“Are you okay?”
“Not really. I need you to get hold of Ash—he’s not answering. Or Christian.”
“What is it, Faith?”
“I’ve found Tara.”
“What? Where?”
She took a deep breath. This was it—the betrayal of all she had held important in life. “In the cells beneath my office.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’ve just seen her.”
He was silent for a moment while he processed the information. “Shit, Faith, tell me you didn’t know anything about this.”
“Does it matter?”
“I’m guessing it’s going to matter to some people.”
Yeah, Ash and Christian. Ash would see it as a betrayal, but really, what she was doing now was betraying her own people. Anyway, it was too late to worry about the consequences.
“So, I’ll deal with that when it happens. But, Ryan, we have to get her out of there. And soon.”
“Is she okay?”
“No. But she’s alive.”
“Shit. Double shit. If she’s hurt, they are going to go mental. Totally fucking mental.” She could hear him breathing on the other end of the phone. “It will be a few hours before Christian can make it—is that a problem? If there’s any risk, we need to go in now.”
“Go in?”
“What did you think would happen?”
“You said Christian had contacts. I thought he’d use them and force them to let her go. She’s being held illegally. There are no charges.”
“Still trying to play the game by the book?”
“Why not?”
“Because they broke the rules first. And there isn’t a book written to cover this situation.”
In the back of her mind, she’d known it would come to this. She forced her doubts aside. “I think she’ll be fine for tonight. She’s not scheduled to be questioned again until morning.”
“Questioned?”
“They’re hurting her Ryan. They’re supposed to be the good guys, and they’re hurting her, and I had to stand there and pretend I was okay with that.”
“Shit,” he said again. “Can you stick around?”
“Of course. But don’t contact me—my office phone is monitored, and I’m guessing my cell is as well.”
“When we’re in place, we’ll ring your office line three times and cut off. When you hear that, come to the outer entrance.”
“Okay.”
“Faith, did you set this up? Did you know they were going to take her?”
“No.”
“God, I hope that will be enough.”
Enough for what, she wondered. To ensure Ash or Christian wouldn’t hold her responsible and…she cut off the thought. What was the point in worrying? She’d set this in motion, there was no way to stop it now, even if she wanted to.
She went back through, handed the cell phone to Guy, and took her place in the queue. She bought a double-strength, double-sized mocha latte, and without speaking to Guy, left the café and headed back to her office.
She held up the coffee to the security guard. “I needed a fix, and I’m guessing my extra clearance lets me take this in.”
He nodded and checked her through.
At her desk, she tried to appear as though she was engrossed in the background files for Christian, but the words on the screen didn’t make sense. She stared at it blankly and sipped her coffee.
At six, the colonel came out of his office and headed over. “You still here? You should go home, Faith, you’ve had a rough few days.”
“I want to read these files first. Think up some questions for the interrogation tomorrow.”
He nodded. “I’m working late myself, so if there’s anything you need, anything you want to talk about… I know the way we work is different from what you’re used to—it’s good to see you adapting.”
“Thank you, sir.”
After he went back to his office, Faith resumed her staring. The minutes dragged by. She tried to keep her mind blank; she didn’t want to think about anything. Not Tara, not the fact that she was dying.
Or how much Ash was going to hate her.
Chapter Fifteen
“Anything?” Ash asked.
Shera, his assistant and right-hand woman—or cat depending on her current physical form—shook her head.
“Bastard, he promised to get back to me.”
Panic clawed at his gut. It had been forty-eight hours and there was no trace of Tara. He knew she was alive, and he knew she was hurting, but he couldn’t get a fix on where she was.
But they must know they had the wrong woman by now, so why hadn’t they released her. Or offered to trade her…or anything.
He’d even gone to Lucifer, although he really didn’t want to owe him for any more favors. Lucifer had said he would see what he could find and get back to him. But so far nothing.
It was driving him crazy.
He ran hand through his hair. He didn’t know what to do, and the feeling was so new he felt disorientated.