“We dismissed him from the council and thought that was the end of it,” he continued. “Given everything that’s happened of late, I started thinking back on that time again and sat down to have a conversation with Adam. He swears up and down he didn’t take the book.”
“And obviously you believe him,” Cormack mused.
“I do. I don’t ask that you believe him — that’s entirely up to you — but I do ask that we find a way to work together,” Renley said. “The revenant threat is significant. I think it’s going to take all of us working together to solve this problem. That’s why I brought Adam back. He’s read parts of the book. I think he can help.”
Cormack didn’t speak for a bit, his eyes heavy as he studied Grimaldi’s face. Ultimately, he shrugged. “I have no problem with everybody working together. I happen to believe we’re all in danger. The more brains we have sorting this out, the better.”
Grimaldi offered up a small smile. “I think that sounds like something we can all make work for us. The question is, where do we start?”
Cormack briefly flicked his eyes to me and then straightened. “I think we should start with the book, Adam. Why don’t you tell me what was in it, and we’ll go from there.”
“I didn’t get to read all of it,” Grimaldi countered. “I did get to look through some of it. I’ll tell you what I can.”
“So we’ll use this as a steppingstone and move forward afterward,” Cormack said. “It’s the only option we have as far as I can see.”
He spoke with gravitas but I honestly hoped we would have more than one option. It felt necessary … and more expedient. Only time would tell, though.
Nine
Having Grimaldi and Renley in the gate room was nerve-racking. I could feel eyes on me the entire morning as I carried out my normal tasks. At one point, Oliver pulled me away long enough to order me to chill out. Apparently I wasn’t nearly as good an actress as I envisioned.
After that, I forced myself to calm down. There was nothing I could do to change what was happening. The story about the book didn’t ring true — something I was certain Cormack would want to talk about later — but Renley clearly believed it. Or was Renley somehow involved? I mean ... it was possible. Just because he was in a leadership position, that didn’t mean his hands were clean. He could very well have been partnered with Grimaldi and the other man agreed to take the fall temporarily, until they regrouped.
The notion made me queasy.
“It’s noon,” Cormack noted when he joined me at my computer.
I flicked my eyes to him, confused. “I ... um ... okay.”
He laughed at my response. “You’re supposed to head out to lunch with Paris and Zoe. You should keep your schedule as normal as possible.”
“We moved lunch here,” I replied. “Paris is upstairs now. She’s waiting for Zoe and plans to take her to the cafeteria. We figured it would be easier than crossing the bridge.”
“I didn’t realize.” Cormack straightened. “I don’t particularly want Adam getting a whiff of Sami. As delightful as I find the girl, she has absolutely zero filter. I’m afraid she could let something slip.”
I had to swallow a laugh. “I’m starting to suspect you like little girls with black hair who have no filter. I’m guessing Aisling never had a filter either.”
“She was a handful.” Cormack’s smile was benign. “Once, when my parents visited, they tried to make her eat liver and onions. She stood up in the middle of dinner, announced it tasted like ass, and marched straight into my office and stole my licorice stash.”
“That sounds like something she would do.”
“Yes.” His smile faded. “Then my mother suggested we send her to a private school where corporal punishment was allowed so she could learn manners. That was one of the few times my wife lost her temper with my parents.”
Since he’d brought it up, I decided to delve deeper. “Did your wife like your parents?”
“Nobody liked my parents. She believed in showing respect, though. She taught the children to respect them ... although that fell by the wayside eventually. My children cannot be corralled.” He looked proud of that fact.
“Well, you don’t have to worry about Sami. Apparently Aric is taking her to the DIA — they didn’t want her back out here two days in a row any more than we did — and it will just be Zoe.”
He brightened considerably. “Well, that’s good news. Do you think she found anything?”
“I don’t know that there’s anything to find,” I admitted. “We have very little information to go on.” I glanced to the other side of the room, to where Renley and Grimaldi stood talking with Oliver. “What do you make of the book story?”
“I think there are quite a few holes in it, as well as some radical leaps of logic.”
I was relieved he felt the same way I did. “Do you think Renley believes him?”
Cormack hesitated and then held out his hands. “I honestly don’t know. Renley isn’t always easy to read. There are times when I’ve thought he was being a moron and then realized he was working an angle. It’s impossible to say without pressing him for information ... and that’s not something I’m comfortable with.”
“Definitely not,” I agreed. “It would be helpful if you could get the name of the book he supposedly found from him.”
“Why would that help?” He looked legitimately curious. “It’s not as if we can go and buy a copy on the internet.”
“No, but tomes like that take on a life of their own over the years. There are paranormal groups dedicated to talking about those specific books, almost like a religion. I could at least go in and ask around if I had
