"So, what's a bart elf?" Jenny asked, puzzled.
Gathered back at the house, Genie had explained to the others what had happened at Evergreen Development. Mariah was focused on sorting through the masses of emails and files she'd managed to copy off of Clay's terminal before the arrival of the sinister Mr. Grey and Mr. Hand.
"Svartalf," Etta corrected with a grin. "Dark elf would probably be the closest translation. From what I know, they were ancient allies of the alfar... the original witches. They were skilled magical craftsmen, but most of them disappeared during the Century War. The few who were left are supposed to have died out during the Dark Ages. I don't know what they have to do with the aliens. They didn't even appear until the around the 1950s."
"The way Gwen talked about them, the svartalves and the aliens are the same people," Miranda said. "Mom and Gwen were telling us a story about how they first met..."
"... and that involved alien dark elves?" Genie asked. "Because of course it did."
"Of course it did," Miranda echoed with a smile. "The svartalves... or aliens, but Gwen mostly called them svartalves... had infiltrated the Agency and were snatching witches. It was all part of some sinister scheme... invasion, world domination, that sort of thing. They snatched Gwen, but mom managed to rescue her, with help from her stepmom, Bella, and a friendly svartalf called Felix. They exposed the whole invasion plan, and Bella and Felix managed to put a stop to it. Gwen said the aliens hadn't caused any problems since."
"Your family is weird," Demarco said.
"Her family is so very weird," Mariah muttered. "Anyway, in their story one of the svartalves, or aliens or whatever... the one who snatched Gwen... was called Agent Hand. Agent Hand. Mr. Hand. The way she described him even matches. A thin, completely hairless man in a dark suit, hat and shades."
"He does have a serious Man in Black vibe, and not in the fun Will Smith movie way," Genie said.
"I liked that movie," Etta said.
"They're talking remake," Jenny said brightly.
"Of course they are," Etta groaned. "It's like the Del Sol studios have completely given up on original ideas."
"We can bemoan the sorry state of the film industry later," Genie said with a deep breath. Turning to Mariah, she added, "Is there anything in Clay's files?"
"Well, I'm not fluent in Corporate Doublespeak," Mariah said. "A lot of this is meeting reminders, meeting scheduling, meeting agendas... Madonna, this one is an agenda for a meeting to discuss scheduling more meetings. Do these business people do anything but have meetings?"
"From what I know about my mom, no, not really," Genie said. "Is there anything useful in Clay's files?"
"Well, if they had a meeting to plan Shannon's murder, they didn't invite Clay," Mariah replied sardonically. "Nothing about an invasion by alien dark elf men in black either. What I can figure out from the stuff that isn't meetings about other meetings, mostly confirms what I was able to piece together from what Missy said.
"Crossing is a planned community, to be built on land they're buying up on the mountain. Lots of housing, a shopping center, a school. The whole thing appears to be centered around some kind of research facility. I can tell you they've got some kind of schedule. There's lots of stuff about project phases. Phase 1, phase 2... like that. It looks like they're hoping to finish Phase 1 soon, but it's not very clear from this what Phase 1 actually is."
"Research facility sounds alien-y," Etta suggested.
"That's not a word," Demarco muttered. Etta just tossed a small grin her way.
"Could they be researching the Moonwood?" Jenny wondered. "I mean, you said it was a magical place of power. Can these aliens, or bart-elves or whatever, use magic?"
"Svartalves were magical craftsmen," Etta said, putting a slight emphasis on the name. "They made devices that used magic. If the aliens really are related somehow..."
"Mom and Gwen probably know more about them," Miranda mused.
"... and my mom's mixed up in this, because of course she is," Genie groaned.
"Do you really think she knows what she's into?" Demarco asked.
"Mrs. Elderberry worked closely with the Altos' inner circle," Mariah said. "I've actually personally seen her meeting with a vampire. So, I'm sure she knows about the Dark Court."
"... and she knows about witches, because she and Gwen used to date," Miranda said. To startled looks from Demarco and Jenny, she added, "Gwen and Mrs. Elderberry dated at university... before she was Mrs. Elderberry, I mean. Mom and Mr. Elderberry were a couple too. Actually, the way Gwen explains it, they were kind of all a couple. Or thruple? Polycule? It's a Gwen thing."
"Wow," Jenny chuckled. "I mean, I knew your moms were... open-minded... but wow."
"Culturally, the alfar... witches... aren't really monogamous," Etta muttered, earning a strange look from Demarco.
"If we can move on from our parents' embarrassing sex lives," Genie said with a sigh. "We've got a lot of pieces of this puzzle... Shannon's murder, the assault on Clay and Knox, this Crossing project, Mr. Grey and the gangsters, Mr. Hand and the svartalves, and however my mom is mixed up with all this..."
"... and if we're going to stop Baron Charm from starting, or escalating, a war, we need to not only figure out how they all fit together, we need proof," Mariah said. "We need to find out more."
---------------
If they look too closely I'm completely screwed, Bess Stirling thought.
Brooding over her beer, she considered the crossroads she found herself at. It wasn't supposed to be like this. The Crossing project was supposed to be the One. The major deal that set her up for life. Now, Bess found herself looking down two paths. At the end of one was everything she'd ever wanted - success, money, maybe a beach house in Sulani. At the end of the other - a cell in Irongate prison.
No, she thought. That just wouldn't do. There had to be a way to make this work. She was smarter than those people.
Her desperate thoughts went back to today's meeting. There had to be a way.
---------------
"Cletus, you asked for this meeting," Bess said. "Say what you want to say."
"I wants in on the plan," Cletus huffed, looking at Mr. Hand. "Your man Grey here done chewed my ass off 'cause I went up to the Mill and put a little pressure on Lumber Jackson. He says I messed up some big plan you got for dealin' wit that bitch Rory and her Wildfangs... but ain't nobody told me 'bout no plan."
"Dealing with the aberrations directly was not supposed to occur until late in phase 2," Mr. Hand said in his emotionless voice. "Our projections show that your organization's actions have created an increased risk of confrontation. Those same projections clearly show that we do not have the necessary infrastructure or trained personnel in place to ensure success should such a confrontation occur."
"Aberrations?" Bess said softly, her curiosity and confusion getting the better of her. She knew Rory Oaklow was a strange, tough woman, and rumor had it a nudist, but she'd never heard her called an aberration.
"The theriomorphic aberrations," Mr. Hand clarified unhelpfully.
"Rory Oaklow and the Wildfangs. The Volkov and Moonrunner families. A few others," Mr. Grey said, almost dismissively.
"Their numbers and strength are sufficient to pose an unacceptable risk to the overall success of the project," Mr. Hand said. "As well as a substantial physical threat to construction and supervisory personnel in the early phases. That is why the project plan included steps to deal with them. In phase 2."
"Well, someone didn't think ta give me the damn project plan, did they?" Cletus snapped.
"You were given specific instructions to follow, Mr. Harris," Mr. Grey said coldly.
"I ain't your damn errand boy, Grey," Cletus said.
"On the contrary, Mr. Harris, that is precisely what you are," Mr. Grey snapped, anger showing through his usual cold disdain.
"Gentlemen, please," Bess said in her best calming voice. "We all have the same goal here, and squabbling doesn't get us closer to it. Remember - 'Fix the problem, not the blame.' So, what is the problem and how do we fix it?"
"Recent events suggest that the Wildfangs are already actively investigating," Mr. Grey said more calmly.
"Clarify," Mr. Hand commanded.
"Ms. Sterling here informed me yesterday that Clay French, a clerk in this office, was asking inappropriate questions. Mr. French is a known associate of both Lux Demarco, a Wildfang, and Knox Greenburg, a local environmental activist," Mr. Grey explained. "I dispatched Mr. Harris and his associates to deal with him. Unfortunately, he was unable to finish the job."
"Ol' Clay ain't gonna be asking any questions anytime soon. Neither is Knox," Cletus snorted. "But, yeah, we wasn't able to finish 'em. Demarco and some other bitch jumped us."
"This 'other bitch' - I presume to be a young blonde woman with glasses and impressive martial arts skills," Mr. Grey said knowingly.
"Nah, she was a brunette," Cletus said, prompting a look of sudden shock from the usually composed Mr. Grey. "Built but yeah, I ain't shamed to say, she could seriously kick ass. Talked funny though. Like a fur'in'er."
"A foreign accent?" Mr. Grey said softly, his cold eyes practically sparkling with sudden interest. "Could you tell from where?"
"From Not-here," Cletus scoffed. "What do I know 'bout fur'in'ers?"
"Hold on, what do you mean, Clay won't be asking questions but you didn't finish the job?" Bess said, feeling suddenly cold.
"What do you think I mean?" Cletus said. "He's in the hospital but he's still breathin'. We weren't able to finish him, or Knox... little bonus there, hittin' him at the same time... off before Demarco and the fur'in bitch jumped us."
"You mean you tried to k....?" Bess couldn't finish the word.
"Mr. Harris attempted to remove a threat to the project," Mr. Grey said evenly. "On your recommendation, I would point out. Just like Mallory here removed Ms. Charm, also on your recommendation."
"Charm... Shannon Charm... she was k... killed in a... a mugging," Bess stammered, horrified as she heard the lie on her lips. It hadn't really upset her at the time. She'd even had the brief, uncharitable thought that Shannon's death had been a stroke of good luck for the project. She hadn't actually thought... She hadn't wanted to look at it too closely.
"Really, Ms. Sterling?" Mr. Grey smiled, a cold reptilian smile that never touched his hard eyes. "You were the one who advised us that the Speak for the Trees protests were attracting unwanted attention to the project. You were the one who suggested that if Ms. Charm or Mr. Greenburg could be dealt with, the protests would end."
"Although it was another of our associates who proposed Ms. Charm as the ideal target out of the two," Mr. Hand said in his bland, unfeeling voice. "It was suggested that her removal would increase tensions between the Dark Court and the Council... covert groups that, in their own right, represent risks to the later phases of the project. This has proven correct. We greatly appreciate these insights. Our own psycho-statistical models deal in the interactions of social groups and have proven unreliable at predicting the impact of individuals."
"I thought you'd threaten her. Maybe rough her up a little. I didn't mean for you to kill her!" Bess hissed quietly, horrified that she might be overheard. Horrified by what she'd done. "Or Clay! My God, Clay planned the staff picnic."
"I see," Mr. Grey said with mock concern. "Well, I'm sure the Crown Prosecutor's office would take that into account. Although, enterprise corruption and conspiracy are such a broad-reaching charges." The false sympathy vanished, replaced by ruthless threat. "Make no mistake, Ms. Sterling. You are a part of this and have been almost from the beginning."
"We should deal with Lux Demarco and her associates," the woman in black said. "Their recent confrontation with Mr. Harris will only serve to confirm their suspicions."
"Very true, Mallory," Mr. Hand said. "Locate them. Observe and report. I will expect a full assessment and recommendations."
"Of course, Protector," Mallory said.
"As for the other aberrations, we will need to move up our timetable," Mr. Hand continued, as if he wasn't talking about ending lives. "I will make the necessary arrangements, but it will take time to transfer the necessary equipment and personnel discretely. Perhaps two weeks."
"And once we have the equipment and personnel, what would you recommend, Ms. Sterling?" Mr. Grey asked. "What should we do with the Wildfangs, and with the Volkov and Moonrunner families."
Families, Bess thought. Jake Volkov had a kid. So did the Moonrunners. Oh God.
As if she were somewhere far away, Bess heard her own voice say, "Deal with them."
---------------
So, those were her choices, Bess thought.
She could have everything she'd ever wanted - success, wealth, a beach house in Sulani. She just had to be party to murder. More murders. The murders of children.
Or she could go to the Crown Prosecutor. Even if they believed her, she'd probably end up spending the best years of her life in Irongate. That, of course, always assuming Mr. Grey and Mr. Hand didn't have Cletus or Mallory murder her and bury her in a shallow grave before she could testify.
If they look at me too closely I'm completely screwed, she thought.
No, that just wouldn't do. There had to be a way to make this work. She was smarter than those people.
There had to be another way out of this.
