Two hours later, Kerrigan sat in the large conference room staring at a screen with the Dragon Corporation board. Thankfully, Zadok and Kelan were not present. Natalie had made sure both were occupied with other meetings to ensure they would not have time for what they would consider a trivial meeting. Mr. Nuri and a lady in her early twenties sat behind the camera, out of view of the board members. Mr. Nuri had introduced his new paralegal as Quinley Rose. Quinley sat tall in her seat, attentive to everything around her. Her dark brown hair was neatly tied back in a short ponytail. Her hazel eyes flashed with pleasure as Kerrigan nodded in her direction. “Good morning, Gentlemen,” Kerrigan began. “Miss Lokir, it is good to actually see you and confirm you are alive. I must admit, you gave us a bit of a shock showing up on TV without having heard from you in some time,” the chairman said. “Please forgive my absence. While I have been away from the office, I have remained in contact

Conor sat in the back of the SUV while Parker drove. Eli had sent another whole team with them to secure the community center, so he was not worried about Kerrigan. As Parker pulled into Vokrizin, another guard stepped up to open the door for Conor. Blue lights flashed and several police vehicles rushed in, attempting to block them from all sides. Guards poured out of the building with guns drawn and surrounded Conor, ushering him inside. “Go, Go, Go.” “Freeze! No one move!” came a voice over a loudspeaker from one of the police units. Conor was pulled inside the building and passed Mr. Nuri, who was heading out to deal with the situation. “Never fear, Mr. Brantley. I will deal with the police.” Conor was taken to the secure suite, and he pulled up the bank of monitors. He did his best to ignore the clothes and other items in the room that made it clear this was no longer his space and focused on the situation outside. Mr. Nuri was talking with one of the officers. “This warrant

The next day Kerrigan exited the office suite to see Anna Brooks setting up a presentation in the conference room. She ducked her head in the door and asked sweetly, “Ana, right? Did Conor remember to ask you about houses?” Anna looked up and nodded, “This is actually for you. I have a number of options if you would like to come in and see.” Kerrigan entered the room, but felt like something was off. Anna remained extremely professional but seemed distant. “We may be able to eliminate some of these depending on your needs,” Anna explained, pulling several homes up on the screen. “Why don’t you list some of the things you believe are essential and we can go from there.” “Ok, well, there will be four of us staying there, so I think four bedrooms is important. While the girls can share a room, I think if we are going to be here for any length of time, each having our own space is key.” Anna toggled a setting and several houses fell off the list. “Um, Reilynn will be recovering, so

The following morning, Kerrigan joined Wayne and Bran at the Jinstain police K-9 training ground. Six dog handlers were present for their annual recertification and Faolan was Wayne’s top choice for showing them the course. Kerrigan was nervous in front of so many experienced handlers, but Bran assisted her in remembering any commands she forgot. Faolan executed the basic course with ease, returning to Kerrigan’s side. The morning training only lasted just over an hour but was an excellent primer for Kerrigan. Watching the other trainers gave her a chance to cement some of the concepts in her mind, and she was both relieved and a bit concerned that even with their years of training, several of the trainers still struggled to control their dogs. If this was the state of the current police force’s more experienced members, she wondered how effective they were in the field. “Never mind the weaker ones. After all, that is why I am here. The department wants me to work with them for the

Kerrigan fell into a simple routine of visiting the local police academy to train with Faolan every morning, stopping by the hospital to check on Reilynn, and then visiting either the master craftsmen at the violin shop or going to the community center in the afternoons before returning to Vokrizin to catch up on emails from Natalie. Faolan was brilliant, and the other trainers were envious of her skill and obedience. After the first week of working with the police dog trainers, Bran commented, “Faolan has really taken to you. She never really took to any of the other trainers who worked with her. Even Evelynn seems to be doing well with her.” “Even Evelynn? What is that supposed to mean?” Quipped Evelynn as she jugged past with Faolan on their next circuit of the course. “Damn that one has good hearing,” Bran commented, watching her run past. “Best keep that in mind. Hopefully, we can get Reilynn out here soon. I think the two of them will get along great,” Kerrigan said. “When