Home Front (Star Kingdom #7) - Lindsay Buroker Page 0,162
not sure this will change anything long term, but at least your father and I know where you two truly stand now.”
Chasca dropped her bone on the floor.
“We’ve always known where you stood,” Mother told the dog.
Chasca wagged her tail.
“If there’s nothing else,” Oku said, backing up, “I have work to do in the greenhouse.”
“Oku?” Her mother’s tone turned to one of warning. “Van Dijk will push to have tracking software put in your new chip, and I think your father will agree to force the issue after what just happened.”
Oku grimaced.
“And for your sake, I don’t think you should send any more messages to Casmir Dabrowski.”
Her grimace deepened.
“I don’t know what’s going on out there, and the reports filtering back have been patchy, but I know your father isn’t pleased with him. You had best avoid speaking with him and his family until…” Her mother’s bleak expression suggested she wanted to say forever. But as diplomatic as always, she said, “Until everything is settled and figured out.”
Whenever that would be.
Oku wondered if Casmir could find a way to clear his name or at least avoid her father’s wrath. It seemed like the deck was stacked against him, that her father wanted to believe him some nefarious plotter. She thought of the last message she’d gotten from him and shook her head. She couldn’t believe it. But she could believe that he was idealistic enough, and so focused on what he believed was important, that he wouldn’t invest the necessary time in defending himself and clearing his name.
Maybe he needed someone who cared to do that for him. After her mother left, Van Dijk walked out of the office with the doctor.
“Chief?” Oku held up a finger to stop her, while waving for the doctor to continue on.
“Yes, Your Highness?” Van Dijk approached warily.
Expecting some outrage at having been drugged? No. Oku didn’t think she’d incriminated herself—and she hoped that Finn had incriminated himself—so she wasn’t upset. Besides, the drug hadn’t fully left her system, and she felt mellow rather than angry. Mellow and determined.
“I’ve been considering our talk yesterday.” Sort of. She was considering it now and if she might have a bargaining chip.
Another wary, “Yes?” came out.
“Given the unpleasant events I experienced last night, I realize I may have been rash in not wanting you to be able to track me.”
Van Dijk’s eyebrows rose. “If you’d gone missing and we hadn’t been able to find you, it would have been our responsibility.” She touched her chest. “Royal Intelligence would have taken the blame. I would have taken it.”
Whether she adored Oku personally or not, Van Dijk wouldn’t want that. Yes, Oku had a bargaining chip.
“I’m not quite ready to put a tracker in my head again—I still need to consider this, as it disturbs me that nobody ever told me I was being monitored before.” She frowned, though she’d gotten over it already. Van Dijk didn’t need to know that.
“It would have been your father’s choice to tell you, Your Highness.”
“Of course. If you do me a favor, I’ll consider coming in to have my chip altered.” Oku realized that was a vague offer, not a promise, and might not entice Van Dijk. “I’ll also send you what a computer hacker friend of mine learned about the person who tried to rope Finn in on my kidnapping scheme. I trust Finn didn’t know the person’s identity?”
Van Dijk’s face was hard to read—she’d spent her career perfecting the art of not giving away information for free—but she nodded in agreement. “He didn’t know. He was so eager for the opportunity to get rid of you without having to lift a finger, he went along with it foolishly. I trust your father, when he returns, will talk some sense into the boy. If Finn would betray you, he might also betray Jager.” She lifted her chin. “I’ve put this in my report to him.”
Oku hadn’t expected Van Dijk to admit that much to her. Maybe it was naive, but she hoped that meant the woman liked her—or would at least prefer to work with her—more than Finn.
“I would like whatever information you acquired to see if it’s in addition to or different from what we’ve discovered,” Van Dijk added.
“I’ll give you what I learned if you give me everything that’s come back from the Fleet in System Stymphalia, from Ambassador Romano, from your agents and spies around the system and from Stardust Palace Station, if you have an agent there.”