GENERAL’S DAUGHTER MISSING
Jonas stared at the newspaper laid out on his desk, one finger rubbing thoughtfully over his pursed lips.
“Any leads?” he asked the Breed agent standing across from him, staring back at him, his expression grim.
“Nothing.” Lawe sighed. “Her house is bugged though, and not by us. The electronics are identical to those Tallant and his purist and supremist groups use. He’s been watching her.”
“Interesting.”
He knew all this, but he held his tongue. He had known what was getting ready to happen when he found the message on his PDA from Scheme Tallant. She had been at the ball. She had been with Tanner. Now she was gone. He was adding up two and two and coming up with the proper answer, he was certain. He had to ensure that this played out exactly. It was a risk, using Scheme and Tanner to catch the spy at Sanctuary. But fate had handed him the chance and he was going to take it.
“The night she disappeared she had a room reserved at an upscale D.C. hotel. She had ordered a late platter of meats, cheeses and breads. When room service arrived, she was gone. Luggage, laptop, purse, the whole nine yards.”
Jonas relaxed further in his chair. If Tallant had her, he wouldn’t have bothered taking her luggage. They would have found her body and nothing more. She was still alive, he was almost certain of it. But if Tanner had her, that was another story.
“Scents?”
Lawe narrowed his eyes. “The room had been inundated with her perfume.”
Jonas restrained a smile. Heavy perfume could affect Breed senses, hide the scent of another Breed or even a person. “I’d suspect damn near a full bottle of something even I couldn’t pronounce. Cabal said French, around two grand an ounce. The place had been sanitized, but Merc managed to identify the scent of blood in the carpet. Not hers, male blood though.”
“A Breed has taken her,” Jonas mused as he stared beyond Lawe, eyes narrowed, his brain working with possibilities. “Tanner was at the party that night?”
Lawe nodded. “He left a little before ten and returned to his hotel, from where he headed out to Sandy Hook on vacation. He’s currently incommunicado and refusing to take messages. Callan refuses to send them.”
Jonas’s lips twitched. “Tanner’s been planning this vacation for over two years.” That and much more.
“We need him here, Jonas. This is a public relations nightmare.”
“They can’t lay this at the Breeds’ feet,” Jess Warden, the Bureau’s lawyer, spoke up from where she sat on the couch across the room.
Jonas turned his eyes to her. Tall, cool as a mountain lake in winter, as blond and composed as an icy peak.
“I wasn’t worried about that in the least.”
“I’m aware of your concerns.” Her brow drew into a frown. “Anyone with a modicum of public speaking ability can handle this. Popular opinion will hold in the Breeds’ favor.”
“Tanner is our public relations genius,” Jonas reminded her. “It doesn’t matter if anyone else can do it. Tanner can do it better.”
She shook her head at the futility of arguing with him. She had been doing that a lot lately. It wasn’t a good sign.
His attention turned back to Lawe.
“What did Callan say?”
Lawe grimaced. “He said he will contact Tanner if need be. Until then, as he reminded me, Tanner does have an assistant now.”
This time, Jonas grimaced. “Geez. His assistant stutters.”
“She’s on standby to fly in to Washington if you change your mind.”
Jonas sighed. The timid little panther female Tanner had chosen as his assistant and trainee wasn’t exactly a prime choice in his opinion.
“Hell, I couldn’t do any worse than she does,” Jonas sighed.
Jess piped up in a droll challenge. “I dare you.”
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She was focused on the papers though, as if his ire or disapproval didn’t matter in the least.