Ivore paced back and forth inside the remains of what had been Malkin’s office.
The site was still closed off due to the ongoing investigation. He had yet to hear an official explanation about how several stories of the building had been coated in ice, but he bet it was a good one.
“There has to be something here,” he muttered.
Nearby both Cowl and Caine were sifting through the remains. Most everything was ruined, either shattered by the ice or reduced to sludge as it melted.
Caine stood upright, kicking aside more rubbish. “You’re positive of what he said?”
“Yes. He said that the drugs were a test batch. That they came from ‘somewhere else.’ But he died before he told me who.”
Cowl snorted in disgust, tossing rotting papers to the ground and joined the pair. “At least we know that they aren’t widespread. But there still has to be someone connecting Malkin, Liam, and whoever was behind all this.”
Liam was the infected dragon that Cowl had fought not long after they were all first defrosted. It was their first clue that the alien Outsiders were somehow able to communicate.
“Well, let’s keep searching.”
Ivore had his suspicion of who it was, as did his brothers he thought. But until they had any proof, anything actually tangible, there was nothing they could do about it. He marched over to where Malkin’s desk had lain, kicking aside the wooden remains. Most of it exploded under impact, but his foot rebounded off of something distinctly solid, and most certainly not metal.
“Hey guys,” he called, “I think we missed something in the desk.”
Reaching down, he peeled back the wood to reveal a metal box about as long as his forearm and half as wide. It was perhaps three or four inches deep at best. It had been encased in wood, some sort of secret compartment they hadn’t noticed.
“What is it?” Caine asked, coming over.
“A desk safe. Hidden inside the back wall. I think.” The remains were tough to identify what had been where.
“Well, let’s open it.” Cowl crouched excitedly at his side.
There was a lock, but metal froze easily and he shattered it, sliding back the top.
Inside were some papers, a few stacks of money that they quickly appropriated—they were dragons after all—and several access badges and keys. Ivore’s shoulders slumped. “Dammit. I thought we had something here.”
“I think we do,” Caine said, reaching into the box and lifting the keys and badges out. He tapped a finger at the name of the facility on the badges. “Anyone recognize that?”
Heads were shaking all around.
“Were none of you paying any attention when Colonel Mara explained about the Outsider that was taken prisoner and then freed by someone on the inside?” Caine shook his head at his younger brothers. “This is the same place.” He started to sift through the other papers.
Ivore’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit. So Malkin’s men…” He looked at the access badges more closely. “Shit, it was Jake who let the Outsider go. Someone gave Malkin access to do this. So that his son could be inside the facility. But who?”
“General Knefferson.”
He looked sharply at Caine. “We don’t know that for certain.”
“It’s a pretty big coincidence, don’t you think?”
“Of course I think so, brother! But just because the guy is an asshole doesn’t mean he’s betraying his entire country. Why would he do that?”
“Money.”
“You can’t prove that.”
Caine started to respond, but stopped as his eyes scanned another of the papers. “Still doubt me?”
He turned the paper around. It was a receipt of funds transfer. And in the top left corner was a logo they were all very familiar with. The Central Defense Command.
General Knefferson’s office.
********
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This concludes Dragon Redemption, Ice Dragons Book 2.
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Violet & Ivore
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