We stepped outside to be met by a small, personal flitter bearing the crest of the High Lord on its side. Kelly asked me no further questions aloud, though his eyes burned with those unspoken.
Once we settled ourselves inside and the pilot took off, it was time to explain.
“It seems your Council boarded one of the train cars meant to transport trade goods, and brought your parents and brother along as guests,” I informed him tightly.
“Are you serious? The entire Council?” That was madness.
“I don’t know. The message just said the Council.”
“I suppose we’ll find out soon enough.”
“It also said they’d brought items in large sealed containers that they insisted is evidence.”
Kelly’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Seriously? That should be interesting.”
I nodded in silent agreement. Then we arrived at the rail station, leaving us no more time for personal discussion. Exiting the flitter, the sight that greeted us was of a tense tableau. Senior Hunters stood next to and behind the Hand, facing off against several humans wearing that metal star I knew marked them as working for Kelly.
“Your deputies?” I asked him quietly.
“Yes.”
“Sorry, Sheriff,” one of them said, “but we’re here under orders.” The man threw a look of disgust at the lone man who must be representing the Council here.
“Councilman Fishman, I have to admit it’s a surprise to see you here,” Kelly called out to him.
“Yes, well, I had to come since you decided to evade justice rather than admit you were the ones killing all those poor omegas, and then Lord Roe and his remaining family when he found out,” he replied silkily.
The Hand walked forward, extending his arm to offer the traditional human handshake greeting. “Welcome to our House. May truth prevail, justice be served, and our peoples united.”
Fishman took his hand gingerly, as if handling a poisonous kif that had dropped down from a tree. “Yes, well, thank you.” He inclined his head to indicate several large rectangular boxes. “I’ve brought evidence to support our claim.”
He winced as the Hand tightened his grip, still shaking Fishman’s hand as if he had no idea that it was meant to be brief. I knew better, knowing exactly what our senses were capable of. “That your sheriff murdered the dead omegas and killed Lord Roe and his family?” he asked disingenuously.
“Er, yes.”
The Hand’s smile grew feral. “Kistral,” he called out to one of the Senior Hunters, “please have your men take custody of this ‘evidence’ and catalog what it is.”
“Yes, sir,” came the response and the deputies moved to one side, looking at the Hunters warily.
“Be careful,” the deputy who’d spoken earlier said. “There’s bodies in there.”
“Is there,” the Hand said, still shaking Fishman’s hand. Fishman caught the edge in his voice and tried pulling out of his grip. All congeniality left the Hand’s face. “I scent deceit, and your pulse thrums with it. I also scent trepidation, all from you, Councilman. You come here, telling lies,” he purred.
The deputies looked surprised at this turn of events.
“Where are my parents and brother?” Kelly demanded.
“Already taken away,” Kistral replied as he supervised his men lifting the boxes. “My men escorted them to a guest house to refresh themselves.”
I had but the briefest of moments to glimpse Fishman’s look of outrage before the Hand moved, changing his stance to spin the Councilman around and subdue him. A Senior Hunter was by his side in the blink of an eye, fastening restraints around his arms.
“This is an outrage!” he screamed.
The deputies merely watched, making no move to assist him.
“Well, I didn’t see that coming,” one said.
“We all knew this was beast shit from the get go!” another retorted. “We all know the Sheriff. He ain’t capable of any of this shit.” The man glared balefully at the Councilman. “And why did the Council have all of us sent along, leaving no law enforcement behind? Who were those goons he said would mind our offices?”
“Who, indeed?” Kelly asked.
“You men surrender to the High Lord’s Justice?” Kistral asked, moving back to stand next to the Hand now that a nearby shuttle had the boxes safely loaded on board.
The deputies looked at each other uneasily. “We under arrest?” the one who defended Kelly to the others asked.
“Not yet,” the Hand stated. “First, we need you to issue an official accounting of events for our records. The Arbiter will then decide what further action we need to take.”
“They’re my men,” Kelly said, stepping forward. “I’d like to take responsibility for their wellbeing.”
The Hand gifted him with a look of approval. “We shall liaise with you then, Sheriff Townsend, once the Arbiter has made his decision.”
It was the best Kelly could hope for and to my relief, he appeared to realize it.
“Miller, you’re senior, so please make sure everyone cooperates fully,” he said, looking at a brown-haired man of stocky build who had deep smile lines bracketing his amber eyes and full lipid mouth.
“You got it, Sheriff. Will we be going home after this? Can’t say I’m happy with those yahoos sitting in our chairs.”
“All will be made clear, gentlemen,” the Hand replied.
“There are things I need to tell you all,” Kelly added. “After.” He ran a hand down his face. “The Council has been hiding a bunch of stuff from us and it’s not good.”
The men all stiffened, casting angry looks in Fishman’s direction. I allowed myself to relax as Fishman was hauled away. I had a feeling Kelly’s new staff had just grown by the dozen, all from the ranks of his men.
“You can’t do this! I’m Lord Fishman! We have a treaty! No! There’s a dead body in that! I can’t sit next to it, especially not on the floor! I’m going to have you all fired!”
His ranting continued until the door of the shuttle shut, cutting off his futile complaints. The Hand turned to face us. “Sorry we interrupted your ceremony planning. The flitter will take you to the guest house to meet with the Sheriff’s family. Richard should already be on his way there.”
“His parents are there too?” Kelly asked.
“Yes.”
“Well, that makes things easier,” he muttered. We watched as the deputies followed the remaining Hunters to the second transport shuttle and it took off, and only then boarded the flitter.
“Well, if that’s not a turn up for the books,” Kelly said, his expression grim.
I reached for his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. The Council had delivered us evidence our lab techs would forensically examine, as well as allies, and Kelly and Richard’s vulnerable family members. All good, except unfortunately, they’d increased their stranglehold on the human settlement. Now we didn’t only have to find the identity of who killed the omegas and Lord Roe as well as bust the piloris operation, but completely remove the Council. They’d left us no way forward to truly uniting our people.