“Winslow never came back,” Belgiovene said, slouching in the chair opposite Ernst’s desk. “It’s like he vanished from the face of the Earth. But don’t ask me to keep waiting for him. I spent the better part of a day and a half sitting in his crummy apartment with nothing to do. Damn near went crazy.”
P. Frank Winslow’s laptop lay on Ernst’s desk. He drummed his fingers on its closed cover. Belgiovene had stated it was the only computer in the apartment. That didn’t mean Winslow hadn’t backed up his writing to a storage service like Dropbox, but no matter. He hadn’t called Belgiovene to his office to inquire about Winslow. The hack had been demoted to a secondary concern. Ernst had a much more delicate assignment for the killer.
“Let’s put P. Frank Winslow aside for the time being. We have a more pressing concern.”
“Oh?” His ennui was palpable.
“The Council has designated our loremaster a Threatening Presence.”
Belgiovene jerked upright in his chair.
Now he shows some life, Ernst thought.
“What? Slootjes a TP? That’s crazy.”
“I was as surprised as you, but he’s been denigrating the Council and the Order itself, and at noon he plans to spread his vitriol to the entire membership.”
The big man frowned. “What’s vitriol?”
“A fancy word for ‘poison.’” Not entirely accurate, but better that than trying to explain sulfuric acid to this man.
“Today? Of all days he’s chosen today to dump on the Order?”
“I tried to talk him out of it but he’s determined.”
He’d reasoned with the loremaster for half an hour but Slootjes might as well have been stone deaf for all the effect Ernst’s arguments had. When he’d informed him of the Council’s Threatening Presence designation, Slootjes pulled a pistol and ordered Ernst from the archives, saying he’d defend himself against whoever tried to stop his message.
Ernst fixed Belgiovene with a pointed stare. “So I’m afraid it’s up to you to—”
“Take him out? Me?” Belgiovene leaped from the chair. “No way. I don’t whack a brother. That’s a line I will not cross. Find somebody else.”
And with that he strode from the office.
Ernst watched him go, then sighed.
I guess that leaves me.
He’d work himself up to it. On today of all days, the beginning of what he had worked all his life to bring about, he was being forced to eliminate a brother of the Order. He could almost hate Slootjes for putting him in this position.
He nursed the negative feelings, certain that the more he thought about it, the easier it would become.