For a moment, I thought I'd gotten through, but then Ewan's expression hardened further. "I don't know, but she doesn't belong here."
"For now, I say she does," Thomas said. "At least until we know what we're up against. Someone wants her, and if it is the same people who did that to Simon and Charlie, then it's in our best interests to deny them what they want, wouldn't you say?"
Ewan glared around the table. Several others seemed to share his disapproval, but nobody could come up with a counter. It was hard to argue in the face of sound logic.
I shot Thomas an appreciative smile. "I'll make sure she stays out of everyone's hair," I said to Ewan.
He nodded curtly, and the meeting turned to other matters. Despite my best intentions, however, I couldn't focus. All I could think about were Ewan's words. In truth, he was right. Bringing her here had been a mistake. Even if I'd told her nothing, her curiosity would eventually have gotten the best of her. The moment she'd walked through those doors, everything had changed. But all other paths led to the unthinkable. I didn't know what other option I'd had. It was a no win scenario.
* * * * *
I spent the rest of the day alone in my room, trying a few more abstract methods to identify Sophia's kidnappers, but the truth was, it was mostly a waiting game at this point. All the information we had was already out there. We were just waiting for someone to get back to us with something positive. It was incredibly frustrating. We had all the power in the world at our fingertips, and we were still coming up empty.
At about five in the evening, there was a knock at my door.
"You got a minute?" asked Marcus, poking his head inside. It had ruffled a few feathers that we had promoted him to the council so quickly, but despite being relatively young, he was a really promising member; the perfect combination of smart and level-headed.
"Sure, what's up?" I said.
He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "Well, I just got something back from the lab, and I thought you should be the first to know."
I felt a tingle of excitement. Maybe we'd finally caught our break. "Tell me you've got a name for me," I said.
He licked his lips nervously. "Not exactly. Our guys are still trying to run down who exactly owns that house you raided. Whoever it is laid one hell of a paper trail. What we did get was a match on some blood we found in one of the rooms there." He hesitated ever so slightly. "It belonged to Simon."
I sank back slowly into my chair. Thomas had been right, the two situations were linked. I wasn't surprised — the coincidence was difficult to ignore — but knowing for sure only made our predicament more confusing. Why would anyone go to pains to kill two of my brothers, but then take Sophia instead of me? All I could think of was that they wanted leverage over me somehow, but I couldn't imagine what for. It was baffling.
"I appreciate you telling me first," I said.
"No problem. The others called a pre-dinner meeting, but I kind of figured you might not show."
I nodded. "Yeah, I might sit this one out. You've given me a lot to think about." As much as I wanted to be there to see Ewan's face when the connection was confirmed, I didn't particularly feel like wading back into that minefield just yet.
"No worries. I'll keep you posted."
"Thanks."
I sat for a while after he left, pondering the new discovery. As frightening as the situation was, in some ways that connection was a good thing. Whatever our enemies were planning, Sophia was obviously a part of it, and so rescuing her had likely thrown a spanner in the works. And since we now had just a single target, I could feel comfortable directing the full brunt of Alpha's resources at the problem.
It was little progress, but I knew Sophia would want to hear about it anyway. I found her in her room, curled up on the bed, nursing a cup of tea and staring at the wall.
"Hey," she said, as I entered.
"Hi." Our conversations were uncomfortable now, like the lies and secrets had piled up to form an invisible barrier in the air between us. It was what I wanted, it was what we needed, but it still hurt like hell.
"How are you holding up?"
She shrugged. "As well as can be expected, I guess. There's not much to do around here." She held up her mug and gave it a little shake. "Although this tea addiction I'm developing looks promising. This is my fifth cup today."
"That stuff will kill you," I said, managing a small smile.
She returned it, and something loosened in my chest. "So they tell me. Anyway, how's the big investigation? Assassinate any presidents today?"
"Not that I know of, although that's not my department," I replied. I was glad she was still able to find humour in the situation. Maybe she wasn't quite as damaged by it all as I'd feared. "I did get one small piece of info, though."
She gazed at me expectantly. "Yeah?"
"They found a few bloodstains in that house you were being held in. Our lab just matched it with Simon, one of my brothers who was killed."
Her expression grew tense once more. "I see. I guess the connection makes sense. Does that help you find out who's behind it?"
I shook my head. "We're still coming up empty on that, so far. But now that we know the investigations are linked, we'll be throwing everything we have at it."
She nodded, although she didn't look particularly comforted. "Okay."
"There's something else I wanted to talk to you about," I said, moving over to sit next to her on the bed. "I know this situation is awful for you, and God knows that being in this place isn't making it any easier."
"You mean the friendly Scotsman and his band of merry men?" she said.
"Yeah. I know they're not the most welcoming lot, so I was thinking, what if you went away for a while? We have the resources to get you a new passport, a new identity, and obviously money isn't a problem. You could go wherever you wanted, and nobody would be able to track you down. It would be kind of like a holiday."
Part of me hated the idea of sending her anywhere I couldn't watch over her, but my argument with Ewan had got me thinking about alternatives. Her presence here was certainly problematic, and it wasn't going to get any easier. In fact with everyone on such short fuses, it felt almost inevitable that something would explode eventually. This wasn't a world she belonged in, and taking a trip was the only way I could think of to extricate her while still keeping her safe.