It damn well better not be. He’d been grooming the young Mr. Gracey as an informer for close to a decade. If the kid had been hiding a high-powered sister the whole time, there’d be hell to pay.
He looked over the top of the paper at Lucas, who gestured for him to continue with the next page.
Alex flipped to the next page and read, “Teresa Maria Gracey Luevano. Daughter of Joseph Michael Gracey and Mercedes Solano Gracey; Widow of Roberto Luevano; Mother of Joseph Gracey Luevano. Home address: 18 Martin Circle. Status: Mid-level Spark. Occupation: Electrical Source Level Two, Water Resources, Day Shift.” He flipped through the rest of the papers, reading the names. Mama Gracey, another mid-level Spark, assigned to work the electrical plant here at the Council building. Gracey Senior, former Senior Councilor Aide to Councilor Three, deceased. All of the birth and education records, and the one death certificate, were in order. He frowned, searching his memory. The papers for the little sister who had died as a child were missing.
“I’m tired, Lucas. Councilor’s aide named Danny. Well-placed family—not the kind you go throwing accusations at, and I’m not in the mood for games. You’re holding back his dead sister’s papers. If you think they’re relevant, give them to me.”
Lucas allowed a smirk to stretch across his thin face, pulling the skin around his eyes down. He produced the folded papers with a flourish. Alex took them.
He dimly remembered seeing them before. The first was a Certificate of Live Birth. Same parents. Daughter, Magdalena Elizabeth Gracey. He checked the date. Almost twenty-five years ago. Magdalena. Lena. He unfolded the death certificate dated five years after her birth, shortly after she’d started her Testing Year. His eyes narrowed.
Alex had seen the file twice before. Once, ten years before, he had done a check on Junior Aide Daniel Gracey when he’d signaled his intention to follow his father’s footsteps in service to the Councilor. And before that, as a young agent brimming with suspicion, he’d pulled this file shortly after the child’s death. He and Thomas had been investigating every girl who had died or disappeared during the Testing Year. They both suspected the Council abducted highly powered little girls. Alex remembered he’d found nothing amiss, just the grieving family of a Councilor’s Aide.
Her parents hadn’t just held onto Lena, they had buried her. Somehow, they had managed to fake her death and hide her away from the Council. Alex had missed it. He’d screwed up.
And now Lucas had information on her family, information he’d use to draw her to the Council. Alex couldn’t allow that to happen. He and Thomas hadn’t been able to find any of the missing girls over decades, couldn’t prove the Council had them, let alone what they were doing with them. This time, it would be different. The Council couldn’t have Lena.
Alex nodded at the younger agent, thinking fast. He had to buy time. He turned back to the file, flipping through. “Bring the sister in. She has a child, so she has the most to lose.” He closed his eyes, thinking. “Bring little Joseph in, too. Put her in interview room six and park him right outside on a chair. Make sure she sits where she can see him.” He smiled thinly. It would serve to get Danny’s attention, as well. No more secrets.
Lucas’s brows were bunched. “Not the brother? But he’s the contact.”
Alex said nothing. He handed the file back to Lucas.
“Not the brother?” Lucas asked again.
Alex had known he would, and with the hard edge to his voice indicating he knew Alex made him wait on purpose. It was a little game they liked to play. Well, Alex liked to play it, anyway.
“Okay. Not the brother,” Lucas said. “You want me to bring the sister in now?”
Alex looked at the floor. He really needed to discuss how best to proceed with Thomas. Bring her in and keep her safe here while Alex worked on convincing her to join them? Or disappear her to Fort Nevada and worry about convincing her later?
“You know what? No,” he said to Lucas, “we’ll go get the sister tomorrow, after a morning strategy meeting. We’ll pick her up at work. Get the boy from school. Make sure she sees we’ve brought him in, too. We can go together after we’ve hammered out our approach and questions first thing in the morning.”
Lucas laughed. “You are a bastard, Alex. I like it. I’ll have a team ready for when she cracks.”
“Whoa. Hold on, cowboy.” He shook his head, raising one finger up and shaking it back and forth. “Overconfidence is as bad as ineptitude.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Lucas’s smile vanished. The camaraderie went with it.