Dike turned to Lana. “Any news from tech support?”
“When Code P went into effect last night, we’ve tapped into surveillance cameras within a mile’s radius of every establishment Dion owns. We should’ve come up with results by now, but we don’t even have a single possible match.” Lana took a deep breath before saying reluctantly, “We think JaneDoe used a retroactive camouflage spell sometime in the past 24 hours to cover her trail.”
Lana’s report left me stunned. A retroactive camouflage spell was classified weapon material, the non-human’s equivalent to government-exclusive firearms like the AA12 Atchisson assault shotgun. The spell Lana spoke of was able to delete all types of evidence – printed photos, digital files, and just abouteverythingconnected to the spell’s subject. Once activated, any such data from that point in time and all the way back to the subject’s date of birth would be erased.
“That’s a serious accusation, Agent,” Tamara voiced sharply.
“It’s the only logical explanation—-”
“Is it, really? Or maybe you guys simply aren’t looking hard enough.”
Lana stiffened at the implied criticism. “We know what’s at risk here. We wouldn’t be so careless or negligent—-”
Dike raised her hand. “Enough.” Her voice, treacherous softness underlined by razor-sharp steel, sliced everyone’s words into silence. “Agent Gries’ concern is understandable. Lana, I’d appreciate if you could get the other agents to make a sweep of everything again, and failing that, I’d like you to continue monitoring real-time footage. Assuming that such a spell is in effect, it doesn’t cover any footage madepastthe date of activation, yes?”
Lana nodded.
“That said—-” Dike turned to Agent Gries. “Agent Spears was also right to bring up such a possibility. We are not the kind of agency that operates with our heads buried in the sand, AgentGries. If by any chance our Jane Doe is using such a spell, then we need to act based on worst-case scenario and assume that the whole system is compromised.”
I wasn’t the same girl when I left Dike’s office. I had never realized how naïve and idealistic I was when I first worked for the agency. It had never occurred to me that it was possible for one of us to betray the agency, but that was obviously a possibility now, and one I couldn’t deny.
Zeus’ spell-induced slumber had forced everything into a standstill, and with the non-human public suspicious but still mostly unaware of the threat literally hanging over our heads, all agents had been ordered to proceed as normal.
In my case, that meant continuing to field calls about a missing cauldron at Demi’s Bakery, Mr. Norton’s pet that was possibly showing signs of low-level demonic possession, and pretending I was my usual self as I turned down a date from Jason, a handsome, easygoing executive based in the city. We had been seatmates in my flight out of California, and we had been friends ever since.
“You sound stressed,” Jason commented bluntly. “Are you still adjusting to your new job?”
“More or less,” I hedged, not wanting to elaborate.
“Maybe we could talk it over dinner?”
I had to laugh, thinking how it was just like Jason not to give up after the first try. “What happened this time?” Although Silver Mist was an hour’s drive away from Portland, Jason once told me that the distance was a small price to pay in exchange for enjoying one evening of no-strings-attached fun.
“A woman tried to spike my drink over lunch,” he revealed in disgust. “How bad do you think that is?”
“Very bad,” I had to concede.
“Enough to take pity on a poor guy—-”
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.“Ha!”He had more money than he would ever know what to do with in a lifetime; that was how “poor” he was.
“Just dinner,” he cajoled.
“I honestly can’t, not tonight. But next time—-”
“If you mean that, give me a date then.”
I glanced at my calendar, thinking that all these blank boxes and crossed out dates would mean nothing if we didn’t survive tonight. “We have a local fair coming up two Saturdays from now,” I said finally.
“Perfect. What time should I pick you up?”
When I put the phone down, I was startled to find Roseanne standing behind my cubicle, and with a smile on her lips that could only be described as catty. “How very shocking,” she sneered. “Who would think someone like you would be juggling your time between several men?”
“Excuse me?”Was she seriously accusing me of playing around?
“So it isn’t serious between you and the INTERPOL detective?”
So that was what this was all about. She was interested in Paul. I slowly shook my head, saying haltingly, “We only work together.”
