Savage Hunger(28)
“What is it you’re not telling me?”
He scratched the back of his head and cleared his throat. “I was waiting to say something until I could confirm—”
“Spit it out already.”
“It’s possible Sienna is having help and being hidden.”
Stilling, Jocelyn cocked her head. “Just who do you think is helping her?”
“The P.I.A.”
The blood rushed to her head and Jocelyn let out a strangled noise of denial. “How is this possible? We have someone on the inside with them.”
“We do. And that someone is avoiding any of my attempts at contacting him. The number we were given has been disconnected.”
She leaned back in her chair, lips parted in dismay, and turned to stare out the window. Was it possible? That the agent they’d carefully recruited and groomed for this job had turned against them? Had he told the rest of the P.I.A. who was behind the shifters’ imprisonment?
No. If so there would have been agents at her doorstep by now.
Jocelyn steepled her hands and tapped the trembling tips against her mouth. Christ almighty. Which meant that it was more than likely the agent had taken the payment she’d doled out, had managed to free the shifters and now hoped to make a clean break.
Except nobody had foreseen Sienna Peters getting mixed up in the equation.
“I do have some other news that might be of interest to you.”
“Robert, any news you have is of interest to me. Dammit, stop holding things back from me and spill it.”
“Sienna Peters is the daughter of Kevin Peters. In case you’re not aware, he’s—”
“I know exactly who Kevin Peters is.” Her pulse quickened and excitement zinged through her. Perhaps everything was not lost after all.
“We need to locate Miss Peters. Preferably alive.” Her mind spun with possibilities. “She could be the key to this. If we can find her, we can use her. And perhaps find our inside agent.”
She would be the perfect bait in gaining Kevin Peters’s assistance as well. If they failed at retrieving the jump drive, then Kevin Peters’s brilliant mind could be an even better plan.
Robert’s head nodded eagerly. “I’m going to see if she’s made any calls on her cell phone lately. They can trace that, right? See what tower her call bounced off of?”
“Yes. I like that idea.” She nodded absently. With a dismissive wave of her hand she turned back to her computer, murmuring, “But before you do that, make yourself useful and bring me a vodka tonic.”
“They released the name of the man killed in the fire.”
Warrick’s ears perked up at Larson’s casual statement. In fact, all the agents who’d been trying to relax around the table looked a little more alert now. They’d spent a good part of the day keeping the shifters tranquilized and on the phone with headquarters and were finally enjoying a bit of downtime.
“Who was he?” Warrick asked.
Larson leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. “Leonard Perkins. The name mean anything to you?”
“No. But I suspect it will to Sienna.”
“I don’t doubt it. Keep a tight rein on her. Don’t want to catch her sneaking out again, all right?”
Warrick nodded at the warning and scrubbed a hand down his face. God, he hated the reminder of his little fuckup. Just one of many lately.
“It won’t happen again,” he finally replied.
“I saw the blankets on the floor, Donovan.” A slow smile spread across Hilliard’s face as he leaned back in his chair. “She kick you out of bed?”
Warrick scowled, his fingers clenching into a fist. “I never got in it.”
“Maybe you should reconsider that plan tonight.”
Larson’s advice had Warrick’s head snapping up and his eyes narrowing. To say that sleeping in the same bed with Sienna was a bad idea would be an understatement.
Not that Larson wasn’t right to suggest otherwise. Sienna made it no secret she wanted to bolt. And at this rate the only way any of them were going to sleep easily was if they tied her up at night or one of them slept next to her.
Larson knew Warrick’s history with her, or he suspected the commander would have been recruiting other volunteers.
“It won’t be a problem,” he said flatly. “I’ll crash with her if necessary.”
“Hell, don’t sound so depressed about it, Donovan.” Rafferty grinned, cracked his knuckles, before reaching for a handful of almonds from a can on the table. “If you’d like, I’d be more than happy to fill in for you.”
Like hell. Warrick’s nostrils flared and his nails bit into the palms of his hands. The image flashed through his head. Rafferty in the same bed with Sienna, their bodies just inches apart. Something hot and ugly bubbled inside his stomach and Warrick’s jaw flexed.