Cheyenne clicked her tongue. “You know, if my apartment building ever thought to install security cameras in the hallways, I guess you’d have proof. Not that I’m advocating for security cameras on my floor. There are only two apartments up there. And I enjoy my privacy as much as the next halfling, you know?”
“I’m sure.” He scanned her with narrowed eyes.
If he knows about his nephew living right across the hall from me, he’ll find that proof and lay off the hunt. Matthew’s cameras don’t show me stepping in and out of my living room through nightstalker portals. Points for a nosy neighbor with way too much free time. I guess.
The colonel looked down at a piece of paper on his otherwise pristine desk and touched it briefly with a fingertip. “You’ve spent a lot of time in the field with Agent Rhynehart, as I understand it. Is that correct?”
Cheyenne almost laughed. “Yeah. He’s a real shithole, too. He the one who put it in your ear to bring me in and try to interrogate me again?”
“Would it matter, Ms. Summerlin?”
“Not really. I’m keeping a running list of all the times Agent Rhynehart’s thrown me under the bus. Part of me wonders why I stick around to help you guys.”
The man’s lips twitched into a smile devoid of amusement. “As it stands, perhaps that’s because we still have plenty to offer each other in this working relationship. I think you’d agree.”
“I don’t know. I’ve never offered you anything, but if you’re speaking for the FRoE in general, then sure. Maybe.”
He sighed. “It’s been a pleasure, Cheyenne. Do let us know if you hear from your father or any other convicted prisoners from Chateau D’rahl. It’s in your best interests to continue cooperating with us to the best of your ability, you understand.”
That almost sounded like a threat. Cheyenne dipped her head. “It’s perfectly clear, Colonel. Have a nice night.”
She spun, stalked out of his office, and headed down the hall to the elevators again. Okay, that came a little too close for comfort. Even with tampered security footage, the guards still saw me at the prison. And Rhynehart. But it doesn’t mean shit if nobody can prove it.
The elevator doors opened, and she stepped inside before stabbing the button to close them again. Then she pulled up a summary view of the encrypted folder she’d snagged from Colonel Les Thomas’ personal desktop. I’m the only one with proof. Just gotta crack this baby and decide how I wanna use it.
Chapter Eighty-Two
The second Cheyenne re-entered her apartment, Ember bombarded her with questions about the meeting. The halfling gave her friend a distracted summary before heading back up to the mini-loft.
“And he let you walk out of his office. Just like that.”
“Yeah, Em. If we hadn’t had Persh’al for our prison-break adventure today, I’d probably be telling you a different story right now. Or maybe no story. Who knows?”
Ember grinned. “You know, that troll’s all right.”
“Yeah. The troll’s all right. Les Thomas thinks I had something to do with the great escape. He brought up Rhynehart too.” Cheyenne snorted and turned on her monitor before sitting in her chair. “He’s probably shitting himself, wondering how the hell he’s gonna pin either of us down when it’s hearsay from a few FRoE guards who couldn’t even stop a magicless scaleback from breaking out of a tank.”
Ember draped her arm over the back of the couch and laughed. “It’s enough to piss anyone off.”
“He’ll have a lot more than that to be pissed off about when I’m done. I just need a little time to open up all his files, and then it’s game over, Colonel Thomas.”
“You’re looking awfully proud of yourself.”
Cheyenne peered through the iron bars of the rail around the mini-loft and grinned at her Nós Aní. “You know what, Em? I am proud. I walked into a mostly civil meeting with a guy I’m already ninety-nine-percent sure is responsible for all my issues with the Bull’s Head, and I didn’t lose my shit. See? Totally possible for me to handle something delicately first without blowing anything up.”
“Uh-huh.” Ember tried to fight back a laugh. “Tell me you’re not looking forward to blowing stuff up, though, and I will call you a liar.”
“Come on.” Cheyenne scoffed. “I’m always down to blow stuff up. You know that.”
While Ember turned her latest show back on, Cheyenne selected every command the activator offered to sync Colonel Thomas’ downloaded files onto Glenn’s drives. Time to break your secrets wide open, Colonel. I hope they’re good.
She sent the encrypted files into the Bunker and gave her custom program as long as it needed to run the decryption and scan everything for malware or any hidden cyber-landmines.
Twenty minutes later, the Bunker’s notification popped up with the all-clear. Cheyenne rubbed her hands together. “Here we go.”
The first three files held the same information Matthew had given them, more or less: names of magicals, locations, and when they had their first meeting with Colonel Thomas. Cheyenne skimmed through the written accounts of those in-person meetings, which pretty much corroborated what Matthew had told them. Okay, but I don’t give a shit about Les hooking his nephew up with the Bull’s Head. That’s old news at this point. Show me something I can use.
Her activator skimmed through the file content and flagged the information she wanted in under two minutes. Cheyenne clicked through each suggested file source and went right to the activator’s search results. “Holy shit.”
“That sounds like the good kind,” Ember called from the couch. “It’s the good kind, right?”
“I mean, I found what I wanted, so that’s a plus.” Cheyenne scrolled through the files, her mouth falling open. “I was fucking right.”
“The FRoE’s been playing you this whole time?”
Cheyenne forced herself to look away from her computer. “Almost.”
“Okay, that’s not what I expected.”
“It’s not the whole FRoE, Em, just the colonel. I’ve got lists of every
