"Answer the question. Can you get her the files or are you even more useless than you appear?"
The other man's eyes turned assassin cold. "Careful, Mr. Bennett. I'm not the easy prey you think I am."
"I think you're a wolf in corporate clothing but as far as the search goes, you haven't given us shit. Either front up or get out of it."
"These are our kids." Santos's voice held a raw protectiveness Clay hadn't expected. "Everything we do is to keep them safe."
"Then give me the files," Talin pleaded. "You said it yourself - I see patterns. Maybe I'll see something that'll help us find the children."
The Shine director didn't say anything for several minutes. "I'll have hard copies couriered to DarkRiver's Chinatown HQ by tomorrow morning. Destroy them after you memorize them." He pushed back his chair. "I have a flight to catch."
Clay rose. "We'll call you if we find anything."
"I'll give you what I can." His sophisticated mask slipped to display the ruthless interior. "There are those who want to go softly, but I'm not having any more children die on my watch." He seemed about to say something else but then glanced at Talin. "Read the files without the blinders of knowledge. Let's see what patterns you find."
Dev waited until he was in his soundproofed rental car before making the call. "You underestimated them."
"We can't risk - "
"Yes, we can." His hand threatened to crush the phone. "Children are dying."
"We need to know if DarkRiver is secure enough to entrust with this information."
"Who are you afraid will find out?" He was an inch away from throwing the phone through the windshield. "They already know. That's why they're taking our children!"
Talin was irritated and tired by the time they parked the Tank in its hiding place next to the lair. She had wanted to visit Max, but Clay had nixed that idea on the grounds that they could lead danger to Max and vice versa. Instead, he'd made a call on a secure line and been told that Max was unconscious but stable.
Frustrated by her own inability to protect those she cared for, she struck out. "I can't believe Dev's hiding things that might help us find Jon!"
"He did give us one crucial piece of information," Clay said, his hand on her lower back as they walked toward the lair. "The Psy."
She shook off his hold. Her skin reacted to his touch in ways she found disturbing - because, her bold statement to Faith aside, she wasn't sure what the hell she wanted. Only that she couldn't lose Clay. "We have no proof of a Psy link. Max is a good cop - he'd have found it if it existed."
Clay pulled open the door and used the newly installed voice activation system to turn on the lights. "What the hell is it with you and Max? He's fine - I've been injured worse and survived," he muttered after she entered. "What, you have the hots for the guy?"
Her heart stuttered at hearing he'd been that badly hurt, but she hid it. "You're making me crazy!" Swiveling, she headed toward the ladder. "I just happen to think he's a nice, trustworthy, considerate guy. You know, I could do a lot worse!"
Clay snorted and followed her up the ladder. "Nice. Trustworthy. Considerate," he mimicked. "Makes him sound about as exciting as shoe leather."
"Maybe I don't want exciting," she said through gritted teeth, wondering how they had ended up in this conversation. Turning, she faced him. "Maybe I want normal."
"Normal?" His tone was edgy, dangerous.
For the first time in days, she felt a hint of wariness. Clay was tired and annoyed, too. She probably shouldn't push him. The woman who had flinched at his first touches wouldn't have. Somewhat to her surprise, Talin found she was no longer that woman. "Normal," she repeated. "I want a nice, human boyfriend who doesn't have any kinky hang-ups like licking."
Clay took a step toward her. "Kinky?"
She took a step back. "Uh-huh."
"Human?"
"Definitely human. No claws. No growling. No sharp teeth." She made her tone so firm, she almost believed herself. "Normal. Ordinary." Things she had never been. "White picket fence."
Clay's eyes darkened to near black and he stopped his stalking advance. "Really?"
"Really." She forced it out. "I'm tired of being on the outside."
Clay's instincts flared awake. "What aren't you telling me, baby?"