"How does Mitchell Truman fit into this?" asked Kyle. "It sounds like some kind of women-only group, probably with pretty hard-line strictures. They couldn't have been trying to recruit him."
Ravenheart shook her head. "We believe they were trying to possess him," she said, "but slotted up royally."
"How could they hope to pull that off? If they're anima spirits, they've got pronounced 'female' characteristics. It would have been difficult for any of them to pretend to be Mitch Truman."
"The boy was bisexual," said Gersten, and Kyle saw Ravenheart wince.
Kyle glared at the man. "I won't even bother responding to that"
"I'm with you," Ravenheart said. "I think the Hayward-spirit targeted or stumbled across Mitchell, established a romantic connection, maybe through magic, and was going to use him." She paused. "And then something went wrong."
Kyle nodded. "Something in the relationship changed. Who knows? Maybe he found out something, and they had to act."
"What you don't know, Kyle, is that the night Mitchell Truman was found, his sister Melissa was on her way to meet with him."
"What?"
"She'd received a call from her brother earlier that evening and had sneaked off to meet him. We intercepted the call and so knew where to go when she shook off the two guards with her. She made it, but her brother never showed up."
"Do you think your people might have scared him off?"
Both Gersten and Vathoss seemed to bristle slightly, but Ravenheart just shrugged. "Hard to tell. Our team was pretty well concealed, but anything is possible. The point is simply that he called his sister and asked her to meet him secretly."
Kyle frowned. "You think they were switching targets and going for Melissa?"
Devress didn't flinch, but Hanna gasped. "It would make sense," Ravenheart said. "If they saw they were losing control over Mitchell, it would have been logical to try to get direct control over another member of the family."
"Through possession," said Kyle.
Raven nodded. "Through possession. In the same manner they control the bodies they now inhabit."
"So what do you recommend as our next step?"
"Maintain level one security on the whole Truman family and their immediate staff," Ravenheart said. "It's unlikely the group will try again, especially now that we're alerted, but we want to play it safe. Once we've got that in place, we continue our pursuit of the Desolation Angels."
"Got any leads?" Kyle asked.
Ravenheart smiled. "Oh yes, but our sources are confidential, so I can't reveal the status of any just yet."
Kyle returned the smile. "Of course."
"Suffice it to say we're close."
"Good. Then I won't keep you." Kyle reached into his pocket for one of his business cards. "Let me give you my portable telecom number…"
"I have it," Ravenheart said.
He stopped searching. "Well, then, can I have yours?"
"Ms. Uljaken's got it. You can reach me directly at that number or through the command post we've established in the building's security office."
"That should make it easy."
"Good. Then everything's settled for now." Ravenheart turned and, much to Kyle's surprise, gestured her teammates toward a walkway that led along the patio and out of sight toward the building area. "I'll be in touch as soon as we learn anything further."
Ravenheart turned to follow the other two Knight Errant troopers away, but looked over her shoulder just before passing out of sight. "We should talk too," she said.
Kyle smiled. "We will."
She returned the smile and vanished around me corner.
"Where are they going?" he asked Hanna, who was walking quickly toward him. Behind her, Devress was scanning the patio area slowly. He seemed very intent on something.
"They arrived in a tilt-rotor. I presume they're going back to the helipad."
Kyle nodded, then called for Charlotte.
The spirit was instantly at his side, and had probably been waiting directly alongside him in astral space. "Watch them and make sure they all leave. Return to me if they don't go straight to the aircraft, and return to me if they depart in it."
"I will," Charlotte said as she vanished.
Kyle looked around the pool area. "Seeks-the-Moon?" he said.
Devress looked up. "Yes?" he said, his features and clothing melting, flowing against gravity into the form of Seeks-the-Moon.
"I'll be damned," said Kyle.
"Quiet possibly," agreed the spirit, "but I suspect your old friend Captain Ravenheart will be receiving her fitting punishment a few circles below your own."
"Oh?" said Kyle.
“You will, of course, find yourself head turned backward with the others of your kind in the seventh pouch of Malebolge," said the spirit, quoting Dante, "while she will be found three below you, in the tenth pouch, with the other liars."
"You think she lied to us?" asked Hanna.
"Nearly every word," Kyle said.
Hanna looked back and forth between Kyle and the spirit "How do you know?"
"Timing," said Kyle. "Everything she said here and the things we already know imply that Knight Errant was investigating the case long before the Truman family actively recruited them."
"I don't follow."
"We know Knight Errant bought out your previous security provider's contract about three months ago. Why?"
Hanna shrugged. "Prestige, market position. Any number of reasons."
"Three months ago was about the time Mitchell Truman first met Linda Hayward, or whoever she is."
"True, but I don't see how you can be sure there's a connection," Hanna told him.
"I also know that Knight Errant is throwing mega assets into the Chicago area. In fact they've been doing that for some time now. For about the past three months, to be exact"
They're gearing up to be a force in the Chicago market," Hanna told him. "They were very clear and direct about that."
Kyle shook his head. "Wrong kinds of assets. You don't move military-grade combat teams into a city if you only intend to beef up your image."
Hanna's eyes widened. "Military? You think that Captain Ravenheart and her people are military?"
"Knight Errant's equivalent, certainly."
A dull whine began to echo overhead, quickly building to a powerful roar of jet turbine engines. Seeks-the-Moon was a blur as he moved out of sight, passing through the patio doors and into the sanctuary of the condoplex. Over their heads, visible through the armored glass skylight, a Knight Errant tilt-wing cleared the building and began accelerating away quickly, its engines rotating into position for forward flight. It was going west.
"Heading to O'Hare," said Kyle.
Hanna nodded. "Ares has a small enclave out there. We understand that's where Knight Errant has its base."
Kyle turned as the patio doors slid open. Seeks-the-Moon stepped through, an odd smile on his face. Close behind came a sour-faced Daniel Truman, who stood watching the receding tilt-wing craft. At that moment, Charlotte also reappeared next to Kyle.
"Master," she said. "They all departed on the aircraft."
"Thank you, Charlotte. Resume your patrols." The spirit vanished.
"What kind of game do you think they're playing?" Truman asked him.
Kyle shrugged. "Truthfully, I'm not sure."