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Zee's desk was split in half a dozen windows, all showing the news reports of the attack on Royal Security. No one had yet to claim responsibility, but whoever would, Zee knew it was the Gray Church, or more precisely, Damian. This was the first time he'd attacked something clearly owned by someone in his family.

Considering how he'd attacked just about every Society family at this point, an argument could be made that it was the Orr's turn, but it had been an attack against a company they owned, not one of them. It felt more like a message. 'I can get to you.' Which meant that something the Orrs had done had hurt Damian.

Zee made space for a seventh window and connected to a secure server; there he found the information the Orrs had shared about the result of the attack on the compound. Zee had already gone through it, and nothing had jumped up as relevant. Plans for a handful of attacks against Society targets in the Midwest along with information on contact people in that area.

The targets didn't seem strategic enough to Zee to cause this kind of reprisal. These were more chipping away at the fringe of the families rather than at the heart. Still, there had to be something he'd missed, a detail within the communication files that would explain why Royal Security had been destroyed.

Nothing seemed different in the information there. Maybe there was a clue in the attack itself, but he didn't have any of that information, other than what the news had provided. It wasn't because he was the FBI that he could bypass the no broadcasting rules on case-relevant information; and not being involved in the case meant the odd of him getting anything were low.

Unless he knew someone, of course. Being Denton's best friend had advantages beyond the great sex. He entered the number Denton had provided him.

"Who's this?" the man answered, his voice sounding young, but gruff. Beyond the voice Zee could hear people working, machinery protesting, concrete breaking.

Zee decided to forgo his title. The Orrs didn't get along with authority as far as Zee knew. "My name is Zikabar Malhotra Bodenman, I--"

"And who are you? I've never heard the name before."

"I am a friend of Denton Brislow, I believe you know him, he provided me with--"

"What does the cheetah what now? If no one told him, I'm kind of busy." The voice sounded further away as the tiger continued. "No, I don't fucking care how hard it is. I'm paying your company to clear every last fucking piece of debris, so I don't want to hear anything about equipment breaking. There are dead people under there and you're going to do your fucking part in getting their body out so they can be properly buried." The voice sounded next to the phone again. "Look, tell Brislow this isn't going to affect the deal we have. I'll do my part, it just means the guys will have to come here when they're ready because I need to supervise the clearing of the debris."

"You're part in what?" Zee didn't remember Denton mentioning any kind of deal with the Orrs.

"Who are you again?"

"Zikabar Malhotra Bodenman. I'm a friend of Denton."

"A friend." There was a pause. "As in one of his subordinates."

Zee snorted. "Hardly. I've known Denton for years."

"So you're just a guy he knows?" there was exasperation in the voice.

"I am far more than that, I--"

"Do you work for him or not?"

"Of course not."

The sigh was long and loud. "I don't have the time to deal with this. I'm going to have a word with the cheetah about handing my number to just anyone."

"I am not--"

The connection was cut. Zee wondered if he should have started by identifying himself as FBI after all.

If the direct way wouldn't work, he'd have to go around him. Zee didn't know anyone in the police department in San Francisco, but he knew someone there who did. He called a different number.

"Cupertino," the man answered.

"Azie, it's Zikabar."

"Zee," the fox sounded happier. "That's a surprise, I haven't heard from you since you provided your expertise over a year ago. Are you and that husband of yours heading this way?"

"Not yet, Azie, but I'm sure that can be arranged, we're a little busy, as you can imagine, but once this is dealt with I'm sure we will all deserve some time off."

Azrael sighed. "Yeah, this is a mess. All I'm waiting for is the damned pope to go on the air and turn this into a holy crusade, he's going to send us right back into the dark age."

"Have you heard something I haven't? As far as I know, the pope hasn't taken position in this."

"Yet. Come on, Zee, you can't think this doesn't have his blessing. Most of the people we've identified as running the attacks are well placed within the church."

The comment derailed Zee's thoughts. He didn't expect Azrael to come out and admit to the Gray Church's existence since he didn't know Zee was in the know, but the conviction in the fox's voice made the deer question his assumption that he did know.

"Zee?"

"I apologize. You just sound so angry."

The fox sighed. "Right, you aren't Catholic. I was visiting my mom last weekend and went to church with her. The priest went on and on about how I was an abomination. The looks I got were scary. I'd read about gays being lynched, back in the eighties and nineties, but that was the first time I thought it might happen to me."

"I'm sorry."

"I'll deal, but yeah, I'm angry. My mom's being exposed to that every Sunday. I've offered for her to live with me until it's over, but she's my mom, no one tells her what to do. And on top of that, you did hear about the attempt on the pope's life, right? Do you think he's going to turn the other cheek? I have a lot of respect for how difficult that zebra's life is, all the bullshit the anti-religion assholes give him, but he isn't a saint. He's going to escalate this, just you wait."

"I will hope he doesn't. If he does, this will indeed get uglier. But that is not why I am calling. I expect you have heard about the bombing at Royal Security?"

"Oh yeah, it's all over the news."

"Is there any chance you are involved in the investigation?"

"No, that's handled by the police, why?"

"I see. They haven't demanded this be handled by a higher authority."

"Who would have demanded that?" Azrael sounded cautious.

"Never mind. Is there any chance you can get the reports on the bombing and courier me a copy?"

"I could get them, yes, but why do you want a copy?"

"I think is this part of the attacks, after all the man who owns the company is gay and is known to employ gay men above anyone else."

There was a longer silence than Zee liked before Azrael spoke. "Zee, unless you have information that hasn't been shared with my office, I don't see how this is related. No one had taken credit, and if there's one thing those religious fanatics are quick on, it's taking credit. Royal Security has a lot of enemies just by the fact of what they do, not to say who owns--" The fox cut himself off.

Zikabar cursed silently. If Azrael didn't know about magic, he'd think the Orrs were organized crime. But that was an angle Zee couldn't exploit to get the information he needed. Even if he could find a way to link it to something happening in Denver, Azrael wouldn't dare risk angering the Orrs. The tigers might not be pleasant as they were, but Azrael would think they were deadly to cross, instead of simply painful.

"Zee, do you know anything I should?" Did Azrael sound afraid? The deer bristled at the idea his friend feared for his life. Even having gotten confirmation the tiger who supervised law enforcement was only interested in fucking the fox and not putting his life in danger didn't help.

Zee sighed. "It's nothing like that. It's a personal project. You know how I am when I get an idea. I'm trying to confirm a theory of mine, that's all."

"About the bombing?"

"And how it relates to the overall attacks, yes, but as you said, it's probably nothing. Security companies are notorious for employing seeding character and doing barely legal stuff. This was probably the cause here. I'm sorry for bothering you."

"Hey Zee, talking with you is never a bother. Maybe I should take a weekend off and come visit you and Marcus since you two came down here last time."

"We would love to have you, you know that. Just tell us when, and we will make sure you have the time of your life."

"I'll let you know in a day or two."

Zee ended the call and ran his hands over the desk, pushing the windows, now talking about other things, around. The bombing of the Orrs had gotten its fifteen minutes and people were already bored. Or more likely, the Orrs had made sure the news shifted their focus to other things.

Arnold had cut him off, but he had brothers, Alexander was the one dealing with law enforcement, so he would know. Denton would give him his number if Zee asked, but the cheetah had already warned him the Orr didn't give anything away. There was always a price, and Zee didn't want to owe the Orrs anything, not after what they had done to that collie friend of Denton.

The knock on the door made him look up in time to watch Marcus enter. "Is this a bad time?" his husband asked.

"I have hit a dead-end in my investigation, love, so your timing is perfect."

"Good, come on, I'm taking you out for dinner."

Zee looked at the time. Already dinner time? Zee stood and buttoned his jacket. "What's the occasion?"

"I am married to the most amazing man in the world," the red deer replied. "And I want to make sure he knows it. So it's dinner at Ambrosia, and then an evening of dancing as the Rump Club."

Zee blushed. "Love, you know you don't have to do this. I know how much you love me already."

Marcus pulled Zee against him. "You're wrong, Hun. There is nothing I could do to show you just how much I love you, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try." He kissed Zikabar's protest away.

When they broke, Zee became aware of awws and the sounds of pretend gagging.

"Ahh, the sounds of jealousy," Marcus said, never looking away from his eyes.