We could only assume that Rockhurst hadn’t outfitted their entire fleet with the new drives yet, or they would’ve tried to wipe us out with hit-and-run tactics we couldn’t counter. We outmatched their traditional fleet, but if they added House Yamado to their side, we would be overwhelmed.
“Let me know when they reply,” I said. Ian raised an eyebrow. “Please,” I tacked on belatedly. “He’s my brother.”
“It would be better if you stayed out of it,” Ian said, “and let me do my job.” He sighed and rubbed his face, and it occurred to me that he looked tired. Ian never looked tired. I’d seen him work for forty-eight hours straight without a single sleepy blink, but today he looked worn.
“Are you okay?” I asked gently. I couldn’t help myself. Ian had the uncanny ability to sneak under my armor, even when he wasn’t trying to.
His face smoothed into a pleasant mask, wiping away the hint of vulnerability. “I’m fine,” he said.
The sting of rejection was a familiar hurt, but it still stole my breath. Outwardly, I smiled and nodded, as placid as a lake. I glanced out of the window, trying to determine our location. “Are we returning home?” I asked.
“You are,” he said.
He looked like he expected me to argue, but I just inclined my head in agreement. I needed to look at the file Evelyn had given me. And at this point, I was far more effective at finding information virtually than by dashing around the city. With Ian working on finding footage of Ferdinand’s kidnapping, I could switch to figuring out who could have actually pulled it off. I doubted it was the same group who had ordered it, but one might lead me to the other. Or Ferdinand. I would call that a win, too.
Ian’s expression turned serious. “I don’t have time to chase you all over Serenity, not if you want Ferdinand found. Every minute you waste is one your brother is missing. Are you going to stay put?”
Anger almost loosened my tongue, but I shoved it down at the last second. “Yes.” Until I have more information. Then I am going to get Ferdinand with or without you.
Ian still did not look convinced, but I just smiled serenely and let the conversation lapse into silence, already planning where I would start my search. If I wanted someone kidnapped without it tracing back to me, I’d go to the Silva Syndicate. There were a few other options, but the Silva family ran the largest underground crime organization in the ’verse.
And unlike the black market on APD Zero, the Consortium very much wanted to wipe the Syndicate out, mostly because they refused to give the Houses a cut of their profits.
Because they were targeted by the RCDF, the Syndicate leadership was distributed on several enormous spaceships that were constantly on the move. Occasionally the RCDF would get lucky and catch one, but like a hydra, two more would spring up to replace it. I’d visited one of their ships just once, back before my marriage, when I was still doing active assignments for House von Hasenberg. It had taken a lot of very fast talking and massive amounts of money to walk away unscathed.
But they’d also delivered exactly what they’d promised.
I was pulled from my thoughts when our transport settled outside the House von Hasenberg family entrance. Ian gestured for me to stay put as he slid the door open and stepped out. He glanced around at the security personnel in place, then reached in to help me from the transport.
“I know you are plotting something,” he said quietly as he escorted me to the entrance. “Do not leave the building without letting me know and taking a full security detail. Do you understand?”
“I plan to spend the day researching Ferdinand’s disappearance,” I said.
“That didn’t answer the question.”
“No, it didn’t.” I smiled as I slipped into the building and left him scowling on the doorstep. One day he would learn that I responded far better to requests than demands, but that day didn’t appear to be today.
Chapter 5
On the way to my suite, I checked our sibling group channel, but no one had heard from Ferdinand. Ada had chimed in that she was okay and hadn’t been attacked. Everyone was speculating on who could be behind the attacks, but no one had any solid leads and no ransom demands had been made. I wasn’t the only one who thought the Syndicate might be involved, though.