Twenty-Five
Commander Matherson didn’t summon Jadeto his office the following morning, as she had expected, to explain why she had failed to return to base by curfew. No doubt he would have seen the entry and exit log that morning, if he hadn’t already noticed her tardiness the previous night. It gave her a little more time to recuperate and come up with a story before she inevitably had to see him.
She’d awoken stiff and sore, her muscles tight and screaming with every move she made. Her first order of business was to stretch and then go on a light jog around base, hoping that the movement of blood to her muscles would speed up the healing process. The whole time she ran, she replayed parts of the previous night in her mind.
Finding and pursuing the killer on the roof.
Falling and losing him.
Getting inside the manor and coming across Arthur as he lay dying.
Taking two letters from Arthur’s study.
Telling Theo what she had done.
Kissing Theo.
It was so much for one night. She needed the extra time in the overcast, humid morning to parse through the details of each event and etch the important parts into her brain.
Considering the direction her time with Theo had gone, Jade had failed to mention the letters she had found in Arthur’s study: one to Arabella from Arthur, and one to Arthur from Grannam, the latter implicating Grannam in Arthur’s murder. Perhaps it was just as well. She had promised Nicolas she would bring him evidence first from now on, as he had requested.
But she should have told Theo. She hadn’t meant to keep the information from him, but they’d gotten...sidetracked. Not to mention, bringing up such incriminating evidence would mean trying to explain why Jade couldn’t give it to Matherson. And as much as Jade didn’t want to keep secrets from Theo, she wasn’t quite ready to dive into the full explanation of Nicolas.
Even as she recounted the things significant to The Claim, Jade’s mind always made its way back to Theo. To the words he’d spoken. To kissing him. There was nothing Jade wanted more in all the kingdom of Marran than to find Theo and pick up where they’d left off.
But Theo had his own responsibilities to attend to, and Jade couldn’t take him away from his duties, as much as she would like to.
Sure enough, a summons came from Matherson shortly after midday as Jade was getting out of the shower. She dressed and walked across base to Command, the whole time working on a story that should cover her late return and explain a few minor injuries without getting her or anyone else in trouble.
Jade swallowed past the rising nerves as she entered Matherson’s office and sat down. He continued working on some papers on his desk, silence filling the room, until the door opened again and Theo appeared.
Theo’s and Jade’s eyes met, and they gave each other almost indiscernible smiles at the same time. Heat flooded Jade’s neck and her middle. Her eyes fell to his lips, the lips she had kissed last night. The warmth intensified, and she found his hands instead, only to remember the tug of them as they wound in her hair. She forced her gaze away from him to keep herself from getting any further distracted. She had to focus if she was going to spin a good lie for Matherson, sprinkling in enough truth and keeping the details consistent.
“I’m afraid I have bad news.” Commander Matherson dove right in, raising his head from his work and setting aside his pen as Theo took a seat. Only then did Jade notice the dark circles under his eyes and the slightly haggard edge to his generally kempt appearance. “The Marquess of Carsill was found dead in his study last night. No apparent cause.”
Jade’s eyes widened and her lips parted, her mind racing to figure out how she was going to approach this. In all her efforts to come up with a story for her late return to base, she hadn’t considered Matherson informing her of Arthur’s death. In the clarity of day, with the haze of Theo’s kisses and confessions washed away, it made sense that he would share this information with her. It was highly pertinent to her assignment.
She would have to fake knowing about Arthur’s death. There was no other option. If she admitted she already knew, that she had been there, she would have to explain where she had gotten such information, which she simply couldn’t do.
But Theo...She’d told Theo where she’d been and that Arthur was dead. Hopefully, he wouldn’t reveal anything, knowing she wanted to keep it secret at least for now. She opened her mouth to speak and let him know the story she wanted to give Matherson, hoping he would play along.
“Why Lord Arthur? Was there any indication he was being targeted?” Jade’s eyes shifted to Theo though she remained still, trying to catch a glimpse of him and determine if he understood.
Matherson took a deep inhale through his nose, then folded his hands and laid them on the desktop. “I received a telephone call from Grand General Devereaux early this morning and have been in meetings since. The grand general insisted she had no prior information about another murder and was shocked by the news. I have no reason to believe anything otherwise. As of right now, we’re classifying his death as another by the same hired assassin, but of course, we don’t have anything definitive to prove it.”
The weariness in Matherson’s disposition made sense now. In the meetings that morning with other higher-ups, they were likely scrambling to determine next steps and gain a semblance of control over the situation.
“This changes things,” he continued, fixing his eyes on Jade. “To have a contender for the throne killed is unprecedented. Everyone has taken notice. The other contenders are wary. There is currently no information to determine why Lord Arthur was targeted or who may be next.
“Which is why I have summoned the two of you here. The grand general has authorized use of all resources to get to the bottom of this. Every active intelligence agent we can spare is prioritizing stopping these murders.”
Jade huffed. “It’s about time the grand general let us do our jobs.” She crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair, trying a little too hard to hide what she was thinking.
There is currently no information...She had information, folded and tucked in her pocket at the present moment. A letter that pinned Arthur’s murder on Grannam, the first step in determining his culpability and ultimately removing him from power.
She could admit to everything. She could retrieve the paper and hand it to Matherson, as she had before, and get them one step closer to the end of this conflict over the succession to the throne. But then she would have to tell Matherson about Nicolas, about what she’d agreed to do for him, about what she’d done. Jade would face judgment, fair consequences for her actions.
Part of her wanted to admit it. She wanted to bring Commander Matherson in on this. He had never done anything to deserve to be lied to and kept so in the dark. But Jade had promised Nicolas she would take whatever she found to him first this time. A morbidly curious part of her wanted to see just what Nicolas would do with information she brought him and if he could truly bring about change in the conflict as quickly as he claimed.
