***
"Petra."
She rose to look over his shoulder at the laptop screen. "What is it?"
He looked up at her. His eyes were stormy. "I think I found something interesting."
"What is it?"
"It's a list of people in the city."
"What people?"
"I'm not entirely sure. People who oppose Scarlet, maybe. Or people who have something he wants."
"Are any of them prisoners?"
"No. There is a separate list of all the prisoners." His jaw tightened. "It is so, so long. It's amazing there's room to house them all."
"Well, half the city is burnt out or abandoned. Most of the citizens died, ran or are living in communes like this one. There are probably plenty of places to keep prisoners." Her heart leapt. "Is there a list of where all the prisoners are being held?"
He shook his head. "No. I wish there was. There are probably separate lists for each of the prisons. It's not something my dad would keep track of. Someone else would care of that for him. He tries to keep his hands clean when he can."
"Damn. Not too clean, I hope. That would have been helpful. We could have just staged an attack on one place and gotten Ren out of there."
"It would not have changed anything else. It would only have put more people in danger."
She sighed. "I know. You're right. It's selfish of me to think it. It's not the way. So, this list might be a list of people he intends to imprison?"
"Maybe. Or a list of people he is watching out for. People who are probably in danger."
"Let me see."
He leaned away so she could see the screen over his shoulder. She scanned the list of names. It was long. She recognized some of them. In fact, she recognized a lot of them. "I know some of these people. They're business owners, mostly. But some of them are just regular people."
"They must have some kind of power or influence. My father needs to keep the balance of power with himself and his people. Anyone who gathers too much is usually shut down. He puts his own people into these businesses and positions. It's the way he's been slowly taking over from the beginning."
"So these are people who are not his. They're people who might join the rebels if they had a good enough reason?"
"Or they're suspected members of the Uprising. There's no way to know why any of them are on this list; there isn't even a title. I found it buried in a file without name. It was just a string of random numbers." He sighed. "These people could interest him for any reason. I wouldn't know. He never talked about any of that with me. There isn't any proof of anything with just this." He glanced at her. "You? Have you found anything to connect this with the Uprising?"
Petra shook her head. "I'm not a member of the Uprising. I don't know who is involved, so I can't be sure whether it's connected to them or not. It might just be people he considers worth watching." She frowned at the screen. "What about any indication that things are happening to the people on the list? Have any of them been imprisoned or killed or anything? If there is, it could change everything. If we could spread the word that the King is plans who is being imprisoned or who disappears ahead of time, it could compel the people who are too afraid to come forward to side with the rebels. It might convince them it's time to start protecting themselves. It would give the Uprising an advantage."
She wasn't sure this was exactly what she wanted, but right now, between the King and the Uprising, she would take the rebels. At least they didn't imprison innocent people.
Grey nodded. "People need to see this. They are in danger, whether they are guilty of treason or not. They all know what my father is, but they like to pretend it isn't going to happen to them. It doesn't matter what you do—if he wants something, he takes it."
"Being guilty has never made a difference in Razor City. Everyone is just too scared to admit it. They think it won't happen to them if they keep quiet and out of his way. It's a lie. And it isn't just the people on this list. Ren had nothing he wanted. He had nothing at all, but your father took him anyway."
Grey sighed. "I'm sorry. I don't know what he did to draw his attention. It isn't only the people who threaten the balance of power who are in danger in this city. It doesn't matter if they've done anything or not."
"People should be able to speak out against their leader. They shouldn't have to live in constant fear of being put on this list."
"That's what we're doing here, Petra. We will do everything we can to find a way to stop it. I'll look for some kind of trail indicating something is happening to these people once they've ended up on the list. It is not my father who accuses people of treason; he just decides what to do with them. It is typically the Nobles who make the recommendations."
"So there could be some communication between him and the Nobles that indicates what he actually using this list to do. He might be giving his people the names and letting them do the dirty work. Or he could be having them killed. People disappear all the time. They're never seen again to tell anyone what happened to them."
"We might be able to find enough to point to intent. We just need to show the city what he is doing and let the mob mentality take it from there."
"I think they already know." Grey's voice was grim.
"Yes, they know. But people are too afraid of doing anything about it. The idea is to get enough people to move against him and force him to make changes."
"You mean by taking him out of power?"
"It might be the only way, Grey." She looked at him seriously. "Are you prepared to go that far?"
He considered. Then he slowly shook his head. "I don't really have a choice, do I? I'm on this list now."
"Are you?"
He rolled his eyes. "Figuratively speaking." He turned back to the screen. "There might be something in his emails that can help us. He does a lot of work that way. Sometimes he doesn't leave his office for days. He doesn't go out into the city very often. When he has to talk to someone, it is not typically in person."
"Okay. Let's take a look."
They took turns sorting through Scarlet's email. It was tedious. He received so many messages a day from citizens, Nobles, Marshals and other city officials near Razor City. Most of them weren't helpful. Petra was actually surprised at how much work it took to run a city and a business. Scarlet wasn't just the leader of the city; he controlled most of the products that moved in and out of Razor City. It had been his business before the war and now he had the monopoly.
Scarlet's business had fallen under scrutiny numerous times before the war. He was rumored to be involved in organized crime and illegal business practices, but no one had never been able to prove it. When the government had fallen and the cities had dissolved into chaos, Scarlet had been the only one with the money, power and influence to take control of the city.
Now, everything was his. And it was time to take it back.
"Here are some messages from some of the Nobles," Grey said suddenly. "They are accusations of treason. Names and alleged crimes. I sort of assumed there would be something a little more official."
She leaned over his shoulder to look. "Are any of the accused on the list?"
He shook his head. "Not that I can tell. They aren't on the list now, but these are old. The names might have been on the list before. It must be updated frequently. All the names on it now are live."
"We need to see who else has that list. This must be the master. Has he sent it out to anyone?"
Grey rose. "You want to take a look?"
She sat down. It didn't take her long to find it. "Here it is."
"Who did he send it to."
"He didn't. Someone sent it to him."
"Who?"
She shook her head. "I don't know. The email address is just random numbers."
"Can you find out who it belongs to?"
"I can try." After several moments, she cursed. "It's anonymous. I can't tell who it belongs to. There's no name on the account or any indication who it belongs t
o."
"What about the carrier?"
"It's just a general internet server. It's nothing. There is a location, though. It's Razor City."
He snorted. "Of course it is."
"But it could still help us. We don't need to know who it is to track what he's saying to the King." She narrowed her eyes and scrolled through the messages. "He sent the original list. Every few days, he sends a new name."
"Can you follow a trail through the emails to find out what happens after Scarlet gets a new name? They're probably are going on the list, but he could be sending names from the list to the Nobles one at a time."
It took several moments. Finally, she found something. "Here's one. Stan Riker. The anonymous email sent his name to Scarlet.
“Did he say anything about him?”
“No. Just the name”
Grey frowned. "Have you ever heard of him? Do you know who he is?"
"No. But about two weeks later, one of the Nobles emails Scarlet and accuses Riker of being caught with rebel papers."
"But did my dad send the name to the Noble somewhere?"
She shook her head. "No. It was just sent to the King both times."
"Could it be a list of people who are going to be accused?"
"Maybe. Who knows which comes first. Still, this proves he knows who is going to be accused before it happens. It could be the anonymous email is sending the names to the Nobles one at a time. We aren't seeing those emails."
"Can you break into the anonymous email?"
"No. I tried. It's secure. Whoever it belongs to, they know what they are doing. They know how to stay anonymous. They must have a good reason."
"Okay. But this is still good. We have a list of people who are in danger. It is only a matter of time before they go down."
"Right." Petra frowned. "Here's something interesting."
"What?"
"There's another list."
"What is it?"
"More names. They aren't the same names. They don't correspond to any of the emails. But I recognize a few of them."
"From what?"
"They died."
"How?"
"Different ways. One of them died when his house caught on fire. Another fell down the stairs. Some of them were killed by outlaws in the outlands or in some dangerous back alley."
"And they're on the other list?"
"Yeah. The list showed up and then a few of them died."
"Are they all dead?"
"No. Some of them are alive. Sometimes people end up on the list and nothing happens to them. It could be coincidence."
"Yeah, right. My father could be watching them or something. Maybe they aren't being killed or accused until they prove to be a threat of some kind."
"That makes sense. If the King was killing or imprisoning everyone without reason, he wouldn't be able to pretend he was a good leader."
Grey nodded. "It's still good. It might still be enough if we can convince people to listen. It's an obvious pattern. We could send it to the media. We could get it out to the people."
Petra shook her head. "No. It won't work. He's been implicated by the media in the past. It didn't do any good. Nothing changed. He owns all of them."
"Then we have to go to the people he doesn't own. I know there are rebels in the outlands. The Uprising is real."
"Yeah. They haven't mobilized yet, but I know they're planning to attack soon."
"Do you know anything about them?"
"No. I didn't want to know. Despite what people think, the compound isn't affiliated with them."
"Do you know anyone who is involved with them? Can you get to them?"
She was silent a long moment. "Yes. I think I can. I know someone who works with them. We'll have to be careful, though. With you involved...I don't know how they are going to react."
"Then we'll have to prepare them. Do you trust the rebel you know?"
"Yes. I trust her completely."
He frowned. "Then why haven't you become involved with the Uprising?"
"I didn't want to get involved. I just want my brother back."
"And now?"
"Now...things are different. If we're going to do this, we have to take it all the way. I can't go back to the way it was. Even if I could, I wouldn't want to."
Grey nodded. "Will you set up a meeting with the Uprising."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
It didn't sound like a good idea, but eventually she nodded. "Okay. I'll do it."