Page 63 of Dichotomy

“Hiring someone to manage someone else is a pattern for Kingfisher,” Dominic said. “It builds his anonymity.”

“Anonymity only works if someone else is absorbing the risk,” I said slowly. “Luke Jones didn’t just manage Citadel. He was positioned between Kingfisher and the fallout.”

Dominic nodded. “Exactly. Every major move Kingfisher makes has a buffer. Contractors. Cutouts. People who can take the fall while he stays safe.”

“And yet,” Alexander said, flipping another page in the Kingfisher file, “cases tied to Kingfisher don’t just stall. They get buried. Evidence has disappeared. Investigations turn cold. I don’t think there’s a single closed case in this file.”

“Not a single one?” Marcus frowned. “How can one man have that much reach?”

I looked back at Dominic. “We thought Kingfisher had people in high places, but what if he is the person in the high place?”

Alexander’s brow furrowed before his eyes widened. “The director.”

Dominic didn’t look surprised as he nodded.

“You don’t look surprised,” Adrian said.

Dominic blew out a breath. “Unfortunately, I’m not. As I told Evelyn, I suspected something was going on at the FIA long before this. After reading through the Kingfisher file…well, the director controls cross-departmental inquiries, task forces, requests for information. He decides which cases get resources and which ones don’t. If Kingfisher were an organization, he’d need protection at every level.”

He paused and met my eyes.

“But if Kingfisher is Director Keller, he just needs to sign his own paperwork, and it all goes away.”

I closed my eyes and let out a heavy breath. Fuck. This was so much bigger than we thought. If the director was the Kingfisher, who knew how much he had gotten away with, how many people he had hurt with no consequence, and if he was involved in human trafficking… Fuck. I didn’t even know where to start.

“He doesn’t have people in high places; he is the person in the high place,” I repeated myself, trying to wrap my brain around it.

“That’s my working theory.” Dominic’s mouth curved, but his smile was humorless. “If I’m right, I can’t bring this to the FIA.” His gaze moved around the room, landing back on me. “And if I’m wrong,” he added, “I still need allies who aren’t compromised.”

I understood now the risk that Dominic was taking and why he was willing to trust me, trust us. This was his career. He couldn’t accuse the FIA director of being corrupt any more than we could. But if we worked together, we may be able to end this without anyone else getting hurt.

“I know this is a lot to ask of you, too much probably,” Dominic said.

Sebastian laughed, his arms circling me from behind. “You haven’t hung out with Evie much yet.”

Dominic raised his eyebrows at the nickname, and Izzy chuckled. “Don’t even try it. He’s the only one allowed to call her that.”

I glared at Izzy as Sebastian whispered in my ear. “Is that true? Are youmyEvie?”

I ignored the shiver that ran down my spine. I needed to focus.

I stepped out of his arms, immediately missing the warmth of his body. “This is what we do,” I told Dominic, gesturing between Izzy and me. “Does this information change things? Yes. But we were always going to go after Director Keller, especially from what we found out this week.”

Dominic frowned. “What did you find out?”

“Judge Jefferson and Director Keller are involved in human trafficking,” Izzy said, pulling out her own file and handing it to Dominic.

“Wait,” Marcus said slowly. “Those emails, Jefferson, Keller, and Kingfisher. That’s three separate names. Doesn’t that complicate things?”

Izzy and I looked at each other and shrugged. “Not necessarily,” I said. “We’ve used that tactic ourselves to blur identities, split operations, and keep people chasing the wrong thread.”

Izzy nodded. “It’s usually pretty successful. Most people don’t dig deeper, and it’s a good way to segment out different operations.”

Marcus backed down but frowned. I made a mental note to check in with him. He wasn’t necessarily wrong, but all things seemed to point towards the Kingfisher being Director Keller. Still, it was good to follow up on all leads, no matter how unlikely.

“There’s a shipment coming in Tuesday?” Dominic’s head snapped up. “Like in two days?”

I nodded. “The director is going to be there, which is what we wanted to talk to you about in the first place. He probably has contingencies in place, and if he’s truly the Kingfisher, we shouldn’t rule out that he doesn’t have other people in place in the FIA in case something like this happened.”