“Good start, people,” Jay said. “Caeco got some intel on the two men and her good ol’ Uncle Mitch has a date with suspect number three.”
“And since Caeco got a look at both apartments, I’ll just have to make sure I get a good look at Ms. Brown’s place tonight,” Mitch said, looking smug.
“Whoa, don’t get all cocky there, hotshot,” Alice said.
“I’m picking her up at her place. Pretty much guarantees me a looksee,” he said.
“Whatever,” Alice said, turning away from him with a loud sniff. She did give me a wink though, and it was completely different from the one Jaleesa had fired off at Uncle Mitch.
“Eve, Morris, any progress on Caeco’s sketch?”
“Nothing. No hits of any kind,” Eve said. “Even Omega couldn’t find anything that is specifically about a Loyal Order of Arcana.”
“Yeah, nothing,” Morris agreed.
“I found something,” Seth said. “Spent some time in the Free Library of Philadelphia today while you all were car shopping. You know there’s a whole section on the history of Holmesburg? It’s well curated.”
“That’s awesome, Seth, but what did you find?” Agent Jay asked.
“Nice lady librarian remembered the name. Found some documents from back in the late seventeen hundreds. The Loyal Order was a fraternal society created right after the War of Independence. 1789. But there was no real detail about what it did. Some mention that only real patriots of the new country would be accepted in. There was a copy of an original certificate, and it looked just like Caeco’s drawing.”
“Excellent, Seth,” Agent Jay said with a big smile. “Any further mention of it?”
“Not that we could find. The librarian remembered seeing it because she had been researching something about Holmesburg and the name caught her eye.”
“But did you get a date?” Mitch asked.
“As a matter of fact… yes. Lunch tomorrow. We’re going to delve into a different section of the fiche materials and see what else we can find,” Seth said.
“Yeah Dawg,” Mitch said.
“Mitch, no, baby. Just no,” Alice said, shaking her head. “Although I’m sure there’s plenty of dawg in your 23andMe.”
“Team genetics aside, what else do we know?” Jay pressed.
“The username Placer appears seventy-two times in multiple locations across both the regular internet and the Dark Web,” Omega said suddenly.
“Can you trace it back to an IP?” Jay asked.
“Surprisingly… no. But that, in itself, is informative. I am very, very difficult to hide from.”
“Meaning what?” Mitch asked.
“Vorsook,” I said, causing the team to snap around and look at me.
“You are correct, Caeco, in that this fact raises that possibility to a very high level.”
“Just like that?” Agent Jay asked.
“Omega owns the internet,” I said with a shrug.
“A rather large generalization but essentially correct.”
“What if Declan helped you? Could you punch through?” I asked.
“Father’s gift with all things electronic could possibly make the needed difference, but again, it would alert the enemy.”
“Yeah, let’s table any involvement by O’Carroll or anyone outside the Bureau,” Jay said, maybe just a touch sharply.
“No kidding,” Mitch said with an involuntary shudder. “We don’t know if that spooky kid would even help anyway.”
“Father would certainly help me if I asked,” Omega responded instantly.
I mouthed “Are you crazy?” at Mitch while raising both hands palm up. Out loud, I said, “He doesn’t know Declan, Omega.”
“As you say, Caeco.”
The team was exchanging looks as I wrote on a pad of paper, looking up to see where laptop, cellphone, and tablet cameras were pointing. Then I reached out with my built-in electronic sensors and tested for microdrones. Nothing. Carefully keeping myself out of any camera fields of view, I held up the notepad so the team could see my words:
Do NOT Insult O’Carroll in front of Omega!!!!!
Agent Jay nodded, then looked around the room to get a nod from each team member while speaking out loud, “I’d prefer to keep this investigation unnoticed. Correct me if I’m wrong, but including your ex in anything would draw lots of attention.”
“Very true,” I answered.
“Essentially correct, Agent Jay. Father and Stacia do draw considerable attention these days. Also, I would like to add that I do not have emotions like you humans. I have certain analogs, but I am not upset by Agent Allen’s comment. However, if you do not really know my Father, as Caeco mentioned, you are probably not qualified to predict his actions,” Omega said.
“Exactly. And we don’t want to alert our opponents, so it was not the best idea,” I said.
“Brainstorming is almost always valuable, Caeco, but I think keeping under the radar is a good plan for the moment,” Jay said. “We’ve made contact with all three, and just barely opened the door to getting information on each of them. Mitch is working on Jaleesa Brown. We have the beginnings of an idea on this Loyal Order business, and Seth is continuing his work. But all we got on Cecil is the Placer email. We need to at least read it.”
“That I can provide, as I have already plucked a copy from Cecil Clarett’s email server,” Omega said. All of the electronic devices in the room suddenly chimed, dinged, or vibrated with incoming mail. I opened my own tablet to find the screen filled with an email from Omega with the Placer email embedded in the body of it.
Seneschal Elect
You are hereby ordered to initiate the secondary phase of your investiture assignment. Successful completion will clear you for your third and final phase before you are fully inducted as Supreme Seneschal, conveying the full powers and responsibilities of that position.
Placer
Supreme Regent
“The Loyal Order certificates are signed by three officers. They are titled Supreme Seneschal, Supreme Secretary, and Supreme Regent,” Seth said, looking up from his computer.
“Which certainly ties this whole Arcana thing to two of our suspects,” Mazar said with her slight Israeli accent.
“And makes our boy Cecil that much more interesting,” Agent Jay said. “Okay. Let’s go deep on all three suspects. Full background and workup. I want to know early family life, what they ate for breakfast a week ago, and the brand and color of their running shoes in middle school. Mitch, you and Alice take Jaleesa. Eve and Morris, look into Morgan Peterson. Caeco and Chana, you got Cecil. Seth, more on the Order. Amy, stay on the line; we’ll perform triage on my emails and calls. Let’s go, people. We regroup in two hours.”
“I will provide help with social media, email, financial, medical, education, and other records as needed,” Omega said.
“Thank you, Omega,” Agent Jay said.
“Of course, Special Agent-in-Charge Jay.”
Most of the team exchanged glances, Mitch and Mazar smiling, Alice frowning, and Seth wearing a thoughtful expression. Agent Jay gave us all a bemused raised eyebrow, then started talking to Amy on her Bluetooth while studying her computer screen.
Mazar came over, laptop computer and notepad in hand. As she sat down beside me and set her computer alongside my tablet, both screens suddenly filled up with blue highlighted hyperlinks listing Criminal Records, Employment History, Education, Family, Financial Condition, Known Associates, Medical History, Social Media, and Travel.
“Whoa. That’s cool,” she said, clicking on Travel. The screen lit up with a chronological listing of Cecil’s travels by plane, train, and car, both domestic and international. “Wow, how handy is that?” she asked, giving me a sideways glance and smile.
“You are loving this, aren’t you?” I asked.
“Absolutely. Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to run against Omega? Probably not,” she said. “Let me tell you, then: This is awesome.” She waved a hand at the fully researched information.
“He’s not against you all. He’s just… guarded… when it comes to certain things,” I said.
She nodded. “As you said so many times before. This one,” she nodded at Agent Jay, “appears to listen far, far better.”
“Yeah. That’s kind of a nice change,” I admitted, reaching out to touch the Education link. A listing of Cecil’s achievements spread out over the tablet. “Hmm, Master’s in History from UPenn. What’s he doing working a customer service line?”
“What was he doing back when the Great Recession hit?” she asked, leaning close to look at my screen.
I jumped back to the menu and hit Employment History, forcing myself to hold my physical position. I’m not very comfortable with other people in my space. But Jetta and Ashley both have both told me to pay attention when my personal zone was invaded and to see if I could determine when and why it was happening. So I did. Plus, it goes against my martial background to just give up space.
“Staff researcher for a Philadelphia art museum,” I said, watching her. She studied my screen, then pointed.
“Gap in his work history right after. Probably laid off,” she said, then straightened away and sent her own computer into the Financial Condition page. “Ah. Credit rating dropped right about that time too. And based on these numbers and the past due bill on his fridge, times have been tough. Real tough.”
Clicking on the Family link brought me to his childhood. “Hmm, parents still alive and still married—to each other. Father was a professor… of history. Mother a librarian. Older brother is a doctor in New York City.”
“Ah!” Chana said, her eyes lighting up as she leaned over to look at my page.
“What?” I asked, still not moving away. I got no weird vibe from her, just maybe a greater comfort level with other people’s personal space.
“Sibling rivalry,” she said, studying my expression. Whatever she saw prompted her to continue. “I have a sister and two brothers. My oldest brother is a Colonel in the IDF. My sister is a physical therapist with a successful practice. I’m on detached duty to the FBI, but like my father, am an expert on ancient religious mythology. My youngest brother works as a driver and guide for a desert tourism company in Tel Aviv. He avoids family get-togethers and doesn’t talk much to the rest of us.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because he feels judged by my parents for his lifestyle. Your mother is a tough woman. How does she feel about you working for the Bureau?”
“She is rather vocal that it is a waste of my abilities.”
“Imagine if you had a sister, like you, with the same kinds of abilities, but she chose to work for a house painting company. How would your mother react?”
“Possibly violently,” I said. Chana laughed, but the laugh died away as she realized I wasn’t joking. But the mental image of my mother’s possible reaction brought her point home. Much as my path in life wasn’t ideal in my mother’s eyes, it wasn’t an absolute horror or a waste of my abilities to aid law enforcement. She would just prefer that I took it further—higher. Working for Oracle would probably please her, as I could likely advance rapidly. She had also mentioned me working for her current employer.
“So Cecil had a decent, respectable job, in line socially with his father’s, but not up to his brother’s. Then he lost it. So his family punishes him,” I said.
“Well, maybe not punishes, maybe more like pressures him to do better. It likely takes the form of praise and attention for his physician brother. None of your friends have sibling issues like this?”
“I don’t have that many. Jetta and her brother lost their parents, so they are very close and supportive of each other. Declan is an only child, as is Ashley Moore. The Bokland twins seem to have each other’s back, Tami is trying to avoid the family tradition of murdering her favorite family member, and I really never got to know much about the others.”
She just stared at me for a moment. “Wow. No wonder you fit in with them.”
“I didn’t. Not really. That’s why I’m here.”
“Oh? Or is it that just that you and your first boyfriend went your own ways as you both grew? Be honest. If Declan was never a boyfriend, just a friend, where would you be right now?” she asked.
“Either still at Arcane or working for Demidova.”
Mother had pretty much conditioned me to respond to questions about my health and status with blunt honesty.
“First romances rarely last. It’s entirely normal,” she said, giving me a smile before delving back into her study of our suspect’s life.
Entirely normal. Two words that have almost never been uttered together in relation to my own existence.
I liked that she had said them.