Isla listened to the full account the following morning with the same careful, methodical attention she brought to every investigation, taking notes as Mercer relayed what Wren had revealed the night before.
"Lien's playing a longer game than we initially credited him for," she said, once Mercer finished. "Commercial pressure as cover for something considerably more targeted."
"Targeted toward what specifically," Mercer asked.
"I don't know yet. But the pattern suggests he's probing for weaknesses, testing which relationships close to you might prove vulnerable to financial pressure or temptation." Isla's expression carried genuine concern. "Wren's tannery was simply the first thread he tested. There may be others."
They spent the following weeks investigating more broadly, discovering
