And worse, she was no longer the only one who knew it. At the height of her envy last night, she just had to call him.
Karina was almost to the coffee shop’s entrance when her mobile chimed.
“Kava, I’m glad you could return my call.”
“I’m sorry it’s taken so long,” she answered apologetically, loud car horns honking in the background.
Karina didn’t mind, especially knowing why the pair had gone off to Romania. She more than anyone wanted Sebastian to learn the truth about who he was and where he’d come from. Kava had gone along, not just for moral support, but because she felt the same concern Karina did.
“How is he?” she asked, inhaling the warm, fragrant scent of coffee beans.
Because no matter what she was currently dealing with when it came to Uilleam, she still very much cared what was happening with Sebastian and Kava.
“He’s … adjusting,” she said hesitantly. “Better, by any stretch of the imagination. He still has his moments, but we’re working through them.”
Of all the unlikely relationships, Karina hadn’t expected the pair of them to strike up a bond. She understood why—Kava was a caring soul and there was plenty about Sebastian that made him worthy of someone’s empathy.
All the same, she was grateful for it.
“But how are you?” Kava asked, changing the subject. “I heard about what happened.”
At this point, she would have been more surprised if she hadn’t. While the trial would be kept relatively quiet, Uilleam’s arrest had made national news.
And considering who they were accusing him of being, she wasn’t surprised the story had gone global.
For a moment, she thought back to the days when her time was spent in her tiny apartment working on stories and navigating the world anonymously.
It was a simple life, but it had been unequivocally hers. On days like this, she missed it.
“I could be worse,” Karina answered honestly.
Despite having arrived relatively early, there was still a considerable line leading up to the front counter.
“And the trial?” she asked gently.
It was … going, for lack of a better description.
Though she knew this was a possibility when she’d brought the governor’s wife before the media to give her side of the story, she hadn’t mentally prepared herself for the effects it would have on her.
And not because of the vendetta that she’d held onto for so long, but because of her fear.
Fear for Uilleam.
Fear for the future.
But while she was anxious, Uilleam seemed perfectly at ease with the proceedings.
“He has some sort of plan, I imagine,” she said after a bout of silence, “but this time I’m not sure how he plans to get out of this one.”
The way she saw it, the odds weren’t stacked in his favor, and considering this wasn’t just her going after him but her mother as well … she didn’t like his odds for once.
That thought worried her most of all because Katherine wasn’t one to lose, and if she feared she would, she reacted drastically.
“But enough about that. Have you found anything about where Sebastian came from?”
Kava’s voice softened as she said, “With the information that you gave us, we were able to find an orphanage but we haven’t gone to visit it yet. Sebastian … well, he doesn’t react very well at just the mention of it.”
While she hadn’t been able to find anything on Sebastian because of the pitiful records they had kept on him at the Romanian black site, she had been able to find some details on Kit’s team, though even that had been hard to come by.
She wasn’t sure why, and when she was done with Uilleam she planned to get to the bottom of it, but someone was making it next to impossible to find out anything about them though she couldn’t begin to understand why.
“Keep me updated,” Karina said, wanting the distraction. “I’ll help in any way I can from here.”
“I will, and Karina.”
“Yeah?”
“Be careful.”
She smiled at Kava’s concern. “I’m not the one on trial.”
“Maybe not, but I’m sure it probably feels that way.”
Unfortunately, she wasn’t wrong.
Karina ended the call and tucked her phone away, her mind on Sebastian and Uilleam rather than her surroundings.
As she turned away from the counter, she stumbled into the woman standing nearby.
“Pardon me,” she told the woman quickly, glad her coffee hadn’t spilled all over the woman’s outfit even as it drenched her fingers.
“Oh, there’s no need for apologies or formalities,” the woman said with a kind smile that seemed almost a little too nice. “Could I get you another?”
She hardly gave Karina a chance to respond before she was slipping away to the front counter, pointing back at her as the barista nodded. It was only a few minutes later that the mysterious woman returned with a fresh cup and two cream cheese danishes.
“You weren’t in a rush, were you?” the woman asked, seating herself at the table, her cane resting against the side of her chair.
Karina thought of the work she needed to get done that day ... as well as an update on Uilleam.
“Not at all.”
The woman was a walking contradiction. Her features were soft, her hair in delicate waves, but her outfit was bold. It made her stand out amongst the scores of people huddled inside the shop.
The woman canted her head to one side, her expression unreadable. “I don’t think I’ve met anyone that sympathizes with him.”
No, she quite imagined the woman wouldn’t, but Karina didn’t particularly care what others might have thought of Uilleam.
They didn’t know him.
And sometimes, she was sure she didn’t either.
There was still so much she was sure she didn’t know and sadly, she wasn’t entirely sure she would ever learn the complete truth about him.
Not after all of this anyway.
“I’m sorry.”
“Forgive me, but I overheard a bit of your conversation there. Were you talking about the one they call the Kingmaker?”
“I … everyone deserves a bit of sympathy, I think,” Karina settled on saying, neither confirming or denying.
The woman’s brows shot up. “Even one such as him? I can’t imagine he deserves it if the rumors are true.”
“People aren’t always what they seem—even the ones like him.”
The woman gave her a quizzical look that slowly morphed into a smile Karina didn’t quite understand.
Truthfully, it made no sense for her to defend him. She shouldn’t be defending him, but just like when she’d been talking to Kit after he’d come to confront her, she couldn’t help herself.
It was a troublesome habit she needed to grow out of.
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Karina.”
“You, as well,” she told the woman as she stood to make her leave.
But it wasn’t until Elle was already gone that she realized she had never told her her name.
13
The Search
Elsie
Private hospitals were all the same.
Despite the privileged life she had been born into, Elsie had a tendency to avoid them—not because she was ashamed of her family’s money—but because of the way so many treated her once they knew how much she was worth. But that was merely an annoyance she could put to the back of her mind.
The physicians that worked in places like this, however, it didn’t matter that she was of the family that were paying their exorbitant fees—they only cared about the opinions of whoever was actually signing the check.
Even now, nearly a decade and a half later, she could still remember the very first time her father had taken her in for an exam—Abigail having more important things to do, she imagined—and instead of remaining out in the waiting room as any other civilized ad
ult would, he had insisted on being in the room with her.
The experience would have been humiliating regardless of his intrusion, but to have two men discussing her intimate bits with no regard to her thoughts and feelings had changed the way she viewed doctors. Sure, once she was older she realized that not all doctors were like that, and most made it a point to not violate their patient’s rights, but she still hadn’t been able to force that incident from her mind.
Perhaps, as they say, she needed more time.
The nurse at the front desk looked up as she entered, her gaze momentarily drifting to the cane Elsie walked with, then to the heels she wore. There was a question there in the woman’s eyes, but Elsie wasn’t inclined to answer it.
“Good evening, madam. How can I help you?”
Pasting on a smile as she had been taught to do in situations like this, Elsie removed her sunglasses. “I’m looking for one of your physicians—Dr. Herbert Instok.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, glancing down at the clipboard beside her arm. “Did you have an appointment, or—“
“No appointment, I’m afraid. I merely wished to speak to him about a matter of grave importance. I’m afraid it can’t wait.”
Whether the woman believed her or not, in a place like this, it wasn’t up to her to decide whether what a potential patient was life-threatening or not. Her paycheck depended on it.
Deciding it was best not to argue, the woman ducked her head and focused on the computer monitor as she typed in a flurry. After a few clicks of her mouse, a frown turned her lips down at the corners.
“I’m sorry, madam, but it appears Dr. Instok doesn’t work for this practice anymore.”
Curious ... “No? Would you be able to tell me where he transferred to?”
Her gaze darted back to the screen a moment before focusing back on Elsie. “Actually, it appears he’s retired.”
Even more curious. “For how long?”
Another peek. “Going on nearly a decade now.”
Which meant he had been out of practice, she guessed, for right around the time the Ashworth girl had been shot and brought here. Surely, that must have raised some sort of red flags with the girl—it certainly was raising them with her.
But then again, considering the trauma of that day, she wouldn’t be surprised if the girl hadn’t bothered to follow up with the man. Elsie couldn’t even say she would have herself.
“If you’re looking for a gynecologist, I’m sure we could—“
“Oh, it’s no matter. I do have another inquiry though. I was hoping to get a copy of my records back when I was a patient. I can’t remember if you all kept physical copies or not.”
The nurse shook her head, her eyebrows knitting together. “We only keep digital, but if you give me your name and some form of identification, I’d be happy to provide them for you.”
No, Elsie had something far better in mind.
* * *
“Holy shit. I mean, I thought it was pretty wild there was another Runehart brother, but I never thought for a second there was a sister too.” The girl with the silver hair done up into two buns squinted at Elsie as if she were some sort of mythical creature she couldn’t believe was real. “And you’re pretty. Weird.”
“My brother tells me you’re the best hacker money can buy.”
A blush stained the girl’s cheeks as she patted herself on the back. “I mean, he’s not wrong, but I’m surprised the Kingmaker would even say something like that.”
Despite knowing his title, and even the fact that he preferred others call him by it even when he wasn’t around to hear, Elsie still found it curious whenever a complete stranger referred to her brother as such. It made sense, obviously—their father had always taught them to keep connections to a minimum and only focus on what one could gain through acquaintances—but she still remembered the boy he had been before he became the man he was now.
She couldn’t imagine him as the ruthless Kingmaker.
“I would imagine he knows it’s best to curry favor with those he might have displeased in the recent past.”
Which included, she realized, a sprite of a hacker who looked impossibly young to be capable of the things Uilleam said she could do. She imagined there was a story there, but she hadn’t the time to delve into it at the moment.
“Huh … you know, he could learn a thing or two from you on how to get a favor done. Come in.”
Winter Banes stepped to the side, allowing her entry into the massive loft on the outskirts of Brooklyn. Elsie had already been warned about the lot who lived here and she also knew it would probably be in her best interest not to upset the girl in front of her because the man she had tied herself to didn’t have a sense of humor where she was concerned—at least that was the helpful tip Kit had given her when she mentioned wanting to meet with the girl.
To her surprise, despite how long they had stood in the entryway talking, Winter wasn’t the only one home.
There were others in the living room—four men and a woman—one of which, the big, silent one, she had been warned of. Not a single one of them spoke as Elsie further entered the space, at least until Winter gave a rather casual nod of her head.
Then, the one positioned closer to the front of the room with the giant X tattooed on the side of his throat was the first to break the silence. “Nix told us to expect a visit from you.”
“My brother is nothing if not cautious. He thought it might be less … alarming, should he give you a warning.”
“Right,” he said, sounding less than impressed. “What do you want?”
“Apologies, but I don’t need anything from the lot of you presently—though I wouldn’t be surprised if that answer changes in the near future. For now, I only require her assistance,” she said with a pointed nod in Winter’s direction.
They wanted to argue, at least the one she presumed to be the leader did, but he seemed to think better of the decision when he glanced over in the silent one’s direction.
Trusting him to handle matters, she assumed.
“Is there somewhere we could speak privately?” Elsie asked, turning her attention back to Winter.
She made a gesture with her hand that Elsie didn’t immediately understand, at least until the silent one responded in kind and she realized they were signing. It would certainly explain why he hadn’t been the one to broach the topic with her instead of the other one.
It was quite interesting the differences between the two teams her brothers kept for themselves. Though she hadn’t had the opportunity to meet the mercenaries Uilleam had employed, she’d heard enough about them to know that they were capable of things no one liked to talk about—and they had been the reason why he had managed to stay on top for as long as he had.
Whereas these four—the Wild Bunch, Kit had called them—didn’t seem as threatening. But then again, she knew first hand how looks were deceiving and if she had to guess, the only reason they didn’t appear threatening at the moment was because they were in the comforts of their own home and she had been sent by their handler.
Questions for another day, anyway.
“Follow me,” Winter called, waving her to come along behind her.
They travelled up a spiraling staircase onto the next level. Though it wasn’t necessarily to her taste, she still found the loft to be quite interesting as far as the decor was concerned—it certainly didn’t look as if six people had their hands in designing it.
Except the room Winter led her into.
If she had to guess, this space had been specifically made with Winter in mind considering the number of monitors mounted to the wall as well as the keyboard and operating system that was sitting off to the side. At the very least, she knew Uilleam hadn’t been wrong in his assessment of her.
Just off of appearances alone, she seemed to take her job very seriously.
“You mentioned that the Kingmaker sent you, but you didn’t say why,” Winter said as she sat in the high back c
hair, swiveling it around so that she was now facing her.
“I need your skills in getting a medical file.”
“That’s all?” she asked, as if she had been expecting something greater.
Which only made Elsie wonder the sorts of tasks Uilleam had given her during their tenure together. “And information related to it.”
“I have a fee …”
“Whatever the amount, send me an invoice.”
Winter studied her for a moment before shrugging. “Cool, whose file do you need?”
“Karina Ashworth.”
There was no mistaking the girl’s hesitation as she flexed her fingers, taking her time picking up the keyboard and sitting it on her lap. “I feel like there’s a story there.”
“As soon as I figure out the ending to said story, I’ll share. But for now, I need to know if you’ll be able to get me what I need.”
Winter looked thoughtful a moment, chewing on her bottom lip. Elsie didn’t quite understand the girl’s hesitation. From her understanding, no one who had had ties with the Den were particularly fond of Karina—with the exception of Luna—so why she seemed reluctant to pry into the Ashworth girl’s life was a mystery to her.
Until she remembered who her allegiance was really to ...
“You’re worried she might find out and that will jeopardize your search for her assassin,” Elsie guessed, and judging from the hacker’s expression, she wasn’t wrong.
“His name is Sebastian, and of course I’m worried about that. Listen, I get it. Your concern is the Kingmaker and I’m assuming whatever you’re trying to find out about Belladonna has something to do with him, but what the two of you fail to realize is how every time you make a move, it doesn’t just affect you. Others suffer because of it.”
Elsie drew in a breath and counted to five, considering her words before she spoke them. “I understand your concern, and while I can’t allow just anyone to be privy to what I’m trying to accomplish here, I will tell you this. The information I’m looking for isn’t just going to help my brother, I believe it will be the answer to a question everyone has had for quite a while now.”
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