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said finally, his manner now strictly business. And when he said “the loading docks,” I figured he meant the Yalkemouth would be traveling by way of portal from the Netherworld to Splendor, arriving the same way Quill and I had.
    "And the dupe?" Quillan asked.
    "There'll be five cases comin' through on a ship to the far west of the loadin' docks," Baron answered.
    And now everything made sense. Melchior was sending out a decoy, which was meant for the ANC to find and bust. The five cases of Yalkemouth would be the ANC's bust, meanwhile the fifty cases from the Netherworld would slip in unnoticed.
    "And I'm going to bust the dupe?" I finished hoarsely, figuring out where this was going.
    Baron glanced over at me and nodded, his eyes still on mine rather than my chest. Thank Hades. "You an' your ANC buddies can fuck around with bustin' Horatio and the five cases. You just keep them outta my bidness, got it?"
    Horatio apparently was the hairy were sitting beside Baron because, at the mention of his name, he started grumbling something about getting beaten up again. Baron gave him a discouraging look and he shut up. And, really, he had nothing to worry about. Once we busted and imprisoned him, he'd merely be deported to the Netherworld where he'd probably just have to lay low for a few weeks. After that, Melchior would see to it that he was released to return to the crime ring. Basically it was like a revolving door, really just a hop, skip and a jump away from a walk in the park.
    "What's the name of the ship?" I asked, realizing that was a necessary detail.
    "It's a tanker called Alice," Baron finished. "It'll be pullin' in at one a.m. an' there ain't gonna be no more ships tonight, so you can't fuck it up."
    As if I was going to fuck it up in the first place. I exhaled a frustrated sigh when something suddenly occurred to me. "How are you going to keep Trey from picking up on what's really going on?"
    Trey could see glimpses of the future, his super power in the eyes of the ANC. Although half the time his gift couldn't delineate times or dates, or even locations , Trey's abilities were still an unknown that could seriously threaten the well-being of this plan. I mean, the last thing we needed was for Trey to get an inkling about the fifty cases of Yalkemouth on the opposite end of the loading docks. That would blow the plan all to hell.
    Baron waved me away with an unimpressed hand. "Melchior already took care of it."
    I glanced at Quill with a question in my eyes. "What does that mean?"
    Quill smiled down at me. "Melchior knows about Trey's gift. He has a witch in the Netherworld who magicks all the narcotic shipments to ensure there isn't any residue on them that Trey could pick up on."
    I just nodded and thought this whole thing had been so well choreographed, so staged. What really struck me was that it had been this way for years. The entire time Quillan had been the head of the ANC in Splendor, this had been going on underneath my nose and I'd had no clue.
    "You have access to the vault?" Horatio asked me.
    Baron turned his full attention on me, and realizing what this meant, I immediately shook my head. "The only person who has access to the vault is Knight," I said staunchly. The only tip off I'd ever received that something unsavory was happening in the ANC was when I'd finagled my way into the vault. It was being used to warehouse the illegal potions we Regulators confiscated. Every week, cauldrons from the Netherworld would arrive, the sole purpose to destroy all the confiscated potions. When I broke into the vault (well, broke into it is a bit harsh, seeing as how Knight granted me permission), I immediately noticed that none of the potions had been destroyed at all. Later, I learned that Quill was redistributing them on the black market, something Baron was obviously interested in resuscitating—at least judging by the expression of curiosity in his eyes.
    "Absolutely not," I reiterated, shaking my head. "I'd