They relaxed in the hammock for a long while, trying to re-establish the connection disrupted by the woman's accusation and Logan's tantrum, but everything still felt a little off when Smith called. Edgar braced himself for the worst and the best news, knowing the outcome could be the same: Ivy leaving. Her chasing after Keller and leaving everything else behind. Leaving him behind. As they waited for Smith in Edgar's office, Edgar knew he would rather leave the city and his brothers than lose her. Whatever it was between them, it made him feel more whole than anything else, including his family, since the day he lost Anna. He thought Anna's death would kill him, but he knew for damn sure that losing Ivy would be the end of him.
She paced the perimeter of his office in silence, wringing her hands, and a nervous energy crackled through the room. Edgar sat behind his desk as he watched her, and his brothers occupied the couch and chairs. Ruby leaned against the wall, watching. Logan remained grim, expression hard. Edgar hadn't seen him that way since some guy tried to kill Natalia.
Edgar took a breath to break the silence and the tension, but a knock on the door interrupted. One of the butlers opened the door. "Sir, Mr. Smith here to see you."
"Thank you," Edgar said, getting to his feet. "Show him in."
Smith strode in, a massive file under one arm and a few rolls of much larger paper under the other. He shook hands with everyone and started unpacking the files. "We got a lot more than I expected. Knowing his name helped significantly. Thank you for that, Ivy. Without you, we might never have connected the dots."
She managed a brief smile but it fled too soon and left her expressionless as she stood next to the investigator.
Smith went on without pausing and started to hand around copies of a profile on Keller. "Markus Keller, founder and owner of Keller Pharmaceuticals. Sixty-four years old, married. Four grown children. He lives here, just outside of town to the west."
Edgar concentrated on Ivy more than the information, trying to memorize every emotion that crossed her face as she listened to Smith. Keller had a spotless record, not even a parking ticket, but his financial records were next to impossible to unravel. Smith mentioned the possibility of hiring someone to exploit computers they might be able to take in a raid, in order to determine who supported Keller's research. Great chunks of money disappeared, completely unaccounted for, in the records Smith managed to find, but more detail would be difficult to acquire.
Logan's expression darkened. "That won't be a problem much longer. I purchased the company."
"I beg your pardon?" Smith looked only politely interested.
Edgar watched his brother, holding his breath. Logan made emotional decisions with his money once in a blue moon, and only when something really pushed him over the edge. Like purchasing the restaurant where Natalia worked after she refused to serve him any food and kicked him out.
"I bought it." Logan folded his arms over his chest. "Keller Pharmaceuticals is now part of my company. I haven't decided whether to take it apart and sell it off, piece by piece, or if there's some way to get some good out of all the evil he's done." His expression didn't exactly soften as he looked at Ivy, but regret made him more subdued. "It's Ivy's choice. Her choice what we do with it."
"That's a multi-million dollar purchase. A hostile purchase, I'm assuming?" Benedict sat forward, jaw slack. "Jesus, Logan. Maybe you should talk to your lawyer before you do something like that? Especially if they're involved in something that's, I don't know... illegal?"
Logan didn't blink or look away from Smith. "I invested with them and Keller misused my money. So I'm going to make sure whatever research he's doing isn't hurting shifters. And I will get to the bottom of whoever's helping him."
Ivy cleared her throat, a hint of panic around her eyes. "Does he know? That you bought his company, I mean."
"The board of directors knows. They're voting on it tomorrow morning." A muscle jumped in Logan's jaw. "I don't expect a problem."
Smith tapped the coffee table where he'd spread out a few papers. "That will make the finances part easier, certainly, as long as Keller hasn't gotten wind of it. He's got two headquarters. His cell phone is pinging here." He unrolled one of the large tubes of paper to point at a specific location.
Edgar rubbed his jaw. "We'll need the rest of the Council. At least the bears and the pack. Taking down a building that size will require muscle. Does he have security there?"
"Mostly electronic — cameras, alarms, things like that. We weren't able to get someone inside the smaller headquarters building because it requires ID badges, but we did not see any evidence of armed guards."
"We should expect them going in," Atticus said. "We might need to call up the rest of our teams, Ed."
"They're on standby." Edgar looked at Ruby. "Does BloodMoon have any plans this evening?"
She nodded, gaze on Ivy. "Yeah. We're going to race you to get this guy first so Ivy can rip his face off. Got it?"
"Good." Edgar returned to his desk and sent the alert message out to the highly-trained security teams they employed. A mixture of humans and shifters, the teams were a quick reaction force for any contingency the Chase family encountered. Most had experience in the military or elite police forces. If they knew a hint of what Keller and his minions were doing, there wouldn't be enough left for Ivy to identify or punish.
Ivy crouched next to Smith, asking soft questions as she studied the plans for the building and the other information he'd found on Keller. Edgar glanced up as Carter approached the desk. "Are you riding with Ruby's pack?"
"I'll ride with you," he said, then hesitated. After looking over his shoulder to make sure no one would overhear, Carter cleared his throat. "You doing okay, Edgar? There's a lot changing, and it seems like —"
"I'm fine." Edgar loved his easy-going brother, the sensitive one who always knew when something wasn't right in the family, but he couldn't afford to think about everything that wasn't okay. If Edgar paused to consider the night's outcome, particularly where Ivy would go if they caught Keller and finished her list, he wouldn't be able to function. He just had to get through the next few hours. Then he could stop to process how much spun out of his control. But he attempted a smile for Carter. "Really. It will be fine. Well, except for the kitchen. What the hell is Natalia going to do for Thanksgiving? Everything will still be in pieces."
"I think she'll figure it out, and don't change the subject. Have you talked to Ivy about what she's going to do after all of this is over?"
"No, and I'm not going to. We'll figure it out when the time comes."
Carter took a breath. "Edgar —"
"We'll figure it out when the time comes." Edgar held up a hand to limit whatever else his brother wanted to say. "I'm serious, Carter. I don't want to talk about it."
His brother eyed him but didn't push, and they both returned to the table to catch the rest of the planning. Smith organized some of his papers and took one of the rolls with him. "The night cleaning crew goes in at two in the morning. If it's okay with you, I will be there to get inside the building. I can let you in when you arrive."
"Are you sure?" Atticus frowned at him. "I can do it. No offense, but aren't you a little... old to be leading the charge through the door?"
The investigator's eyes glinted like mercury for a heartbeat only, and Edgar caught sight of those odd elongated pupils. Ivy leaned away from him, as if expecting an explosion. But Smith only smiled very slightly. "Yes, I am old, but there's a better chance of someone letting me through a door than a meathead like you."
"Fair enough," Atticus said. "Two, you said?"
"Yes." Smith shook Edgar's hand, nodded to the others, and turned to go. "Call me if there's a change."
When the door clicked shut behind him, the room went into overdrive. The team leaders for his security teams arrived, and Edgar filled them in on what was going on. His brothers started calling the rest of the shifters they could count on to help them, aligning as much force as they could muster. In the back of his head, Edgar hoped they wouldn't need the full team of medics he called up, but he knew things might go badly wrong. There could be dozens of kids locked up, half crazy from drugs and experiments, or some of his guys could be injured if it went to a shootout.
Even lost in the details of the blueprints and the plans to search the building, he couldn't forget about Ivy. She was a silent presence at his elbow the entire night, observing everything but not saying much, and periodically he would reach out to touch her shoulder or back or hand. Needing a connection. Needing her. Missing her already, even when she stood next to him.