A week after they discovered the backup channel, once again, the trail went cold.
Maren's agents followed the messages all the way to the Arcasedian border but after that they vanished. Without official papers, Maren's people couldn't follow them inside Arcasedia.
"We lost the trail at the border," Maren informed them. "A woman carried the message into Arcasedia. My agents can't go after her without papers."
Austin sighed in frustration.
"Is there nothing we can do?" he asked.
"I've sent messages to a few contacts inside Arcasedia, but it may take weeks to hear anything back."
"And Ashby?"
"He has gone quiet again. He is back to his usual self."
"Every time we think we're close, something pulls us back," Austin murmured. "It feels like they are suspicious of us."
"That's because they've decades of experience," Maren replied. "I know it's sounding repetitive but there's nothing we can do except for waiting."
