The van moved again, tires whispering against wet asphalt, city lights sliding across the darkened windows like passing thoughts. Aldric sat still, tablet resting lightly in his hands, the paused image reflected faintly in his eyes.
Ms. Vos broke the silence first.
"The reason I cried," she said, voice low, controlled, "isn't because Elijah Raktomb is dead."
Aldric turned his head slightly toward her, attentive but not intrusive.
"It's because," she continued, "I helped put him in that room."
The words settled between them.
"I wasn't his enemy," she said quickly, as if correcting an accusation no one had made. "I was his shield. His contingency. The LCO didn't exist in its current form back then. We were… an idea. A quiet network. Elijah believed the system was already rotting from the inside, and he wanted proof before the rot became permanent."
She took another drag from her cigarette, exhaled slowly.
"I was the one who insisted on the cameras," she said. "The hidden drive. The off-grid encryption. I told him that if something ever happened, we'd have a ghost to chase. Something that wouldn't disappear when the killer did."
Her jaw tightened.
"But I was wrong about one thing."
Aldric waited.
"I thought the threat would come from outside the system," she said. "Foreign interests. Rogue actors. Criminal syndicates."
She laughed quietly, bitterly. "I didn't consider that the system itself might already be answering to someone else."
Aldric finally spoke. "So this wasn't just an assassination."
"No," Ms. Vos said. "It was a message. To me. To anyone who thought the law still belonged to the people."
She turned to him then, eyes sharp despite the fatigue. "And whoever orchestrated it made sure I lived long enough to understand that."
Aldric absorbed that in silence. He didn't offer comfort. He offered comprehension, which was rarer—and often more useful.
After a moment, he handed the tablet back to her.
She accepted it without looking down.
"Ms. Vos," Aldric said evenly, "I'll visit the LCO and the SLCO tomorrow. I'll review everything you're willing to give me. Logs, cases, anomalies—especially the ones that were dismissed as coincidences."
Her brow furrowed. "You're confident."
"I'm cautious," he corrected. "There's a difference."
He paused, then added, "I'll also need to leave the continent in four days."
That caught her attention.
"Four days?" she repeated. "Where?"
"Xylanthia."
She blinked, then smiled faintly. "Xylanthia," she echoed. "That's not exactly a vacation destination."
"No," Aldric said. "It's business."
Ms. Vos leaned back, studying him anew. "Let me guess. Fox?"
Aldric's lips curved slightly. "He contacted me earlier today."
She nodded, unsurprised. "Fox is powerful. Influential. Calculated. He doesn't move unless the board already favors him."
"So I'll be safe," Aldric said.
"As safe as one can be when they're useful," Ms. Vos replied. "Which, in Fox's world, is a compliment."
The van slowed.
Ahead, the LCO headquarters rose from the darkness—angular, unmarked, deliberately forgettable. No banners. No insignia. Just concrete, glass, and quiet authority.
As the van rolled to a stop, Ms. Vos crushed her cigarette out in the metal tray and straightened, slipping the familiar armor back into place.
"Tomorrow," she said, opening the door, "you'll see what we've been fighting in fragments for years."
Aldric stepped out beside her, the building's lights reflecting in his eyes.
"Good," he said calmly. "Fragments are easier to assemble once you know what picture you're looking for."
The doors closed behind them.
And somewhere, far away, someone who had once believed himself untouchable felt—without knowing why—that the board had shifted.