Ada smiled when she caught sight of me. “Finally!” she called. “I thought you weren’t coming.”
“Yeah, yeah, I had to pack.” I smiled at Loch. “Hello, Marcus.”
He inclined his head. “Hello, Bianca.”
When I got close, Ada pulled me into a hug, then held me out at arm’s length. “You look terrible,” she said bluntly.
“It’s been a day. I’ll tell you about it, but not right now. Do you have a transport?”
She nodded and slid my bag off my shoulder. I started to protest, but she handed it to Loch and whispered, “You don’t want him to feel useless, do you?”
Loch grinned at me over her shoulder and I chuckled. Marcus Loch was a Genesis Project supersoldier; he wouldn’t feel useless because I didn’t let him carry my bag. But Ada’s comment had drawn me into laughter and she smiled, pleased.
Chapter 19
Ada and Loch entered the transport first and sat next to each other, leaving Ian and me to sit across from them. Ian was stiff and quiet next to me. Ada swiped her identity chip over the reader and set our destination.
“So, what happened?” she asked.
I gave her a very brief recap of what I’d learned from Riccardo.
“The Silvas might be bastards but no one can say they’re not smart bastards,” Ada said. “When their deal went wrong, they made Ferdinand someone else’s problem and got paid for doing it.” She shook her head in grudging respect. “MineCorp will kill Ferdinand if they find out who he is. How do we get him back?”
Ada intuitively understood something it had taken me time to figure out. She’d always excelled at understanding tactics and motivation. Father had made a grave mistake when he’d banished her.
“I have requests for information out, but I’m probably going to need physical access to MineCorp’s network,” I said, “so I need you to set up a meeting for me later today. I was thinking we’d spin it as me doing preliminary research on companies to mine one of my planets.”
She nodded slowly. “That might work. Are you sure you want to go in as yourself?”
“Yes, I’ll need the power of our name to get deep enough to do any good. Set the meeting as late as possible. Claim my need for privacy or whatever else you have to do.”
“I will be accompanying Lady Bianca,” Ian said, his voice hard.
Ada raised an eyebrow and pointedly looked at me. I sighed. “Ian will be accompanying me, Ada. Play nice.”
She didn’t have to fake her incredulous expression. “You threatened to geld Marcus with a rusty fork. You have no room to talk about playing nice.”
Ian launched into a fit of coughing that sounded suspiciously like muffled laughter.
“That was different,” I said. I pointed at Marcus and mouthed, I’ll still do it, too. His eyes crinkled at the corners as if he, too, was suppressing a smile.
So much for all of my supposed power. Not that I thought the threat was needed any longer. It was clear that Marcus Loch was ridiculously in love with my sister, and she with him.
Envy nipped at my heart. I acknowledged the emotion, then set it aside. I did want what she had, but I’d never begrudge Ada her happiness. She deserved every happiness in the world.
Ian finally got his “coughing” under control and asked, “Why don’t we break in after hours? No one will know we’re looking for Ferdinand and you don’t have to betray your location to Riccardo.”
“Does anyone know how good their security is? I might be able to override their surveillance system given a few hours, but it’s not without risk.”
“Ada and I will check it out while you two rest,” Loch said. I started to protest, but he cut me off. “You’re dead on your feet. Resting for a few hours will do far more for Ferdinand than if you keep going and make a stupid mistake because you’re tired.”
He was right, of course, but I hated to admit it. Ada grinned at my grumbling, but her eyes were serious. “You left me out before. This is something I can do without any unnecessary risk. Let me help,” she said, her voice pleading. “He’s my brother, too.”
I closed my eyes against the tears and nodded. While I’d always see her as my baby sister, Ada was fully capable of assessing a building’s security without my help. And with Loch glued to her side, she wouldn’t be in any danger.
“Riccardo said the kidnapping contract was anonymous, which I believe,” I said, “but he thought it came from someone high in the Consortium. Can you think of anyone in particular who would benefit from Ferdinand’s disappearance?”
Ada thought about it for a minute, then shook her head. “No. It might weaken our House slightly, but Hannah would just step up and no one has gone after her.”
I bit my tongue. Hannah had asked me not to share the fact that she wouldn’t be replacing Ferdinand. Instead, I said, “Catarina is looking into a potential leak in the House. Perhaps they are related and it’s just someone with a grudge.”
Ian glanced sharply at me. “How do you know about the leak?”
“Someone tipped off a photographer about Ferdinand’s schedule on the day he was taken. How do you know about the leak?”
“It’s my job,” Ian said. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “We’ve been tracking down a high-level leak for months, but whoever it is, he or she is being very, very careful.”
“So we find the leaker, figure out who they leaked to, and find the culprit?” Ada asked.
I didn’t think it would be as easy as that, especially if Ian hadn’t already plugged the leak, but I nodded anyway. I’d update Catarina with the new information and see if she could make any more progress.
As we edged into the heart of Sedition, wireless signals flew fast and furious. Breathing helped, but not enough. I gritted my teeth and tried mentally pulling back, but it was like trying to escape a whirlpool in a rowboat. By the time the transport landed behind an impressive four-story stone house situated on a lot with a yard, my dinner was nearly ready to make another appearance.
The tiny portion of my brain not occupied with keeping the contents of my stomach where they belonged tried to calculate the vast amount of money each house represented. Every centimeter of Sedition was precious. Towers soared all around, but this street had seemingly been untouched by the ever-expanding climb upward.
Ian helped me from the transport, then lightly clasped my arm and let Ada and Loch precede us. “Are you okay?” he murmured into my ear.
I glanced up at him in surprise—he’d noticed something was wrong. I gave him an honest answer. “My stomach is upset.”
“Can I do anything?”
Warmth bloomed, but I shook my head. Getting in a silencer would help more than anything else.
“Let me know if that changes,” he said.
I inclined my head in agreement and he escorted me into the House.
Inside, the signal noise dropped a little, held back by the thick stone walls, similar to House von Hasenberg. From what I could see, the interior was as luxurious as a House worth more than some small planets should be. Ada led us up two flights of stairs, to a hallway with doors on both sides.