December 11, 2003
"WHAT?"
"I still need to find evidence to prove it or force her to confess, but I was right. Blum was protecting someone. Xanita never received a tip about that damn warehouse."
"That explains why Gus could never find anything relevant or suspicious about it, besides someone tampering with their security cameras."
"Basic human material wasn't difficult to tamper with. We probably were the only two elementals to have ever set foot in there. Do you know if Sebastian is available tomorrow?"
"I don't know. We don't have a game tomorrow, but lately, I talk to him only when I'm in my London flat. Only place I can talk safely."
"I'll check with him then. Remember when Xanita said she had a call to take and came back with that so-called tip?"
"Yeah, and thinking of it, she was also the one who sent us to that warehouse."
"She had been talking to Jorgie. Erik and Henry are on their way back to where you guys live, they've been a great help."
"Jorgie? The same Jorgie who's been feeding the CIA with twisted reports on behalf of Alfredino?"
"Yes, that same one. I remember Sebastian telling us that he was there the night you summoned your glowing zombies in northern Scotland and that he potentially recorded him. I know the cases are unrelated, but I also want to be able to prove that he's been sabotaging you."
"I think MI6 is building something against him. I spoke to my contact there before leaving for my game. He was the one behind the Massina report they received."
"That cockroach! We know that Alfredino is using him to do his dirty work to get the suspicions away from him, so that would mean Alfredino was the one ordering the hit on Messina and had it pinned on you. No wonder why he fought Rolland when you met with them."
"I don't trust Rolland either. What he said about my mate at that meeting rubbed the wrong way, let alone what the guard asked the other day. Honestly, I am beyond thankful for what you're doing to help me clear my name, but even if they rule me innocent, I won't come back, even if they beg me to."
"I understand. At this point, I just want to go rogue against them and take down the cockroaches polluting the EBEE, starting with Jorgie and Alfredino."
"What about Lalima? You know that if you're going to do that, you can't leave her out of your sight."
"She's still in hiding on an island near Spain. Spanish elders are also on my list of people I want to go up against."
The next day, while she was on the phone with Frank, her hologram vibrated. She couldn't tell who it was, but she knew it was a CMMA hologram code.
"I'll call you back in a few minutes, someone at the CMMA is trying to reach out to me by hologram."
"CMMA? They know you can't go nowhere, right?"
"Yeah, but it could be someone with information for me."
She pressed on her hologram after ending her call with Frank, and General Tobly's holographic image floated above her device.
"General Tobly! What a surprise! You are aware that I am currently not in a position to participate in any sort of mission, right?"
Coralis was genuinely surprised that General Tobly would reach out to her. She saw him a few times in meetings, but wasn't on the greatest terms with him: she found him arrogant and too cocky. He wasn't the one who would call her when she was needed for a mission.
"I am aware of it, yes. It has been brought to my attention that you will soon be able to prove your innocence on Massina's death and your ordeal will then be over."
"That's the hope."
"I am also aware you are no longer attached to an EBEE branch. When you are no longer on lockdown in your apartment, I want to recruit you to join our prestigious elite team."
"I appreciate the offer, General Tobly. There has been a point in time where I would gladly have accepted it, but at the moment, I will not join any organization, including the CMMA. I decline your offer."
"I think you are making a mistake to turn down my offer."
"In all due respect, General Tobly, it would be a mistake to join another organization at this present moment. I am being hunted down from all directions and have been betrayed by my people. I need to focus on my flyball career while keeping my mate safe. Until things simmer down, I need to be working independently."
She didn't know if she could trust General Tobly, so she didn't want to tell too much. In her mind, joining the CMMA would be trading one foe for another: she knew they also had people who wanted her out.
"Very well, but you'll regret it."
Coralis frowned as she ended the call. She wasn't sure if she should interpret it as a threat. She reached out to Sonylla telepathically.
"Guess who just contacted me for recruitment purposes."
"Someone at the EBEE begging to have you back?"
"Ah nah! Although I'm sure they will once Andrew can prove I didn't kill Massina."
Coralis told her about her conversation with General Tobly.
"He said WHAT? Hold on, I need to tell Panjik about it and I'm currently kicking Emery's ass."
As she waited for a response from Sonylla, she refilled her drink. She wasn't used to having so much time on her hands and didn't know what to do with it. Gus was at work, and Erik and Henry were going through CCTV archives to assemble an accurate timeline of Messina's death and fix the segments that had been tampered with. None were home.
Sonylla was at a training session with Clara, Emery and some other agents. Panjik was supervising. She was sparring with Emery when Coralis mind-linked her. She hoped she was to communicate mentally with Coralis without Emery noticing. They had practiced it a lot but she was thankful that Emery knew about her having a twinning bond, just in case he noticed.
"Something is bothering you," said Emery.
"There is, but I won't talk about it here."
"That kind of bother?"
"Yeah," said Sonylla while looking at Panjik across the room.
"Your techniques are definitely improving. I could only tell that something was bothering you because you had a mix of confusion and anger painted on your face."
Sonylla attention turned back to him. She understood what he was telling her. He couldn't tell she received a mind-link, but she needed to school her facial expression when receiving the type of information Coralis told her.
Emery waved at Panjik to get his attention and a few minutes later, they were in his office. Sonylla told them what she heard from Coralis, and Panjik shook his head.
"There goes our chance to recruit her. This is exactly the reason why the elders don't want him to get involved in recruitment. I'll mention it to them, but she shouldn't worry about Tobly. He barks but has no bite. He won't dare to go up against her. He likes himself too much," said Panjik.
The holographic monitor in Panjik office lit up. The list of Most Wanted Witches didn't change, but new names had been added to the Other Ones of Interest. Erik and Henry Fullemon were now on it.