She exhales. “You’re right about all of that, but how am I going to buy anything?”
I glance at Aldar. “We’ll handle it.”
Aldar nods in agreement. “Don’t worry about sending me out again. I truly don’t mind. I enjoy driving that SUV and because this town is smaller, it’s not stressful driving around. The humans here are pleasant and helpful. Simply make another list and I will go out and procure what you need. The Irontrees help each other out. If I were in a similar situation, Jonus would be helping me, or a bride of mine in the same way.”
I crook a brow ridge at him.
He shrugs in response. “I’ll go back out to the stores and pay cash for what you need. That way there will be no digital trail or shipping address to trace.”
“Cash?” Sloane looks between us. “That’s... very old school.”
“Orcs don’t normally trust human banking systems,” Aldar says with a shrug. “We’ve only recently started using them at all. Cash is still our preferred method of payment.”
She studies us for a moment, curiosity flickering across her face. I can see the journalist in her, filing this away, wanting to ask more. But she lets it go. “I’ll make a list,” she says finally, “but I’m keeping track of every dollar. I’ll pay you back when this is over.”
“If that helps you sleep at night,” I tell her.
“It does.” She pauses. “But nothing expensive. Just basics.”
“Make the list. I’ll decide what counts as basic.”
She huffs a laugh. “Bossy.”
“Practical.”
Sloane spends time making her list and explaining to Aldar where he can go to get these items. After lots of apologies to Aldar “for causing all this trouble”, my cousin leaves again to get what my future bride needs. Meanwhile I get her new cell phone set up and loaded with the proper contacts—all the orcs present and even the numbers for the two human brides. Sloane watches me with something like surprise.
“You’re really good at this,” she says, watching as I move onto opening the laptop box.
“I set up Garlen’s entire teaching station when he was going through his situation. Dual monitors, professional camera, the works. Orcs aren’t all brute strength, you know.”
She grins. “I never thought you were.”
I configure the VPN, set up her secure cloud access, make sure everything is encrypted and untraceable. She won’t be able to be tracked through this equipment. I’ll make sure of it.
“There.” I hand her the laptop. “You’re connected with a secure line and your cloud storage should be accessible now.”
She smiles wide and takes it from me. Minutes later she’s accessed her files. “Oh, this makes me feel so much better, seeing it’s all still here. Months of work. Everything I need to take Aldridge down.”
“Then let’s take him down.”
“I need to organize everything into a timeline first,” she says, already clicking through folders. “Then write the actual article. My editor at the Times knows I went dark — I need to reach out to her securely, let her know I’m alive and that I have everything we need. Once the story is published, Aldridge loses his main reason to come after me. The information will already be public.”
“How long to write it?”
“A few days, maybe a week. Depends on how fast legal review goes.” She glances at me. “The question is whether I have that long before he finds me.”
“We’ll make sure you do.”
She looks at me,and something passes between us. Partnership. Purpose.
Sloane dives into her work. I sit beside her on the couch, working on my own tasks—security protocols, communication channels, coordinating with the team.
My phone buzzes. Dane. “How’s it going over there?” he asks when I answer.
“Good. Sloane’s got a new laptop and she’s working on a timeline of her evidence.”
“Good…Good. I’m coordinating with neighborhood watch. We’ve got eyes on all the approach roads. If anyone unfamiliar comes into the area, we’ll know.”
