couldn’t believe it. “You’re yanking my cases?” She was the agency’s lead investigator. Routinely, she solved three times the cases anyone else did. “But I’m at a critical stage on Horner—the missing teen, and Panedia is—”
“Critical. They’re all critical, Della. But I am reassigning them for now. It’s best for the clients and for you.” Madison’s tone signaled she wouldn’t waver. “I want you focused a hundred percent on this situation until it’s resolved.”
“But I’ve already reviewed the cases. There’s nothing there.”
“Indulge us, Della,” Mrs. Renault said. “You’re a wonderful investigator, but unfamiliar eyes can be an asset. We’ll work them as hard as you do.”
Mrs. Renault wasn’t being sarcastic but diplomatic. It’d taken Della a while to figure that out about her. Her husband had been the base commander, which was one thing all the employees at Lost, Inc., had in common with Paul. At some point in their military careers, all of them had been stationed at the base, in some capacity. Mrs. Renault’s husband died at his desk and then General Talbot had taken over. She knew how to get things done quietly and efficiently, and she didn’t tolerate being thwarted.
Seeing the proverbial writing on the wall, Della nodded and admitted, if only to herself, that this was all good. Things were working out for the best. Just the thought of spending the night alone in the cottage, knowing her stalker had been there, touching her things...it gave her the creeps and scared her out of her skin.
“Good,” Madison said, seemingly as fresh as she’d been when the long night had started. She glanced at her watch. “I apologize for the lateness of the hour, but we do have one more urgent matter to discuss.”
Della had sensed it, and now she knew something wasn’t just off, but way off.
“There’s more?” Jimmy asked.
“I’m afraid so.” Madison touched a hand lightly to Mrs. Renault’s poised pen. “No notes on this one.”
Della cast Paul a worried look and saw it reflected back in his eyes. Never before had Madison told Mrs. Renault not to take notes. Typically she’d stop intermittently during a discussion and ask if she’d gotten everything.
Madison stood up and paced a short path between her chair and the window, covered in heavy green-velvet drapes. “As you know, General Talbot and Colonel Dayton were here tonight for the open house.”
The base commander and vice commander.
Doc rubbed at his neck. “Nothing odd in that.”
“Nothing at all, Ian,” Madison said. She rarely called him Doc. No one knew why, and no one else called him Ian. “But they weren’t here tonight as guests or for the festival. They were here on official business.”
“What official business?” Jimmy’s hand on the table curled into a fist. He still harbored a lot of anger against the military. If he and his buddy in Afghanistan had had the proper equipment, they both would have walked away alive. Instead, his friend had died.
“To quiz me about myself and all of you.” Madison glanced at Deaver, then at Jimmy, and settled her gaze on Paul. “Let me preface this by saying if you know anything at all, the time to tell me is now.”
“Anything at all about what?” Mrs. Renault asked.
Madison stilled. “There’s been a security breach at the Nest.”
* * *
He cut the wires to the security light that had flooded Lost, Inc.’s rear parking lot. Now the cars stood in shadows silhouetted by slivers of moonlight that penetrated the darkness through the trees. Pausing, he listened, but only music from the street festival muted by the brick building filled the air. He stabbed the tires of all the other vehicles in the lot, then quickly finished up his work on the one that most mattered, gathered his tools and hid behind an ancient oak and waited.
The message to the others hadn’t been planned, but when an unexpected opportunity arose, he happily seized it, and this opportunity was golden. Rather than convincing these people to butt out and mind their own business or pay the consequences one by one, he could put out the message en masse.
Della would learn swiftly the penalty of running to her friends for help. She’d suffer the consequences of dragging them into her problems, and bear the guilt. His whole body quivered with anticipation. She’d also know that they couldn’t protect her. No one could. Not even her precious Paul.
And soon they’d all know no one could protect them, either.
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