Kelan made his way back to the trolly and stared out at the icy world and the car descended, his heart dropping with it. If Kerrigan was dead, his father might just kill him too if Kelan wasn’t able to secure Dragon Corporation in the aftermath. He tried dialing the number again, but it never connected. Either his contact was dead or had discovered something about Kerrigan after he had done the job and had gone to ground for a while. Kelan suspected the latter, knowing how deadly and efficient the man was. That begged the question, what did he know, that Kelan should have known? When the trolly reached the bottom, he hurried to his car, bracing against the frigid wind. He would never get use to the cold here. Even now, when his home would be experiencing the first hints of spring, this miserable mountain hell was icy and covered in snow. When he reached his car, he cranked the heat and dialed his father. “What do you need Kelan?” “Hello to you too father.” “Are you in trouble or ne

*** Jinstain, Bayan Province – Kerrigan Lokir ***Kerrigan lay in bed as the screen went dark. “Gah, Reilynn, take this away please.”Reilynn slipped forward from the shadows and closed the laptop, setting it on the desk along the wall. “You did well, my lady.”“Yeah, well I feel like crap still. I hate lying to her.” She tried to sit up straight in bed but the stitches on her side pulled and her shoulder screamed when she tried to put weight on it. “hells fire.”Evalynn was at her other side and helped her sit up and pushed a pillow behind her. “Miss, it’s only been a week. Your wounds are doing well, but the assassin struck true. It will take time to heal properly.”“Do you think Natalie suspected anything?”“No. What little bruising is on your face was easy enough to conceal with the foundation. The camera angle prevented us from hav

*** Jinstain, Bayan Province - Kerrigan Lokir ***Saturday morning dawned clear and bright. Kerrigan woke to Evelynn rummaging through the closet. “What are you doing?”“Hmm? Oh, sorry. I thought we might get you out in the park today and was looking for a good disguise. However, I discovered that it seems Conor still has quite a few suits in here. He does look rather sharp in these tan suits don’t you think?”“Hadn’t noticed. Mind shutting the curtain, that sun is brutal.”“Hadn’t noticed? Kerrigan. Fine. Be that way. Well if you don’t want to go to the park today then fine, I will go with Parker and Conor by myself. I am sure Reilynn and Gabriella will not hold it against you to much for keeping them here on such a nice day.”“Park? As in not the loop around the pond?”“That is right. Mr. Brantley and Mr. Townson have agreed to escort you to a park ne

 Kerrigan watched as Conor climbed into an SUV with Parker and drove off. Evelynn come up behind her then, “Well, that seemed to go well. Did you two have a good chat?”“A very enlightening one, that is for sure. He is more than he seems.” Kerrigan replied softly.“I’ll say.” Evelynn smirked. “Of all the places you could be for your recovery, I have to thank you for bringing us here. At least the ‘scenery’ is rather improved over what we had in Velyki.”Kerrigan cracked a small smile. “Perhaps it is at that. Well, I suppose it is time to take me back. I need to check in with Natalie anyway.”“Are you not giving that poor girl the weekend off?”“I promised her I would check in. she seems to think the sky will fall if I don’t call her.”“Fine, but you need to tell her to rest some. I know she is use to you being there to deal

(Conor’s POV)Conor tried to get back to Vokrizin on Tuesday but that morning had brought massive storms. He called Colonel Eli and learned that a small team had stayed the night and were the only ones there Tuesday. Thankfully, the weather cleared by evening and Wednesday when he came in, everyone seemed to be in good spirits.Conor found Colonel Eli and ask, “Do you think we will be able to take miss Lokir to the community center today?”“The weather is cleared out nicely. From what my people say, storm damage is minimal, just some flooding that is mostly in the lower city so I don’t think it will be an issue. If anything, it might be a good day to go. I bet my niece will be there organizing the kids to clean the place up after the rains while any reporters and such will be focused on the docks to notice us heading that way.”“Good deal. If you would, go ahead and send a team. I will go find miss Lokir and meet