Sought(88)
“We can’t,” Liv said bluntly. “I’m sorry, but we’re not even sure where they’ve taken her. Although we do have some Kindred warriors who are going to go to the Scourge home planet tomorrow,” she said, wanting to give him hope. “They’re going to be looking for any traces of Lauren and also, they want to find out exactly what the Scourge prophesy says.”
“What good is that?” Rast demanded. “Isn’t it more likely that they have her in their ship?”
“The Fathership? Possibly,” Liv said. “But it’s practically impregnable and the Kindred High Council has determined that they can’t make an attack on it and risk the safety of the entire Earth just for one girl.” She sighed. “I’m sorry, Detective Rast.”
“Please don’t think we don’t care about Lauren,” Sophie pleaded. “She’s all I’ve been thinking about lately. I feel so bad for her because I know what she’s going through.”
“And that’s all you can tell me? You’re not holding anything else back?” Rast looked back and forth between them.
Liv nodded. “I’m afraid that’s it. I hope you can see why we’ve been hiding it. We thought not knowing was a better option for Aunt Abby than telling her that her daughter had been abducted by the Scourge.”
“It’s a tough call, all right.” Rast blew out a breath and ran a hand through his short golden brown hair. “But I need to let her know. I can’t keep taking her money when there’s nothing I can do.”
“Hold off on telling her just a little while longer,” Sophie pleaded. “Maybe Deep and Lock—the warriors that are going tomorrow—will find out something about where she’s being kept or…or what they want her for.”
“We might even be able to arrange for you to come up here to the Mother ship and talk to them after they get back in person,” Liv said, having an inspiration. “I could ask my husband to ask the Council for a special dispensation.”
“I fail to see how taking a tour of your ship will help me locate Lauren,” Rast growled. “But I would like to conduct interviews in person rather than over this damn viewscreen.”
“Let me see what I can do,” Liv said smoothly.
“And in the mean time, can you hold off on telling Aunt Abby?” Sophie pleaded.
Rast sighed. “I’ll think about it. As I said, I don’t like taking her money without doing my job.”
“But you are doing your job,” Liv pointed out quietly. “You didn’t quit until you got answers about where Lauren is.”
Rast got a stubborn look on his chiseled features. “Your aunt hired me to find Lauren and bring her home safely. Until that’s accomplished, my job isn’t done.” He nodded briefly. “I’ll let you go now, but I’ll be in touch. If you find out anything, the communications officer I spoke to has my contact information. Call me any time of the day or night and I’ll come straight down to the Human/Kindred Relations building to talk on the viewscreen.”
Sophie nodded. “All right, thank you, Detective.”
His face softened slightly. “Thank you for telling me the truth. Now we just have to hope to God that the warriors you’re sending find something.”
“I’m sure they will,” Liv said, making a mental note to talk to Lock about it. Just because he and Kat and Deep were mainly visiting the Scourge home planet to get their “soul-divorce” as Kat called it, didn’t mean they couldn’t also dig for clues. She knew the light twin would take the assignment very seriously if she asked him to.
Rast nodded once more and then the viewscreen flickered and went blank.
“Wow, he’s really dedicated,” Sophie murmured.
Liv nodded. “I can see why Baird respects him so much.” She sighed. “Well, the cat’s out of the bag, now. I wonder how long he’ll wait to tell Aunt Abby.”
Sophie looked troubled. “Maybe…maybe we should tell her. It doesn’t seem fair to put that decision on him. And we are family.”
“You were the one begging him to wait,” Liv pointed out. “And besides, I think you were right. Kat and the guys might find something worth knowing. If they could even get the exact wording of the prophesy, we might have a clue about exactly what they want Lauren for and where they might be taking her.”
Sophie nodded reluctantly. “All right. I just feel so bad that we’re keeping it from Aunt Abby. But it still seems worse to just come out and tell her that the AllFather has Lauren without being able to offer her some kind of hope.” She looked at Liv. “Do you think if we can somehow prove she is aboard the Fathership the Council will approve an attack or some kind of rescue attempt?”