Page 63 of Warrior Unraveled

“I’ll explain later.”

“Explain it to him now,” Virginia said. “I want everybody on the same page. That includes Wesley.”

“Let me,” Aiden said, his voice icy. He turned his face toward Wesley. “All you need to know is that Deirdre once sat on the Council of Nine, our ruling body. But about a year ago, she went against the council’s decision and tried to kill my wife, though she wasn’t my wife then. Deirdre was sentenced to one year in a lead cell. As you may already have figured out, lead drains our powers temporarily. But long-term exposure will actually make the damage irreversible. After a year in a lead cell, a Stealth Guardian will have lost all supernatural powers and be entirely human. That’s what happened to Deirdre.”

Wes nodded, letting the information sink in. “That’s a harsh punishment.”

“That’s a matter of opinion,” Aiden replied.

“In any case,” Virginia interrupted, “she’s human, and since you didn’t find any preternatural activity at the scene of the crime, everything points to her.”

“Not everything, actually,” Pearce said from the console.

Wes turned to Pearce, as did everybody else.

The IT geek pointed to the screen. “I just reviewed the interview with the housekeeper. See, she’s all teary-eyed and broken up about Faldo’s death.”

Virginia approached and looked over Pearce’s shoulder. “So? She’s probably worked for him for a few years. Of course she’s upset about his death. Wouldn’t you be, in her situation?”

Wes tapped on Pearce’s shoulder. “Run it again, without the sound.”

“Sure.”

The video started running from the beginning again. Wes concentrated on the housekeeper, not even looking at the reporter now. The absence of sound made it easier to only see the woman’s facial expressions.

He pointed to the screen. “See how she avoids eye contact with the reporter?”

Virginia leaned in. “Yes?”

“And how she fidgets. She’s nervous. Pearce, now run it with the sound, starting where she speaks.”

Pearce turned the microphone up.

“Carol Jefferson, yes.”

“Can you tell us anything about what might have happened to your employer?” the reporter asked.

“I wasn’t here. He gave me the week off. You know.” A sob. “Because he was supposed to be gone. This should never have happened. He wasn’t even supposed to be at home.”

“Stop it here, Pearce.”

Silence descended over the room and Wesley turned around to look at the others. “She feels guilty. As if it was her fault. Did you hear how she said that Faldo shouldn’t have been at home?”

The others nodded, and Virginia said, “Because he was supposed to be on a mission for Cinead. But then Cinead canceled it.”

Wesley gave her a sideways glance. “What if Faldo forgot to tell her that his trip was canceled, and she had plans for the time he was supposed to be gone?”

Hamish and Aiden exchanged a look and nodded to each other.

“I’ll check her out,” Aiden offered. “I need to get some fresh air anyway.” He was already heading toward the exit.

Nobody stopped him.

After the door fell shut behind him, Wes asked, “And what about this Deirdre? What are we going to do about her?”

“Put a tail on her for now,” Virginia said. “We need to know where she goes, whom she meets.”

“I can do that,” Pearce said. “Where does she live now?”