I was jolted awake by someone knocking frantically on the bedroom door. I flicked my augs on just long enough to check the time. 5:07 AM. “Why can’t I get a decent night’s sleep these days? I think I deserve it.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll get it,” Skyler whispered. She slipped out from under the covers, threw on her housecoat, and headed towards the door. I just collapsed back on my pillow and closed my eyes, gently petting Lala so she would stop kneading my midsection and go back to sleep.

  Although I couldn’t hear whoever was in the hall, I could just make out Skyler’s replies. “What? How did this happen? No, don’t let her leave until I’m there. She shouldn’t be going anywhere near the area without legal representation.”

  “What’s going on?” I mumbled as soon as she closed the door.

  “It’s your father…” Skyler said slowly, it was obvious that she was trying to decide whether to tell me or not. “He disappeared from the holding area in the courthouse.”

  I bolted upright, catching the tiny kitten in my arms. “What? How? When?”

  “Just a couple of hours ago. It was apparently pretty violent, and a lot of security officers were injured. As you know the investigations team have been keeping an eye on him and found out shortly after the incident was discovered. Apparently they tried to contact you, but Artymis refused to wake you, so they passed the news up the chain. Now your mother wants to storm down there and investigate,” Skyler said as she headed over to the closest.

  {Arty: Although I realized that this news was important, you’ve been on the edge of exhaustion for hours, and needed your sleep. I won’t apologize for screening the calls.}

  “It’s fine, I understand,” I mumbled. “My mother can’t just barge into an active crime scene, it would damage not only her reputation, but damage her relationship with the Cascadian government. Do you think you can use your position as head of legal to back off for awhile?”

  Skyler snorted. “Do you even hear yourself right now? When your mother is on the warpath, no one can prevent her from acting. Especially when your father’s involved. All I can do is try and steer her away from the restricted areas and get enough information to satisfy her.”

  “You’re right,” I groaned. “She won’t stop until she gets answers.”

  Gently placing Lala on my pillow, I rolled out of bed and staggered towards the closet.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Skyler asked suspiciously.

  “To the courthouse. You’re going to need my help,” I grumbled.

  “No, your mother just needs her legal counsel, not the head of investigations, and you need your sleep!” Skyler hissed.

  “You might be able to slow her down for a little while, but you know I’m the only one that can talk her down when she’s enraged,” I muttered as I grabbed the nearest outfit.

  Skyler sighed, immediately grabbed the clothes hanger out of my hand, and replaced it with another. “Fine, but you’re not going to the courthouse in jeans, and I’m not letting you out of my sight while we’re there. You’re really not looking that hot right now.”

  I rubbed my eyes and took a look at the outfit Skyler had selected. It was a stylish charcoal pantsuit, and matching blouse. It took me far longer than it should have to get the business suit on, but the tiny bit of mental stimulation helped me wake up. Skyler waited patiently until I changed, then practically carried me out to the car.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “Agnes delayed your mother as long as possible, but she finally forced her driver to take her to the courthouse. We’re going to have to rush to catch up with her,” Skyler explained as she shoved me into the passenger seat.

  It took me a couple tries, but I managed to get my belt fastened just as Skyler put the car into gear. “Now that I’m a little more awake, can you explain what happened?”

  “I don’t know everything, but a well-armed paramilitary force hacked the courthouse’s security, broke in through the back, and extracted half a dozen prisoners before escaping. No one even noticed there was a problem until they were long gone.”

  “Who the hell is stupid enough to risk bringing the entire Cascadian government down on their heads for a handful of criminals?”

  “I don’t know about stupid; they got away scott free. All the Cascadian government buildings have Class I security systems, practically unbreakable…”

  “Except to another samurai or someone that has access to their tech,” I finished. Skyler nodded slowly but kept her eyes on the sky.

  It only took us about five minutes to get to the government district. The Vancouver branch of Cascadia had all its legislative, executive, and judicial buildings for the city together in a single sector. Most of these buildings were historical, part of the original city before it was turned into a megacity, and maintained despite the different antithesis attacks and rising sea levels.

  The courthouse was a seven-story concrete building with massive glass skylights running down the length of the building. The materials had been upgraded over the years, making it more resistant to the antithesis and attacks, but the original structure remained.

  Skyler carefully maneuvered her car down through the traffic layers before parking right in front of the building. We’d apparently made up a fair amount of time because my mother was storming down the walkway, heading towards the front doors. Her normally pristine white dress was wrinkled. She must have stormed out without paying attention to her appearance.

  I struggled with my belt buckle for several seconds before bolting from the car. “Mother!”

  My mother turned, surprised. She tried to smile, but she was so furious she couldn’t quite pull it off, and her expression turned more into a grimace than anything else. “Rei? Sky? What are you two doing here?”

  “We’re here to keep you from doing anything you’d regret,” I huffed. “You’re about to charge into the middle of a government building and yell at the security forces.”

  “They let that pompous asshole slip out from right under their noses, they deserve it,” my mother pouted.

  “And if you make a fuss, they won’t be able to put their full efforts into finding him,” I reminded her quietly. “Please don’t make a scene.”

  “No, Reina, you can’t stop me this time. I can’t let that maniac escape from justice, not after all the shit he’s gotten away with over the years. Corrupting your grandfather’s company, working with the black market, trying to wrest control of my family’s company from me, trying to kill you and your grandfather…”

  “That last part was never proven,” I replied quietly.

  “And it never will be if we let him go loose!”

  Skyler slipped up behind my mother and the rest of her entourage and cleared her throat. “As your lawyer, I’d recommend you don’t try to intervene in an active investigation, but if you insist upon this course of action, we should approach through the official channels.”

  “And what will that do?”

  “Keep you and Synthesis on the right side of the law,” Skyler replied calmly. “You’ve spent years building up goodwill with the Cascadian government. You don’t want to burn all your bridges, do you?”

  Agnes stepped forward, placing a hand on my mother’s shoulder. “Please listen to the young ladies. Don’t throw everything away when you’re so close to achieving your goals. Work with the government, not against them.”

  “Fine, but I want the Investigations team to reach out to a couple of PMCs that specialize in tracking and retrieval. I don’t want that asshole to get away!” my mother growled.

  “I’ll take care of it,” I promised.

  My mother took a deep breath, straightened up, and turned towards Skyler. “What do you suggest we do now? I won’t charge right in there, but I want answers!”

  Skyler nodded. “Give me a few minutes, and I’ll submit a request for information on the investigation, along with requesting the right to participate in hunting the fugitive and, with your permission, supplying a bounty for Mr. Tanaka’s capture. You won’t get instant results, but we’ll get up-to-the-minute updates on the investigation and improve the chances that PMCs and bounty hunters will report any sighting of Mr. Tanaka.”

  “I don’t like how passive we need to be, but if it improves our chances of finding him, you have my permission.”

  Skyler gently grabbed my arm, and her eyes rolled back in her head. I knew what that meant.

  “She’s going to need a couple of minutes to fill out the paperwork and get things rolling,” I explained. “How about we head inside and ask for a private meeting room so she can complete her work? Once she’s done, we’ll start getting those updates.”

  My mother nodded and stormed towards the building, her security team and Agnes scrambling after her. I just carefully maneuvered Skyler forward, careful to avoid everyone on the short walk up to the building. By the time we got up to the building, Mother would have already secured a room, and a couple of minutes after that, Skyler would have finished her work.

  Then, we could start getting answers.

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