Chapter 20
“This is Jhon Bonga.”
“Tom Farland, Jhon. Samuel Archibald disappeared.”
Jhon sat up in his chair. “That’s a development. Do you have any other information?”
“Only what I can infer. You called me with your concerns, and I opened a case through the Inspector General’s office. We’re just getting our investigation started, but he took the most valuable small items from Fort Battering, and he’s emptied the accounts we had on file.”
Jhon pulled the phone away from his ear and swore silently to himself. “Any information on how he found out?”
Farland sighed. “Sam is a patriot. He believes we’re on a path to war, and he’s doing everything he can to prepare for it. Finding people who are sympathetic is easy.”
“He disappeared before he even tried to fight the investigation. We’re nowhere near the point of filing charges, let alone holding a trial. This seems premature.”
“I agree. He either knows something we don’t, or he’s less stable than I think he is.”
“We still have an open case on him,” Jhon said. “Is there anything specific you recommend we pursue?”
“Not at this time. Just let me know if you turn up anything new.”
“Count on it, sir. Good afternoon.”
The moment the line went dead it chirped. Jhon hit the intercom button. “What do you have, Greg?”
“I have Archbishop Sabin on the line, sir.”
“Interesting. Please put him through.”
The line clicked a couple of times, then Sabin’s bass came through the tinny speaker.
“Good afternoon, Jhon.”
“Good afternoon, your grace. What can I do for you?”
“We are making progress with Arris Bannister. He had engaged in a partnership with Torman Buchanan. Buchanan is the reason for the banking irregularities. Apparently, he insisted that Arris contribute something financial to the partnership.”
“That’s valuable to me, thank you, sir. Has he said anything yet about who trained him?”
“Not yet, but time is on our side.”
“I still don’t have a good lead for Major Heyerdahl, but we are looking. General Farland called right before you did to tell me that Samuel Archibald has gone underground. We have some evidence that suggests Archibald was involved in the attempt on Prime Minister Aikles. Can you find out if Arris knows anything about that, without giving him too much new information in the process?”
“I will try. Thank you for taking my call, Jhon.”
“You’re welcome, Archbishop. Thank you for making it.”
The line went dead and Jhon got up and went to his office door and opened it. “Greg, can you please schedule a meeting with the department heads at their earliest convenience? We need to start thinking about why a crime lord would be interested in working with a dark wizard.”
“Is that a deep question, sir?” Greg asked. “It seems like Arris would be able to offer services, like his unconventional bank robbery, and that Torman would want to exploit any opportunities they could create together.”
Jhon nodded. “That’s one argument. The other is that working with Arris exposes Buchanan to a whole new set of investigators, namely us and the church.”
Greg winced. “That’s not really a deterrent, sir. The church’s investigation wing is quite small, and so are we.”
“That’s also true. Schedule the meeting anyway. I want people to start thinking about the problem and looking for evidence.”
“Yes, sir.”
* * *
Chun found Wrongway crying in the bathroom a few minutes after midnight. He considered letting the kid cry it out but decided to sit with him for a few minutes instead.
When Chun sat down on the toilet next to Wrongway, the kid finally noticed him and forced himself to stop crying.
“What do you want, Kang?”
“I can help you.”
“What does that mean? I don’t need help.”
“Your mind is not organized. Your thoughts go very fast, but not always where you want them to go. If you work with a patient teacher, you do good work, but if you work with an impatient teacher sometimes you cannot learn at all.” Chun folded his hands around his rifle and waited while Wrongway digested that.
“How do you know?” Wrongway wiped his nose with his sleeve.
“Because when I was young, it was the same for me.”
Wrongway looked at him through red-rimmed eyes. “Really?”
“Truly.”
“How did you get over it?”
“My mother found a powerful wizard who knew how to fix it. Master Hun taught me a pair of meditation techniques and helped me apply them. Most things you learn from wizards take years, but this took about two weeks.”
“Two weeks?”
“Yes. Of course, that was two weeks of full-time training. You and I will have to work on it for an hour here and there, but I am confident we can resolve your concentration problems before you graduate here.”
“What do I need to do?” Wrongway’s entire expression changed.
“Sit straight but relaxed enough to be comfortable. Good. Now breathe in while you count four seconds. Good. Now breathe out for four more seconds. Good.”
While Wrongway centered himself, Chun focused his own breath and then began the careful process of untangling and aligning Wrongway’s breath.
* * *
Jhon Bonga checked his watch and closed the rear door of the headquarters building. He had already postponed the morning meeting, and now he was at risk of arriving late to what was now the afternoon meeting. He walked down the hall in long strides, trying to make up time.
Abraham Little’s voice echoed out of his lab. “No, I don’t like the one with the nipple holes.”
“Really?” Annabeth asked. “Why not? I was sure you would love it.”
Jhon sighed and rubbed his hand over his face, then veered to the lab.
I’m not letting them suck me into one of their embarrassing squabbles.
He poked his head in the door and tried to ignore the negligée Annabeth was holding up.
“Abraham, this is one of those conversations you should close the door for.”
Abraham cocked his head. “Why, Director?”
“Because you just said nipple loud enough for everyone to hear you.”
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“Yes, Director,” Annabeth said, “men have nipples, plumbing has nipples, bicycle wheels have nipples, and gearboxes have nipples. There are nipples all over this building, even when all of the staff have gone home. So, what is the big problem with my nipples? Frankly, I think they are very nice.”
Jhon ground his teeth. “Annabeth, not right now. Abraham, when you discuss a specific person’s nipples, do it behind a closed door.”
“Yes, Director.”
Jhon pulled the door closed and turned to find Jacob Halloway grinning at him from three feet away. “What?” Jhon pushed past him and started walking.
Halloway laughed. “Nothing, sir, nothing at all. There is a rumor that the best conversations come out of that lab whenever you walk by, but frankly I don’t put any stock in it.”
“I have fought,” Jhon swiveled his head around, making certain no one else was nearby, then dropped his voice to a whisper. “I have fought that girl on modesty her entire life. If I didn’t insist on at least some standards, she would still be running around the house naked.”
Halloway nodded. “My nieces are two and four, and one of their favorite activities is ditching their towels after bath time and then running as many laps around the house as they can before one of their parents corrals them.”
Jhon shot him an outraged frown. “Don’t you think it might be a bit different if they were still doing that at twenty-eight?”
“Most definitely, sir. There was a time when my friends and I were skinny dipping, and my sixteen-year-old sister came running out of the bushes and jumped into the pond with us, naked as the day she was born.” He shook his head.
“That sounds more like the problems I put up with,” Jhon said.
They started up the stairs. “In more serious news, sir, I have a lead on a device that makes unbreakable promises.”
“What?” Jhon said.
“I’ll explain what little we know about it in the meeting, sir. Mostly I wanted to give you as much warning as possible, but it belongs to the Buchanans.”
Jhon shot him a hard look. “You mean the Buchanans that run crime over all of southern Solomon?”
“The very same, sir. We may have to go to war against them, or just let this object go.”
“Alright, Jacob. Thank you for the heads up. Once we start talking about this, we won’t be able to talk about anything else, so we’ll deal with the routine business first.”
“Yes, sir.”
They made it through the basic business. It was the same as always. Despite a decent operating budget, they simply didn’t have enough money. They needed to perform expensive repairs all over the building, almost a comprehensive reconstruction effort. They had seen several items of interest on the gray market but could not afford to bid for them. Finding additional legal staff was a problem--all of the best candidates went to other agencies, or into the private sector. No one of any skill wanted to be associated with The Bureau of Antiquities.
“Jacob? I believe you had some news to share.”
“Yes, sir. The Buchanan family has been involved in organized crime for over a hundred years. However, they have risen in influence a great deal over the last decade. Our new information is that this roughly coincides with their acquisition of Eadwin’s Crown.”
Sharon perked up at that, lifting her head from her notes to make eye contact with him. “You mean the Crown of the Uncrowned King is real?”
“It would appear so.”
“Legend says the king never wore the crown himself. He made others wear it when they swore oaths to him, and that no one ever betrayed him,” Sharon said.
“My source says that Torman Buchanan makes his associates wear it and then swear that they will serve him unto death,” Jacob said. “They tell me he is adding members of parliament, police, and Bureau of Investigation agents to his organization.”
“How many men can he call on?” Jhon frowned as he scanned Jacob’s face.
“We’re not sure,” Jacob said, “but it looks like a few dozen on short notice and a few hundred if we really press him.”
“And we have twenty-eight field agents right now?” Hui seemed to be counting in his head.
“Plus Lee’s support staff,” Jhon said. “We’re badly outmanned.”
“If no one can betray him, how do you have a source?” Lee Quisling furrowed his brow.
“That one is slippery,” Jacob said. “Some of the first members to swear with the crown swore loyalty to the family, not to Torman himself. My source isn’t on our side. He’s just using us to loosen Torman’s grip on the family. He believes the old man has reached the point where he is setting the family up for disaster.”
Lee shook his head. “So, the intelligence we’re working on is probably designed to bring down Torman Buchanan without damaging the family any more than necessary, and your source will probably try to manipulate the situation to hurt the Bureau, so that we won’t be able to take future action against them.”
“That’s my read of the situation,” Jacob said.
“Okay,” Jhon said. “We need every bit of intelligence we can gather. Sharon, find anything we can use. We need to know everything possible about the crown, and we need to know everything possible about Torman and his organization.
“Lee, we need more cars, more guns, more ammunition, and more people, if you can find some who are ready to go without too much additional training. I want your team tracking any agent who leaves the office. If someone disappears, we need to know right away.
“Jacob, work with Lee on the equipment and staffing. No more single trips for agents. If you leave the building, you take a partner. And you write your destination on the damn dispatch board. No exceptions.
“Hui, we need funding. We just got done talking about problems, but for the foreseeable future I need solutions. If we really don’t have the money, borrow it.”
Hui raised his hand. “That’s illegal, sir.”
“I don’t care. We are not going into action against a larger, more powerful organization without the best preparation we can have. Avoid breaking the rules if you can, but ultimately, we need what we need. Get it done.”