Alexander Death(52)

“We'll need her full name, pictures, Social Security number—”

“Jennifer Miriam Morton,” Seth said. He slid a manila envelope across the desk. “I have everything here.”

Breisgau opened the envelope and rifled through the pages inside. “Looks like a good start. One of our associates will probably call with follow-up questions.”

“I don't know how secure my cell phone is.”

“I suppose we could provide you one of our encrypted phones for our conversations, if you'd like,” Breisgau said.

“I'd appreciate it.”

“It's your bill.” Breisgau shrugged. “We'll start looking for her right away. If she can be found, our associates will find her. We'll contact you the moment we determine her location and whether she's in danger. Until then, you'll receive a weekly report, either in writing or by telephone—”

“Use the encrypted phone,” Seth said. “Wait, weekly reports? How long do you think this will take?”

“We don't know, Seth. We don't have much information yet. With any luck, we'll find her happy and content in Seattle. Speaking of which, get us a copy of that postcard and a large sample of her handwriting. We can determine whether she actually wrote that message to her father.”

“Okay, that sounds good. But even if she wrote it, maybe somebody forced her to do it—”

“Always a possibility. I'll have Misty check out a secure satellite phone for you, and she'll set up the wire transfer for our retainer.”

Seth nodded. While Breisgau gave his assistant instructions over the phone, Seth clenched the arms of his chair, worried about his decision to hire this platinum-grade private intelligence company. If Jenny really had struck out on her own, then she needed to lay low, because the feds were after her. Hale's investigation might draw the government's attention to her, especially considering the sort of people who worked here, lots of former spies and spooks.

Seth didn't believe Jenny was safe, though. Ashleigh Goodling had been back, somehow possessing Darcy's body and getting close to Jenny. Whatever had happened in Charleston, it had almost certainly been the result of one of Ashleigh's plots. And Seth was never going to find her on his own.

“While we wait,” Breisgau said, “I happened to notice that Barrett Capital has a lot of interests in the technology sector, over in Asia, India.”

“That's my dad's venture-capital obsession.”

“I just want to tell you that Hale Group Asia has a number of offices in the region, and a lot of friends. Corporate intelligence, risk assessment, security design. Sometimes you have to pay a little extra fee to local officials to keep things smooth. Sometimes you can hire state police at bargain prices. We can negotiate all of this.”

“Oh, yeah? I'd have to talk to my dad about that.”

“I would enjoy talking to him myself.” Breisgau slid a business card across the table. “We can offer a package of security and data-gathering services customized to your company's needs.”

“Right. Gotcha.” Seth pocketed the card, which felt like silk in his fingers. “But right now, I want to focus on Jenny.”

“I'll put a team on it today,” Breisgau said. “We would certainly like to see this as the beginning of a long and mutually beneficial relationship between Barrett Capital and Hale Security Group.”

“We'll see,” Seth said.





CHAPTER SEVENTEEN





Ashleigh stood at the window of the room at the Four Seasons Hotel, looking down through the curtains at Rodeo Drive, and the smog-heavy city stretching away to the horizon. She was naked except for a beaded necklace, with a matching bracelet and anklet. Each strand of beads included a few ovals of ivory, cut and polished from the pieces of her old skeleton—as long as the bone beads touched Esmeralda's skin, Ashleigh could continue inhabiting Esmeralda's body.

Esmeralda herself slumbered deep at the back of Ashleigh's mind, completely ensnared in the thick golden web of Ashleigh's love.

“Come back to bed,” the congressman said. He lay on the bed behind her, also naked. “We only have a few more minutes.”

“I think you need a bigger strategy,” Ashleigh said.

He laughed. “Now you want to be my strategist? I don't think Greenburg will like that.”

Ashleigh flipped her hair as she looked back at him over her shoulder. “Have I ever steered you wrong, Senator?”

“It's still Representative,” Brazer said. “Let's not get cocky.”

“Let's do.” Ashleigh walked back and sat on the corner of his bed. “Let's get really cocky. I don't think Greenburg's ads are making the biggest impact.” She gave him a sad smile and stroked his leg, pouring love into him.