Page 52 of The B-Team

“If there is, I haven’t thought of it.” Julia sounded equally discouraged. “If we can find something to use as leverage against Commander Fitzwater, we can make this situation go away.”

“You mean blackmail him into dropping the charges?” Katrina said.

“No, I really mean leverage, as in putting us in a position of power when we negotiate. I don’t want to blackmail anyone. That just isn’t right.”

Katrina smiled. For a second there, she’d forgotten who she was talking to. “You’re right,” she said in an effort to appease the heavily pregnant woman who had to stay calm. “It’s definitely leverage. The good news is that I don’t think anyone’s on the server yet except us. I can’t see any anonymous accounts orunauthorized entries. The only people I see accessing files are allowed to be there.”

“That’s a relief,” Julia said. “I wish I knew how long it would take them to access our server from the facility, but I don’t. Once this is all over, I’m taking a crash course on hacking—if there is such a thing. The office manager should have a good overview of everyone’s skill set, and I have no idea what Elle does.”

Katrina grinned. “It’s probably for the best that you don’t.”

“Probably,” Julia agreed ruefully.

There was a commotion on the other end of the line as voices talked over one another. Katrina carried on speed-reading each document that included the word Fitzwater while waiting for Julia to come back on the line.

Elle kept everything. There were case files, background information on every single person Benson Security had ever dealt with, research on almost every criminal on the planet, information on operations undertaken by good and bad entities, and even a folder called “snitches,” which was full of tip-offs. And that was only the stuff Katrina had noted so far.

It was like getting a glimpse inside Elle’s brain, and it was scary. The server was bursting with information. Thankfully, most of it was saved by people who used standard terms to name their files. Elle’s made sense only to their creator—Thanos wannabes, fairy tale endings that didn’t go as planned, Stormtroopers who can be turned, and next-level Wormtongues. On the notepad beside her, Katrina added another reminder:Make Elle rename her files so mere mortals can understand them.

“That was Belinda, Beast, and Ryan back from talking to Commander Fitzwater’s ex-wife.” Julia’s voice interrupted Katrina’s thoughts. “They said she’s surprisingly nice but didn’t have any information on the commander that we could use as leverage.”

“Great,” Katrina muttered, striking another name off her list of possible leads. “Did she give us anything useful?”

“Yes, according to Belinda, the Fitzwater family is very protective of the commander’s youngest cousin, Darian. He’s the one engaged to a member of the peerage.”

“Gotcha.” Katrina added his name to her list. “So we add Darian to our search terms.”

“Definitely. That gives us two family members to look for—Darian and Garrison. As well as anything related to their surname.”

“Three,” Katrina said, pulling her list of the commander’s relatives and connections closer. “You’re forgetting his aunt, the assistant commissioner of Frontline Policing, Davina Agnew.”

There was silence on the other end of the line.

“Julia, are you there?” Katrina said.

“Oh my goodness,” Julia said. “We completely missed that. Nobody thought to investigate the person who moved the commander into special crimes. We didn’t realize it was his aunt.”

Katrina checked her notes. “According to my copy of their family tree, Davina Agnew is sister of Rupert Fitzwater, who is Garrison Fitzwater’s father. Rupert and Davina have another brother, Giles, who’s the father of Darian.” She glanced at the security screens as she spoke to check on the police’s progress. They were still in the building, but their numbers had thinned. “There are other family members on the tree, but those ones seem to crop up the most in this.”

“I’m putting you on speaker. Everyone, Katrina’s found something interesting. You need to hear it.” There was a pause before the rest of the people in the room called their hellos. It made Katrina smile.

“Hey, gang,” she said.

“Okay,” Julia said. “Let me get this straight. Commander Fitzwater was moved into his role with special crimes, which was a lateral move and not a promotion, by his aunt?”

“Yep,” Katrina said, and she heard someone gasp.

“And his uncle is the minister for police?”

“Yep,” Katrina said again.

“And the nephew is the golden child whom everyone protects?” Julia asked.

“Absolutely,” Belinda said firmly. “And there’s a hidden side to his personality that nobody wants to come to light—according to the commander’s ex-wife.”

“Not to mention,” Rachel said, sounding strained, “thisgolden childis about to marry into a very prestigious family, and the Fitzwaters will get their title at long last.”

“Shit,” Ryan said, eloquent as ever. “This isn’t about Lake. It’s about the Fitzwaters. We have something that could ruin this Darian guy and put an end to their social ambitions. This is about protecting the family. All those phone calls Fitz has been getting, the ones Grunt mentioned, are probably from this Darian guy asking what the holdup is.”