“Wait! You what?” Jack glanced towards her briefly before returning his focus to the road.
“No! But you have a class with me!” Conrad interjected.
“To refresh the basics. I’ve been working as a lecturer since my last exams.”
“Basics? That is not basics,” he announced incredulously.
“It is when you grew up in a house where such topics were considered playtime.” Tess fell silent, diverting her focus back to the task at hand.
“What about Cryptobiology?” Conrad queried.
“I thought it would be fun, plus it was a good excuse to spend time with Jack and Ashley.” Tess paused for a moment before her fingers once more became a blur across the keyboard. “Right, I’m in.”
“That seemed easy,” Will commented.
“I used the menu as a back door to the system. Now…” Her eyes scanned fervently down the screen as the files copied. “Nothing about a Black Card Menu, but there’s a separate account for the Elites, but only some of them. So…” she trailed into a series of mumbles before disconnecting the laptop from any network connections and taking time to study the captured files. “These are too big, their profiles are ten times larger than the others. So if I… and then… got it.”
“What’ve you found?”
“I’m not sure yet.” Several long moments passed, the only sound that of the engine humming almost silently as she studied the data before her. “It’s some kind of separate account. We’re talking big money. LFFB+NM64, EFB-MI68, SMMB-NM64V, there’s a whole lot of these numbers. I’m just not sure what they mean.”
“I’m not sure about the first two letters, but everything after is blood rankings. I’m MA+, male A-positive, NM means non magical, MI means Magic Innate. If we’re looking for Ashley, you’re going to want some high number values. Do you know her blood type?” Will offered.
“She’s AB negative,” Conrad advised.
“So look for FAB-MI and a high number.”
“There’s only one AB, FAB-EB98V.”
“What’s EB?”
“Elder blood, perhaps?” Conrad volunteered.
“There’s no way Ash is a virgin.” Will frowned. “Is she?”
“Actually, she is,” Tess announced sternly. “She’s not really had time for relationships, with trying to pay the bills and study. It’s hard enough to grab a few hours with her friends, or hadn’t you noticed?”
She saw Will close his eyes as an expression of regret crossed his brow. It was clear that until recently, he’d thought she played fast and loose. Tess imagined it was an easy assumption for him to make, given how many times he had seen her kissing a complete stranger. He had probably assumed her sex life was the same.
“I’m a real bastard,” he muttered, covering his eyes with his hand.
“No arguments here,” growled Conrad, before turning to Tess. “Any sign of where she’s being held?”
“I told Lex about the Taphouse theory and he sent over blueprints. Cross-checking them against the photos you took, all the areas are accounted for, but I seem to remember about four years ago it was closed for renovations after a fire,”
“I remember. We were going to watch the new superhero movie from beyond the barrier, but the whole block was cordoned off,” Jack added, checking his blind spot before filtering into traffic.
“What if the fire had been an excuse? What if instead of just interior repairs, they added a basement?”
“So what are we going to do?” Will questioned, flinching as a car sped past them too quickly on the inside lane.
“I’m not sure, but we’re going to have to do it quickly. One of the hidden files is a bidding invitation. They’re going to sell her off.”
“We need to call my dad,” Conrad insisted.
“I’ll send the data now, but by the time they mobilise it could already be too late.” Tess typed quickly, attaching the documents, sending them through to the Blue Coats while including Conrad’s father on the message personally. She hoped they would see it in time, but even if they did, with the length of time it would take to get the necessary paperwork, it was unlikely they could mobilise quickly enough, especially since it seemed they were planning to move Ashley along with six of the other captives tonight.
“If you can find a way to her, I’ll get her out,” Conrad asserted. “I just need a way in.”
“Sure, the all-powerful Conrad,” snapped Will. “You’ve not been doing a very good job of protecting her so far.”
“She wouldn’t even be in this situation if it wasn’t for you.”
“Enough!” Tess’s voice commanded the car. “That’s enough. So here’s what’s going to happen. Will, go back and blood-let, say you’ve found yourself with some extra time so you thought you’d give more. Once inside, place this on any of their monitors. It will allow me direct access to their interface and thus their security system. Jack, I need you on standby outside. Keep the engine running and keep your eyes open for the authorities. I’ll be loitering close enough to piggyback on their system and use the access without drawing suspicion. Conrad, you’re the only one of us who can walk about in there. With Will’s chip in place, I can trick any door into opening for you, but you’ll have to be near it so I can find its location on the security network. Find the basement, get her out. I won’t have visual, so I will be relying on your verbal cues.” She gestured for his hand, placing an earring in it, while putting its partner into her own ear.
“You’re a shifter. I assume you have some skills at your disposal. What kind are you, anyway?” Tess held his gaze. While he had disclosed he was preternatural earlier tonight, claiming himself to be a shifter, he hadn’t actually told them what he was.
