Winnie had to park a block away from her home after returning from her meeting with Charlie. She had stopped to run some errands, went to her class, and was ready to come home for the evening. Sluggishly, she climbed the stairs of her brownstone home. Just as she was yanking her keys from her designer purse, they slipped from her fingers and clattered down a step.
“One more thing to add to this awful day.” She couldn’t help but curse under her breath, being fed up with everything since learning about her brother.
One foot after the other, she went back down her steps and bent over to retrieve them. Her purse, hanging from one shoulder, slid to her front and off her shoulder. With an irritated grunt, she flung it back behind her roughly before grabbing the keys and standing.
Then, she saw her under the lamplight.
Across the street, seated on a park bench, was the same woman from the ASA office, the one who had caught Rodgers’ attention. Winnie’s perfectly done eyebrows furrowed, her teeth grinding in her growing frustrations and, acting on a wave of impulsivity, she decided to approach her.
The mystery woman was startled by the time she noticed Winnie already halfway across the street. She began to collect her things, not wanting to stick around to find out if she was indeed coming her way but Winnie, sensing she was about to escape, broke into a sprint.
“Stop!” She shouted as the woman tried to take off. Lucky for the princess, Winnie was a lot faster than she looked.
“Wait!” The woman begged as Winnie grabbed her shirt before her other hand landed on the unknown woman’s arm. “I can explain!”
“Then explain fast!” Winnie yelled back, yanking to spin the woman around. “Why did my brother react to you! Are you following us?”
“I am following you but I have a reason!” She tried to wiggle out but Winnie was, coincidentally, also stronger than she looked. In a very ungraceful manner, the frustrated princess jumped on the other woman, her body weight bringing them both to the floor.
“Stop!” The woman begged. “I know how to save Charlie! Please, I’m family!”
“Then why are you running?” She got on top of her, holding her shoulders to the ground.
“You chased me!” She countered, looking up in surprise at the little princess that so easily dragged her to the floor.
“No, answer me correctly! Why?” Winnie shook her shoulders as she hovered over her. Being able to tackle someone was the one perk of growing up with two brothers, even if she only had one of those brothers until he was ten. “I’m getting really tired of secrets.”
“Yandy Fisher is my father,” the woman spoke quickly, extending her hands to help her innocence.
“Bullshit!” Winnie shut her down, thinking it was only a tactic to throw her off her guard.
“Truth! It’s the truth!” She huffed from being out of breath in their struggle. “There’s a letter, a letter in my pocket from him to me.”
Winnie looked her over in the streetlight. Her features were soft, much like her own. Her hair was dark, much like her own. But her skin was tanned and her eyes were dark, much unlike her own.
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-one.” She answered.
That was while her father was unmarried, it didn’t seem completely unreasonable. Even if she was younger and born during their marriage, she would probably still think it was possible. Winnie didn’t have much faith in her father’s loyalty to their mother. It was hard when he had such little loyalty to anything but himself.
She continued to sit on who was supposedly her sister and reached into her coat pocket.
“The other one.”
“Shut up.” Winnie went to the other one and ripped out the letter. She opened it, reading over the letter that was most certainly in her father’s handwriting and with his signature.
Eliesa,
It brings me much displeasure to have to write you this letter. Unfortunately, I am unable to provide the level of relationship you are seeking. I do apologize, as I know this is not the outcome you were hoping for.
Out of my generosity, I can send you an allowance once per month at a number of your choosing in exchange for your cooperation and understanding.
Please only write back a number, I will know who sent it.
Best Regards,
Yandy Fisher
Winnie slowly got off of her, getting up and reluctantly reaching out a hand. The woman took it and got up, rubbing her side that had come crashing to the floor not too long ago.
“Your name is Eliesa?” Winnie glared up at the woman as she spoke.
“Yes.” She answered.
“Who is your mother?” Winnie folded up the letter and handed it back to her and Eliesa took it and put it back in her pocket. She was stalling, not wanting to answer but she also didn’t want to be tackled to the floor again. So, she decided to just be honest.
“Sage Barrar.”
Winnie pressed her lips tightly together, that made no sense to her.
“The queen of the underworld is your mother?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so.”
Winnie ran her hand through the part of her hair, trying to fix it from their scuffle, and it fell perfectly apart. She really didn’t look all too disheveled even though they had just been on the ground. She still, somehow, remained just as radiant.
“Get inside.”
“What?” Eliesa spoke as she looked at her in shock.
“Inside!” Winnie motioned to her front door that was back across the street. “Get inside my house before I change my mind.”
The two women went across the street in heavy silence. They went up the stairs, Winnie unlocking the door before they entered the cozy home.
Pip came running immediately and Lavender, who was waiting on the steps, scurried away upon seeing the stranger. Winnie would’ve laughed at the cat had they been under different circumstances. Instead, she shut the door behind them and locked it immediately.
“Shoes off.” She instructed before they both removed their shoes and left them at the door. In an attempt to get the small dog to stop barking at her, Eliesa crouched down and let him get a good sniff of her.
Winnie walked into her home, past the living room and to the kitchen. Eliesa stood, following at her heels with Pip right behind her, now silent. He was wagging his tail now, immediately taking a liking to this newcomer after she had given him some attention.
Then again, though, Pip liked most people.
“This meeting remains between us right now.” She was not going to Brenner over this for the simple fact that she wanted a secret too. Maybe it was childish of her but, right now, she didn’t care. She was mad at Brenner for holding things back from her. She felt as if she had every single right to know about what he was thinking or planning.
It was for those reasons, yes, but she also didn’t want to be told she was making a bad decision trusting someone with such a powerful mother. She was so desperate to save Charlie from being framed even if he didn’t want to see her.
“Sit,” she pointed to the kitchen table. “Can I get you a coffee?”
“Um,” Eliesa slowly sat down. “Sure. That would be nice.”
“Iced?”
“Hot.” She requested before explaining why. “I’m a fire Nezulu.”
“Like Rodgers.” Winnie hummed and Eliesa nodded her head. Awkwardness filled the room as they tried to be civil, like they weren’t just on the dirty ground of the city sidewalk fighting.
She put the pod in the coffee maker and pressed the button, placing a pink mug under the spout before it began to drip and fill the room with the aroma of coffee beans.
Once it was finished, she picked it up more towards the rim and placed it down in front of the woman that claimed to be her older sister. She made another with ice, in silence, and sat, placing creamer on the table as well.
They both stayed there with no sound but the creaks of the house for a while, not knowing what to say to each other or where to start. Winnie only ever dealt with older brothers, never an older sister. Not only that, but she didn’t know the woman, nor knew where to start to get to know her.
Eventually, it ended up being Winnie who broke the ice.
“Rodgers seemed like he noticed you at the ASA. So, I assume you followed him first,” She rubbed the rim of her mug with her thumb as she spoke. “Why did you switch to me?”
Eliesa put back the creamer after pouring some into her very overly pinked-out mug.
“You seemed the most understanding.” She said after some time had passed.
“How’d you figure that?”
Eliesa took a sip before answering, hoping that drinking something would lessen the tension she felt in her throat.
“You and Charlie were easy to study because of your public appearances and articles. Rodgers was too mysterious to approach. I tried, thinking maybe he would understand being an outcast, but he had so much anger to him that I backed off,” She thought back to him on the train and cleared her throat of the knot that was forming. “Charlie, no offense, was never an option. He seems too, uh, intense, I guess you could say.”
Winnie nodded, these were accurate assumptions on both of them. She couldn’t necessarily disagree with what she had gathered on the fraternal twins.
“How long have you been stalking us?”
“I wouldn’t call it stalking,” She mumbled and flicked the handle of her mug with her fingernail. “But about a week.”
“Why?” Winnie didn’t care too much that she was drilling her with questions. She felt like, for once since the arrest, she was in charge of the situation.
“My mother only recently let me in on her plans. I don’t know much, she only seemed to let me in a little, but she wants to get back at Yandy for what he has done to her.” Eliesa thought for a moment before continuing, figuring Winnie might have an entirely different perspective on what their father had done. “He banished her to the underworld, coming down to fool around with her then disappearing when he found out she was having a girl, me.”
That stung Winnie’s heart a little. It wasn’t widely known that Yandy wasn’t too thrilled to have a daughter instead of another son, but you could piece it together just by knowing her name. She felt his love and affection, but it was almost like he would never love her fully because he didn’t see her as someone actually useful to him.
“Did he leave you both because you weren’t a man or did he leave you because of my optics?”
“Possibly both.” Eliesa admitted. “My mother says it’s because I was of no use to him as an heir, but I believe he just doesn’t want the shame of a child made with his supposed enemy.”
Winnie nodded slowly, understanding both sides of the story. Winnie believed that it was quite possibly both reasons that led Yandy to do what he did, her knowing the reality of his thoughts well enough to come to that conclusion. .
“So, then I suppose your research led you to my legal name?”
“Yes. Princess Edward.” Eliesa nearly whispered, knowing the name probably hurt the woman. She glanced up from her cup then, looking over the princess who sat with a blank look in her eyes. She could imagine the memories running through her brain, the pain, the abandonment she, herself, knew much about.
“That’s why you chose me in the end, why I would understand.” Winnie reasoned, blinking away the gloss in her eyes.
“I understand it’s an easy way of connecting us, but I swear to you that it’s the truth,” Eliesa was fully aware how this could look like a trap. The last thing she wanted was to be turned away. “I just want to help.”
Winnie extended her hand to the woman then, holding it out flat on the table.
Slowly, Eliesa took it. Her warm hand contrasted with the woman’s icy one, but it felt good. Like a perfect balance came together where their skin touched, creating a comforting hold. They each gave each other a squeeze of understanding, the silence saying more than they could about the shared pain he had put them both through.
Their hands came undone shortly after their squeeze and the two women sat there for a moment. Both two people, of no fault of their own, dealt the very bad hand of not being a son.
“All that heartbreak from him and yet you’re here on the opposite side of your mom?” Winnie spoke up, thinking back to what she said about tearing her father down.
“Innocent people are going to get hurt,” Eliesa, while she didn’t know every detail, knew that this plan didn’t spare any expense. Revenge rarely did once the person was consumed by it.
“Why does she have to do with Charlie’s arrest? You said before that you knew how to save him but have only spoken about some plan to get back at our father.” Winnie said as she furrowed her brow.
“She created this plan to get his reputation tarnished and draw her into her trap alone, without the ASA at his side. She wanted him isolated by sending him to prison.” Eliesa admitted her mother’s reasoning.
“She was the one that set him up? Not that Zeken guy?” While it wasn’t confirmed to her, she just figured that he would be someone with the most motive. It’s not like Brenner gave her much to go off of which was still actively pissing her off.
“You’d be right to some extent, he is the one that is helping her,” Eliesa wanted her to know that Zeken was, indeed, involved. The second her mother even mentioned the plan included destroying Charlie, he signed on without needing anything more to bribe him. “I’m afraid my cowardice to approach either of you made me too late to help before he left.”
“Before he left?” Her voice was low, like she didn’t want to ask because she didn’t think she would like the answer.
It was then that Eliesa realized that the princess did not know of her brother's willing escape. She took a deep breath in, not knowing her well enough to know how she was going to react to this.
“Charlie has taken the bait and transported himself to Zease, right into Zeken’s hands where he will hold him until their plan is ready. He willingly escaped his cell in hopes to capture Zeken,” She figured ripping the bandaid off was the best course of action. “I don’t know what she plans to use him for, but I know it can’t be good.”
“How do you know he’s already gone?” Winnie said quickly, her heart beginning to race at hearing Charlie was in danger.
“I’ve been locked onto his power signature, I learned how from my mother.” Eliesa answered.
“Okay, well, what do we do? What do you know so far?” If she was going to stop this and save her brother, she needed everything that Eliesa knew. With her information and what Winnie knew of the Zeken case, she hoped they could piece enough together.
“I know that Zeken didn’t free himself, he waited for the ASA to make it easy for him to leave at the request of my mother.” She saw Winnie looking confused at the ASA’s involvement and tried to relay the gravity of the situation. “People are starting to divide into two sides, all of the wizards are falling to hers and some Nezulu all around the world have given her their loyalty. Her war, the world to end the reign of multiple gods, is already happening. She has a prophecy that I’m guessing she has all the lines to now, and she will stop at nothing until she sees her new world. The wizards want to abolish the ASA, start something new, take away the power that Nezulu’s have over our governments.” Eliesa looked her sister deep in the eyes, reaching for her hand once again with both of hers. “She wants to destroy Cloenia, starting with Fisher.”
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Winnie’s head felt like it was spinning around at her words. Not only was her brother trapped and in harm's way, but her beloved home was in danger as well. Sage Barrar, Kulun of the Dead, wanted to flatten her home. The rolling hills, the cobblestone streets, the quaint old buildings, her people; she wanted it flattened.
“She wants to bring her kingdom to the surface and use the islands as her own personal playground. She wants everyone to pay for turning their back on her, so many will die if we do nothing. We need to stop this before it gets any larger and get him back.” Eliesa continued when Winnie said nothing, almost begging her to see the end of the world before her. “She wants our father’s decapitated head encased in the steps leading up to her throne.”
Winnie, for the first time that night, thought about calling someone. Brenner and Rodgers, especially her father, as their kingdom would be the first to fall, but she sat up straighter. She needed to get her brother back first. People would listen to him before they ever listened to her. If she went to get help now, she was sure they would just talk over her or not believe a thing she was saying. Charlie would never do that to her. Charlie would listen and know what to do. She needed him back, he was much better suited to save the world.
“This still stays between us, for now. Especially your existence. Do you understand?” Winnie asked, not even sure she could trust Rodgers. He had known something back at the ASA that he refused to name.
If Sage already had loyal followers, she was so sure her brother would have to be one of them.
“Yes.” Eliesa understood but didn’t exactly agree.
“I need to figure out how to get Charlie back,” Winnie instructed. “We leave to get him tomorrow, I just have to find a way to get into Zease without a record of my presence by then.”
“I can give you a skin graph to fake the sensors in the transport.” Eliesa offered.
“Skin graph?” Winnie questioned, not knowing if she knew what that was or not. It didn’t sound familiar.
“My mother has been developing it. It adheres to your body but it’s removable. She had made it for the first part, framing Charlie, but her ultimate goal was looking for something more permanent. It’ll work for what we need; it will make you appear as someone else to the bioscanners.”
“Perfect. That solves that.” Winnie took in a breath, trying to raise her confidence. “Tomorrow, we leave for Zease.”
Eliesa nodded as Winnie stood then, her eyes following as she went to the sink. Winnie abruptly turned back to Eliesa, staring the woman down with a glare.
“If you’re lying to me, I’ll take you down myself. Don’t think the trust I’m giving you is blind.”
“I would expect nothing less.” Eliesa looked the little princess up and down. She knew that she was at least capable of getting her to the floor and she didn’t want to find out what else she was capable of if she was on the receiving end.
“Good.” Winnie nodded once, “I’ll show you where you can get comfortable and stay the night. I have a spare room.”
Back in Justin’s dirty apartment, Rodgers and Brenner sat next to each other on the small couch while Justin worked. Rodgers had picked up an old receipt as he folded it over on itself, bored while waiting in the silence of the small apartment. His inability to sit still was itching away at him, the craving for a brew growing stronger and stronger. He began to feel sick, a deep pit in his stomach that slithered up to the lining of his mouth.
“Wanna play twenty questions?” The ex-prince blurted out, looking at Brenner.
Brenner looked up from his phone and over to his boss’ brother. He didn’t look amused at his suggestion at all.
“Is this middle school?”
“I have nothing else to do.” Rodgers complained.
“You have your receipt.” Brenner countered, nodding his head to the paper in his hands.
“C’mon,” Rodgers groaned, hoping to sway him.
“No.” Was the quick response he got as Brenner went back to his phone.
Rodgers gave up with an obnoxious sigh and went back to folding up his receipt. Those thin hands only had a few more careful folds before the paper crab came to life. He held it out to Brenner once he was done, who looked over with that same unamused and serious face.
“You like it?” Rodgers asked.
“It’s actually not that bad.” Brenner mumbled back.
”Thanks.” He smiled before fiddling around with the crab. They were back to not speaking and Rodgers hit the screen of his phone to confirm that it was definitely dead. That obnoxious sigh sounded once again through the quiet apartment but Brenner said nothing. He didn’t even look at him.
Rodgers knew he had to do something before he exploded, so he came out swinging for means of entertainment.
“What was up when you said hello to Winnie when we came into the office? Are you always that weird around her?”
Brenner turned a little red and Rodgers knew he hit something. He almost wanted to celebrate as he felt the boredom leave his body.
“I, there was nothing wrong with how I greeted her.” Brenner shook his head, but the amount of blinks he took sped up.
“Are you kidding?” Rodgers began to laugh softly. “It was so awkward, like you’ve never spoken to a woman before in your life.”
Brenner looked away and crossed his arms over his chest. However, it did not have the effect he wanted as something seemed to have clicked in Rodgers’ withdrawal ridden brain then.
“Oh my god, have you ever dated anyone?”
“That’s none of your business.” Brenner refused to look back in Rodgers’ direction, which did not help his case. “We are only here to help Charlie, not discuss my dating history.”
“Nothing to discuss apparently!” Rodgers gave a full laugh now, almost like he couldn’t believe it. He adjusted himself on the couch then, putting an elbow on the back of it as he turned to fully face Brenner. “You’re a conventionally attractive man, you had to have been with someone at least once.”
Brenner said nothing. He didn’t want to say anything.
“You get with the other blonde on your team?”
“She is a respectable lady, I would never just ‘get with her’.” Brenner shook his head, insulted by the very thought that he would do that to Chelsea.
”Charlie?”
Brenner looked at Rodgers with both confusion and a bit of shock, mostly confusion.
“What?” He shook his head. “No. He’s my friend and my boss.”
Rodgers looked unimpressed at that answer, like he owed someone money now.
“No one?” Rodgers titled his head downwards to the agent and, when the redness on his face deepened, Rodgers came to the reality of the situation.
“Dude, that’s just sad.”
“I–“ Brenner pinched his nose out of frustration. “—I really would like to not talk about this. Just because I haven’t gallivanted throughout the entire city like you doesn’t mean I am less of a person.”
“I do not gallivant through the city.” Rodgers snorted, going back to how he was sitting before.
“I’m just—“ Brenner sighed. “—waiting for the right person.”
“Winnie.” Rodgers got a soda can thrown at him for that one, which hit him right in the side of the face.
Brenner was going to argue back, was going to defend himself, but his phone started to ring. It was probably for the best. Brenner’s pride could only take so much of Rodgers. He turned it over from where it was resting between his legs and saw that it was Jenna that was calling him.
“I need to take this.” Brenner said as he stood.
“Is this the one? Have your begs to the universe been answered?” Rodgers teased, laughing before Brenner threw a couch pillow at him. It had hit him square in the face, not on the side like the soda can.
“Shut up.” Brenner excused himself to the hall, his face still hot.
Now that he had the couch to himself, Rodgers stretched out and laid across the entire thing. He got comfortable where he was with ease, placing his feet up on the arm rest closest to the door.
His leg where he had been grazed pulsed as he laid there, like it had a heartbeat of its own. The dull pain in the background of his mind was enough to make him silently thank the universe that this was all going to be over with soon.
His job was done, as far as he was concerned.
It had barely been ten minutes before Rodgers found himself knocked out on the couch. He wasn’t sure if he was exhausted from running for his life, the pain of the withdrawals, or the blood loss from his leg, but it didn’t matter as he stayed asleep on the couch while Justin worked. There was no dream, it was the kind of sleep that grabbed hold of you and sucked you down into the depths.
Nothing but the clack of keys sounded throughout the home until the front door opened and shut once again.
Brenner returned to the apartment with frustration in his face and tension in his shoulders, more than he had while being questioned by Rodgers. He hit the sole of the ex-prince’s feet to get his attention and Rodgers twitched awake at once, groaning in displeasure but not opening his eyes.
“Charlie’s fucking gone.” Brenner announced to the room. “Jenna just confirmed it.”
“What?” Rodgers’ eyes snapped open as he moved to sit normally, now fully awake. The relief he had just had before he fell asleep running down and out his body.
Justin was now turned to face the other two from where he sat. He didn’t appear mad or even a little upset, only confused.
“How? When? Where?” Justin finally gathered his words together, immediately wanting to figure out what had happened.
“After all that work, too.” Rodgers muttered, thinking only moments ago that this was all about to be over for him. That this impending doom on the world would be placed right on his brother's shoulders once he was out and yet, here he was still carrying it all.
“Little less than an hour now,” Brenner ran his hand through his short blond hair, “and we don't know how. No one could tell me.”
“Like, alive and not in prison or dead and also not in prison?” Rodgers thought to clarify, wanting to know just how much longer he was going to be subjected to all this.
“He’s hopefully alive you idiot, they’re saying he escaped on his own free will. With his cellmate.” Brenner often wanted to kick the smaller Fisher twin just to see what he would do, now was one of those times.
Unfortunately, he held back.
“Who was the cellmate? Maybe I can look up his records.” Justin pried.
“They called him Rat. Full name is Rathburn Perlous.”
“I know him.” Justin’s features darkened over hearing the name, not needing to look the man up at all.
“Did we help arrest him?” Brenner asked, noting the discomfort in the techie.
“No, he was arrested across the water for a crime he didn’t commit. It was during the Zeken killings; his arrest was to help calm the public and assure them that Zeken didn’t leave Manhattan.”
“Then why do you know so much about the case?” Rodgers finally spoke up, raising a single eyebrow to the younger man. He didn’t see a reason as to why Justin would know so much about something they didn’t even help close.
“I went to the courtroom every day of the trial,” Justin admitted as he swung back around in his chair to face his screens. “It was horrible what they brought that old man through.”
“We need to focus back on Charlie.” Brenner said, not wanting to dwell on something that didn’t help the case at hand.
“Could they trace him?” Rodgers suggested.
“No,” Brenner shook his head. “Though he's not in the Americas anymore, they at least know that.”
Justin’s eyes started to widen, but not over what Brenner had said. On the screen before him, dozens of files began to load and open one by one. It went on for what felt like forever as each screen on his desk started to get littered in them, each one opening with a watermark that looked like a very particular crescent moon and cross symbol.
Justin sat aghast in his seat as Brenner and Rodgers came up behind him, not a word spoken between the trio as they watched the screen unfold its secrets to them. All that work they had just accomplished was before them now, every inch of the plan to frame Charlie could very well be in the documents they were looking over. Maybe it wouldn’t bring Charlie back, but it could, at minimum, clear his name.
“It’s unlike what I found in the other files,” Justin spoke, but it was barely a whisper in the silent room, “and it took about twice as long to open.”
“We’ve seen that symbol before, on the wrists of the Zeken victims,” Brenner was so sure of himself as he opened his phone and dialed back Jenna on speaker phone. It rang once before she answered.
“Brenner?” She spoke into the phone, her voice laced with concern as she wasn’t expecting him to call her back so soon, or at all.
“Jenna, how far along have you gotten on Zeken’s whereabouts?”
There was silence on her end for a bit, almost like she had to rethink what she was hearing him say.
“Not far given the situation.”
“Can you send me the symbol that was branded into the victims?” Brenner rushed along, not wanting to give her time to ask questions.
“Umm, Sure.” She was thrown, Brenner could tell that much, and spoke as if she knew he wasn’t telling her something. They could hear clicks of her laptop through the speaker before she spoke up again. “Sending a picture now.”
Brenner’s phone chimed and he clicked on her email, opening the attachment before he held it up to Justin’s screen.
It was a perfect match.
The three men looked at each other before Brenner nodded and put a finger to his lips to keep them quiet. He didn’t need the hard drive going to her official hands too early. He wanted to warn her about what they were doing but he didn’t exactly know how as this wasn’t ready for the ASA to have. He didn’t need Ralph trying to take it and destroy it before they could find Charlie.
“Thanks.” He continued. “Could you send the power signature map and the Zeken documents to Justin’s private email?”
“If you really need me to,” the clack of her keys returned as she followed instructions.
“Are you at the office, Jenna?”
“I’m at home, it’s late. I’ve been working in my living room trying to catch up on some stuff.” She paused, hoping to find her in on what he was hiding from her. “Why?”
“We may have something for you, but Justin and I will be taking a couple days of leave. Just be ready for us, keep working on Zeken.”
“Will do, Brenner. Just, please, stay safe.”
“We will. Thanks again, Jenna.” Brenner hung up, not wanting her to change her mind about prying.
Justin pulled up her email with the map. There were some smaller dots surrounding Manhattan but his signature was mostly in the cave and town.
“Check Cloenia.” Rodgers suggested and Justin scrolled down to the Bermuda Triangle. There was a small dot in Soci and a small dot in Zease, just barely on their shores and Justin gave a bit of a laugh at seeing the Zease signature.
“That’s unlucky for him given that Zease’s privacy laws prohibit the ASA from tracking signatures within their borders. He must have entered Zease in a strange way, just within our reach.”
“Unlucky for him could be lucky for us,” Rodgers suggested with a smirk. “If I was trying to hide, that's where I would go.
“The symbol, it wasn’t just on the victims if I remember correctly.” Justin turned his chair to look at Brenner.
“We had theorized for a short time that it was also a shipping company. It was on crates the bodies were found in.” Brenner agreed.
Rodgers put two and two together slowly, not knowing nearly as much on the case as the two men before him did.
“Did he ship the bodies to Manhattan?”
“We were never fully sure if it was a company his family owned and that was their crest, but we had enough to link him to the crimes so we didn’t continue our dive into the company—not that we had much to dive into anyway.” Brenner shrugged.
“How was he killing them?” Rodgers questioned.
“They were found in a wooden box with puncture marks down their necks and spine. We never figured out why, but it had to have been some surgical tool.”
“Jeez.” Rodgers cringed and rubbed the back of his own neck.
“Maybe we should start in Zease. Like, you know, get inside and look around.” Justin reasoned. “It would be the only way we wouldn’t have information on the shipping company. Plus, he was born there and Rodgers was right when he said it seems like the perfect place to hide. If we find him, maybe he can tell us about the documents and we can at least figure out the horseman.”
“Absolutely not.” Brenner shook his head.
“What?!” Rodgers put out his hands, looking angered. “We have a solid connection from Giovanni to a symbol Zeken used, we have his power signature just outside of Zease, and they mentioned him the night of the horseman. How could you not want to follow it?”
“I can’t go to Zease on a whim! I’ll be found out in a minute. I’m second in command at one of the main branches of the ASA. This could start more issues between us and Zease.” Brenner argued, not wanting to even think about how he was actually not second in command currently. That terrified him slightly. “Plus, we don’t even know that Charlie is even there.”
“What is the one thing that would make Charlie leave willingly?” Rodgers spoke slowly to him, wanting the man to say it out loud for himself.
Brenner tightened his mouth. He hated to say it, but Charlie was obsessed. There was nothing else that would make Charlie leave willingly.
“If he could follow Zeken, he’d leave.”
“If it was a trap, we might not have much time to get to him. If it wasn’t a trap and he figured something out, he’s going to need back up,” Rodgers reasoned to get Brenner to agree. “Now, I may not like the guy all that much, but I don’t want to see him killed and I certainly do not want to see the end of the world in my lifetime.”
“Still,” Brenner shook his head. “I can’t just walk into Zease, I’ll get pinged immediately. They probably wouldn’t even let me out of the transport pad and into the kingdom.”
Rodgers had to admit Brenner still did have a very annoying point to his resistance. He went and sat back down on the couch in a big huff to think.
Silence once again filled the room as they thought on how to get inside the kingdom without Brenner getting flagged.
Rodgers had a plan forming but it would force Brenner to be really cool about a lot of things, really fast. Something told him that wasn’t going to be an easy task.
“Do you know about Shegani’s Travelling Wares?”
“The wizard family? Not much, I know the old wizard gave it to his nephew after he passed.” Brenner thought out loud. “I heard it’s not doing great with all these bigger named stores popping up.”
“Sethrin Shegani, that’s who owns it now.” Rodgers clarified. “He’s the only old magic traveling shop left. He can go anywhere without the need of a border stop.”
Brenner took a step forward, connecting the dots Rodgers was laying out.
“He can get us to Zease without a checkpoint.”
Rodgers nodded. It seemed like Brenner was on board but now came the hard part, getting him to not be a stick in the mud.
“But, you need to be cool about it. Don’t go putting your agent's nose in his business, don’t go asking him questions he won’t want to answer.”
“I didn’t agree yet.” Brenner countered, narrowing his eyes. “If someone recognizes me inside, it could be bad for the ASA. We have certain restrictions with jurisdiction that I can’t mess with.”
Rodgers was clearly frustrated with Brenner, he knew that and he didn’t care that it was written all over his face.
“Even if you were found out, doesn't the Fugitive Act, clause 4620, state that if a signature appears outside of their area of jurisdiction, the officer or agent in charge is allowed to enter under no restrictions for the sake of pursuit?”
Brenner was a little thrown off that Rodgers knew the laws down to clauses. He assumed Rodgers just broke them without much thought at this point, without any care to the repercussions. He was, however, technically not wrong and he hated that so much.
“Well, yes.”
“And don’t we have a power signature?” Rodgers looked to Justin.
“We do!” Justin sang. “C’mon Brenner, I have to stay here to comb through the drive. Only you can go into Zease along with Rodgers.”
Brenner thought for a long moment. His eyes flicked back and forth between the two, the both of them staring back at him. The pressure was not lost on him at all.
Eventually, he caved.
“Fine, alright, but if something goes wrong we leave the second I say to.”
“Works for me.” Rodgers agreed, standing up before he could change his mind. “Gather what you need and meet me in the Bronx, by the hospital, eight in the morning. Pack what you normally do for a mission or whatever you guys go and do.” He quickly moved to get his things, which was really only the paper crab and his phone, from where they were on the couch to put them into his pocket.
“If I’m going to pack what I normally have.” Brenner hated that he was about to say what he was about to say. “Then you should have your gun back too.”
Rodger shifted the scrubs’ shirt with his middle and pointer finger to show the once again filled holster strapped to his side.
“Already took it back before we left the van.”
“How—forget it.” Brenner watched Rodgers scramble over the trash before he went to the door. He still wasn’t sure if he was right to agree to all of this. “Are you sure about this, Rodgers?”
“Don’t make me think longer on it, Virgin Mary. I can’t afford to change my mind.” Rodgers opened the door and left without another word.