November 23, 2003
"If you must know," she said, forcing herself to speak sweetly, "he does not reside in London. He is busy with work and I am obviously occupied away from him."
Behind her calm demeanour, she was raging. She knew that Rolland had something up his sleeves by letting her stay at her London flat instead of locking her up in a cell. She wanted to kill the guard and fly to Frank, but she knew doing that would make it worse for them. She had to let them think she was playing their hand, no matter how hard it was. She missed him.
He let go of her cloak and she jumped down on her back porch. Once back inside, she activated a custom mute-ball before calling Frank. Her pager went off as soon as she put her hand on her phone. It was her contact from MI6.
"Blue Thunder on the line."
"It's been a while since we talked, you and I."
"Given the recent events, can't say I missed you, no offence."
"Can't say I blame you. A report recently came to us from Clear Valley, which contradicts information we have been given regarding a case that happened there a few months ago. I believe this town is familiar to you, correct?"
"You are correct. I went there for a case a few months ago."
"To be honest, I always enjoyed collaborating with you, and had a hard time believing the first version of events. You have done a lot of crucial consulting work for us. I would like to hear from you what truly happened in Clear Valley."
"While I wonder why you did not bother to hear my version of events when that story came out, and instead had me hunted down despite the works I've done for you, I will nonetheless give it to you, just to help you see that I never was your enemy."
Coralis told her what exactly happened in Clear Valley and where the pictures posted in the press were coming from. She also mentioned that a vampire clan based in London had plans to take down the ruling family in Chicago and that the war fought that night was merely a distraction.
"Was Plurio Van Lur's clan involved?"
"Yes."
"I see. I should indeed have contacted you when the Clear Valley report landed on our desk, my apologies. There is another story I did not want to believe and was relieved to hear that it was going to be investigated further. Did you kill Minister Luke Massina?"
"No, I did not. I was not at the hotel when he got killed."
"Here is what I am going to do. Pending the investigation of Massina's death, I will recommend putting a hold on your name on the Most Wanted Witches list and to opening an investigation into where these reports come from, beyond our source. What you told me is more on par with the experience we've had with you so far."
The moment she ended her call, her hologram vibrated. She rolled her eyes and answered Sebastian's call.
"This time, if Frank complains about me not calling him yet, I'll blame it on you."
Sebastian laughed.
"Nah, you should have been back nearly an hour ago, what's your excuse for not having called him yet?"
"Guard questioned me on why M. Blue was never spotted at my place and my MI6 contact called as soon as I touched my phone. You called right after I was done talking to her."
"Yeah okay, let him be mad at me. Was at least the MI6 call worth it or is it more bad news?"
"We shall see, I guess, but I think it was worth it. She wanted to talk about what happened in Clear Valley and about Massina. She's now questioning her source and wants to put a hold on my name, at least until Massina's investigation is over."
"A hold on your name would be good. Frank will be most happy about that. That man hasn't been sleeping well, I guarantee you that."
Coralis closed her eyes and stayed silent for a moment. Neither had she.
"After everything I put him through, I don't understand why he's still with me."
"He's yours, that's all I will say on that. Before he gets mad at me for holding you on the line when you should be calling him, I will get to the point of why I'm calling you. Hmm, Stephanie is on the phone with him, she's probably saving both of our asses right now."
"You're rambling."
"As usual when it comes to her, you should know that. With everything going on right now, we need good news and happy parties. Something hopeful, so… we have set a wedding date."
"Oh, nice! A fun party where I won't have to leave in the middle of it because of work calls sounds very appealing, to be honest."
"I bet it does! See it as an incentive to get your case resolved. I know you still have some time, but we don't want you to have to kill everyone just to get out of custody or execution time."
"I'm not above doing that if it comes down to it. Now stop rambling and tell me when!"
"January 1st! Isn't it the most hopeful way to start the new year?"
She spoke a little bit longer with Sebastian, until Stephanie was done talking to Frank. She missed him deeply but didn't want to rush them. Afterall, she was going to have a lifetime with him when the situation would be over, provided she stayed alive.
When Sebastian told her Stephanie was off the phone with Frank, she ended her conversation with him to call her mate, glancing at her engagement ring as she pressed the button to initiate the call.
"Hey luv! How was your day?"
"Too many phone calls when I could only think about having my hands all over you, but I possibly have good news for you."
"Besides my sister and Sebastian having set a wedding date?"
"Yes, besides that. Just before Sebastian called me to tell me about it, I was on the phone with my contact at the MI6. They might put a hold on my name on their list."
Frank jumped off his seat. He wanted to scream in victory but wanted to be sure that he heard right.
"Are you serious? What made them change their mind?"
"It's not a sure thing, but yes, I am serious. She said they received a report regarding Clear Valley events, which conflicted with a previous one they received. I'm guessing it came from agent DeMarco, but I must call Hendrick to confirm that. She also asked about Massina and I told her I didn't do it, so she'll recommend a hold on me, pending some investigations."
"If you can finally gain some allies within intelligence agencies, that's very encouraging. I don't like you being stuck in a country that wants you dead. Massina's death is all the news can talk about. It's sickening. It almost makes me regret to have picked a career in journalism, can't even watch fiction movies the same way anymore. Some days, I just want to pick a mic and scream at everyone."
"A good fiction doesn't hurt anyone. We all need to escape our world sometimes. You're pursuing entertainment journalistic coverage, we all need that, especially in dark times."
"I definitely needed to hear that, thanks luv. Speaking of hopeful news in dark times, you know, I think it's our turn to set a date for our wedding. Did you get in contact with your aunt?"