highlands. “We’ve been investigating the area north of Inverness as assigned. Thermal imaging has detected some anomalies.”
“Specify,” said Typhon.
“Heat signatures in areas that should be cold. We’re still gathering data. Nothing conclusive yet.”
The vagueness was deliberate, and from Typhon’s slight nod, he understood why. Whatever they’d found near Renegade’s family estate wasn’t something to discuss on an open channel with this many people listening.
