Surrendering to the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons 5)

Her dragon snorted. Yes, because that will work.

It just might, dragon. After all, if we can’t get rid of Christie, then I will lose the male I love, our child will lose a father, and he will lose us. I’d say that’s motivation enough for anyone, especially a clever child of mine.

Rather than argue, her beast shrugged and settled at the back of her mind. Not even her dragon was going to mess with a mother-to-be on a mission to protect her child’s future.

Chapter Twenty-One

Two days later, Rafe pushed back from the table in one of the meeting rooms inside the Protectors’ central command. “We’re getting fucking nowhere. Two days and no one has ever heard of this Toby.”

Nikki frowned. “You better not tell me you’re giving up.”

“Of course not,” Rafe barked. “But it might be time to change tactics.” He waved to the telly on with the sound muted. “Christie is being sworn in today. The longer he’s in office, the easier it will be for him to spin lies and lower everyone’s defenses. Then he’ll pounce, and we won’t be able to do anything about it.”

Aaron shrugged from his seated position at the opposite end of the rectangular table. “Or, it’ll be easier to catch him slipping up.”

“Optimism isn’t going to help our case, Caruso. We need a new approach,” Rafe answered.

“Rafe.” He looked to Nikki, but she was pointing to the TV behind him. “Look.”

Following her finger, he looked to the TV. The camera followed Christie and three other men as they walked toward the podium outside the London DDA office.

One of the men walking behind Jonathan Christie looked a hell of a lot like their picture of Toby.

Rafe swiped up the composite sketch and held it to the TV. The bloke was a dead ringer. “It’s him.” He looked to Nikki. “Turn on the sound.”

She complied, and the announcer’s voice filled the room.

“After a long vacancy, the Department of Dragons Affairs will swear in its latest Director. Jonathan Christie, the former Deputy Director, has promised to put in place stricter enforcement and punishment for those who take arms against the dragon-shifters. The vast majority of the population applauds his efforts.

“However, the dragon hunters and Order of the Dragon Knights have been silent so far on the new appointment. In an effort to protect the new Director, security was doubled for today’s event. As we all should remember, the DDA offices in London and Manchester were bombed and attacked last year, respectively, and are only now returning to business as usual.”

As the announcer continued to ramble off details about the new DDA offices and their goals, Rafe watched the man he knew as Toby talk and confer with Christie. What he wouldn’t give to be a fly on one of their shoulders. For all they knew, the pair could be gloating about getting away with their attack.

Rafe may not have proof yet, but his gut told him he would be able to find it somehow.

He then looked to Aaron. “I need you to phone Evie Marshall. She needs to put in a request for the attackers to be brought back here for more questioning.”

Aaron took out his mobile but didn’t dial. “We need a reason to bring them back.”

Nikki chimed in. “Tell them we found new evidence and need them to confirm it. Per the agreements with the British government, we have the right to request a temporary transfer of prisoners for questioning when new evidence arises.”

With a nod, Aaron dialed and moved to the far side of the room.

Nikki stood and moved to Rafe’s side. He wrapped an arm around her just as the announcer introduced the men on stage.

“Standing with the new Director are some new recruits. The man directly to his left is Tobias White, a former member of the Royal Air Force. He will fill a newly created position—Director of Domestic Terrorism. The new department within the DDA will focus on terrorist acts toward dragon-shifters. The man to White’s left is...”

Rafe didn’t hear the rest of the introductions. “Bloody traitor. The dragons have helped the RAF as much as the army in recent years. He’ll probably help the newly dubbed terrorists avoid being caught.”

Nikki patted his chest. “If we can get even one of the attackers from two weeks ago to confirm Toby, or Tobias, was their leader, we can arrange for Toby to be brought to Stonefire for questioning. If Christie hired him to set up the attack, Zain will be able to find out.”

Before he could reply, Aaron strode over. “Evie’s talking to the DDA right now. We should know their answer soon.” Aaron paused, but finally added, “I hate to be the devil’s advocate, but what if the DDA refuses to cooperate?”

Rafe tightened his hold on Nikki. “Then we’ll find another way. The hard part was locating the bastard. But now, we know where he works. Kidnapping him should be easy enough.”

Nikki frowned. “That’s illegal. If we’re caught, it won’t end well and will hurt our case more than help it. Especially if Toby refuses to talk. As hard as it will be, Rafe, I think we should assign surveillance first. Any minor infraction will be enough to have him questioned. And if that doesn’t work, then Jane could have one of her journalist friends set up a fake interview and try to find something out that way.”

He brushed Nikki’s cheek and smiled. “I love your cleverness, Nikki Gray.”