“Agreed,” Ewen said quickly, before Lamont could object. This was more than he’d hoped for. Getting major international coverage with Der Spiegel’s credibility behind it was the sort of thing journalists dreamed of.
“Excellent.” Brenner stood, extending his hand again. “I’ll have our senior investigative reporter contact you tomorrow to begin verification. In the meantime, Mr. Cross, I suggest you watch your back.”
The friendly warning sent ice down Ewen’s spine. “You think Arcturus will come after me again?”
“I think you’re sitting on evidence that could destroy a billion-dollar defense contractor and bring down multiple government officials.” Brenner’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “The Arcturus Group is not going to be happy when this publishes. And people who hire private military contractors to solve their problems tend to be...persistent.”
Chapter Eighteen
Lamont ended the call and resisted the urge to hurl his phone across the hotel room. Another FBI field office, another bureaucratic brush-off.Send the evidence first. Someone will review it. We’ll be in touch.
Right. They’d be in touch approximately five seconds before someone at Arcturus got tipped off that a whistleblower was making noise.
“No luck?” Ewen glanced up from his laptop, where he’d been on a video call with Der Spiegel’s fact-checking team for the past three hours.
“They want me to email everything to a general inbox.” Lamont dropped into the chair beside Ewen. “We might as well take out an ad in The Washington Post announcing we have evidence and provide them with a contact address.”
Ewen grimaced. “That bad?”
“Worse. Every agent I’ve reached keeps insisting that protocol requires submission of evidence through official channels first.” Lamont scrubbed his hands over his face. “Which would be fine if we weren’t dealing with corruption that goes high enough to pressure a major news outlet into erasing your employment records.”
“So, we’re back to publishing first, authorities second.”
“It looks that way.” Lamont watched Ewen scroll through a document covered in track changes and comments. “How’s the verification going?”
“Slowly. I’ve got to admit these guys are very thorough.” Ewen’s fox gleamed in his eyes. “They’ve confirmed the financial transfers, tracked down two of the former Hardline employeesfor interviews, and cross-referenced the casualty reports with military records. Everything checks out so far, but they want to verify the metallurgy analysis on the armor samples before they’ll commit to publication.”
“How long?”
“Another week, maybe ten days.” Ewen closed the laptop with more force than necessary. “I know they’re being careful. I know this is how real investigative journalism works. But every day we wait…”
“Is another day Arcturus could come after you again,” Lamont finished. “I know.”
They’d been in Germany for seven days now, staying in a mid-range hotel close enough to Der Spiegel’s headquarters for easy meetings but anonymous enough to avoid attention. Lamont had warded the room against magical intrusion and kept careful watch on anyone who showed too much interest in them. So far, nothing had happened, but Lamont knew it was only a matter of time. His hound paced restlessly beneath his skin, unhappy with the forced inactivity.
Ewen must have felt it through their bond, because he reached over and laced their fingers together. “You’re wound tight.”
“So are you.”
“Fair point.” Ewen’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “We could both use a break. When’s the last time you shifted?”
Lamont thought back. Not since Egypt, when he’d raced around their hotel room in joyful zoomies after Ewen had collared him. Weeks ago, in other words. His hound rumbled at the reminder, wanting out, wanting to run.
“Too long,” Lamont admitted. “Do you want to go for a run?”
Interest sparked in Ewen’s expression. “I’d love to, but where? There’s no real room for you to run in this suite, and while I think your hound is adorable, you’d scare everyone in a two mile radius if we went to a local park.”
“We can go to the Underworld.” Lamont stood, pulling Ewen up with him. “The wastelands are perfect for running. There’s no one around, just miles and miles of space, and we won’t have to worry about startling any humans.”
Ewen bit his lip. “I can’t say I’ve ever shifted in the Underworld before.”
“There’s a first time for everything.” Lamont tugged him close, already reaching for the familiar pull of translocation. “Besides, my hound wants to play with your fox.”
“Play?” Ewen’s fox gleamed brighter in his eyes. “That sounds…yeah. Okay. Let’s do it.”
The hotel room dissolved around them.
/~/~/~/~/