Tempting Evil (Riley Jenson Guardian 3)

"Us?" She raised a pale eyebrow. "There is more than one of you here?"

I mentally cursed the slip of the tongue. I might believe Dia, might trust her desperation to get her child free, but that didn't mean she was playing on our side. If things went foul and if we were discovered, she'd do what she could to save herself and her child. Just like the spirit lizard. So I shrugged. "That's a metaphorical 'we,' not an actual one."

Her expression suggested she wasn't believing me. I really was going to have to get some lying lessons. "What information do you wish?"

"For starters, where does the second elevator on Moss's and Merle's Boor lead to?"

She frowned. "What elevator?"

"You know, the one opposite the elevator the guards take the lieutenants' nightly toys down in."

Understanding flickered in her unseeing eyes. "That's no elevator, but doors that lead into Starr's rooms."

It was my turn to frown. "I saw Merle key it open. It looked like an elevator."

"It might at a quick glance, but it is similar to an air lock. One door must close before the other opens, and only after the right codes and scans are entered."

Confusion ran through me. I knew what I'd seen, and I'd seen an elevator, not a form of air lock. "So can you get in there?"

She shook her head, sending slivers of silver cascading across the night. Kade snorted softly again, his hooves barely missing my toes as he shifted. I elbowed him lightly to remind him that I was there, that he had to be careful no matter how attracted he suddenly was. He glanced at me, velvet eyes sparkling with amusement and interest.

"I have been there under escort, nothing more. Starr is not fool enough to trust me with such access," Dia said, bringing my attention back to her. "As far as I know, only Merle, Moss, and the head of security have access to that lock."

"Is the head of security a tail, balding man with severe acne scars?"

She nodded. "Henry Cartle is his name."

"Any chance of you getting me a security roster?"

She hesitated. "I'll try."

"Try hard, because I can't do this without help."

She stared at me for a moment, as if understanding what I wasn't saying more than what I was, then nodded. "Anything else?"

"What floor is the lab on?"

"The second floor."

"Riley, you are not going in to rescue that child."

I couldn't answer Jack so I just ignored him. There wasn't anything he could do to stop me anyway, short of pulling me out, and we both knew he wasn't about to do that.

"And it has the same security precautions as the third floor?"

"Under no circumstances are you to go near that lab in an attempt to rescue the child. That is a direct order."

And I liked direct orders almost as much as I liked going to the dentist.

Dia nodded. "Entry is restricted to the scientists, Starr's lieutenants, and the head of security."

Meaning it might be easier to cozy up to one of the scientists to get in there than risk security, Moss, or Merle. "Where are the scientists quartered?"

Jack swore loudly. "Jesus, Riley, are you listening to me?"

For an intelligent man, he was mighty slow in realizing I wasn't. I touched my ear, flicking off the com-link. Yelling would be next, and I didn't need that on top of the headache I already had.

"The scientists are the next building down from security."