Embraced By Darkness (Riley Jenson Guardian 5)

"Something bad has happened to her. Patrin's desperate to find her."

It was on my lips to say something smart - something along the lines of like I'm supposed to care? - but I held back. I understood such desperation, knew it could force you to do anything - including contact an outcast I'd felt it whenever Rhoan got into trouble, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Not even someone I hated.

"Then contact the Directorate. Give them the information. There's nothing I can do without the official go-ahead anyway."

Which was a only a teensy lie. If I was so inclined, I could investigate just about anything. Guardians were the super-cops - the hunter-killers - of the nonhuman world, and we had free rein to investigate whatever we wanted. Though if I did investigate, and did find something, I'd have to report it back to my boss. And full investigation could only go ahead with his official approval.

"All I'm asking you to do is an initial investigation. If you feel there's nothing the Directorate can do, then I'll try other sources."

He sounded altogether too reasonable, and my hackles rose. Blake and reason just didn't go together - at least according to my memories of the man, "You were ordering me a few moments ago."

"Perhaps I'm seeing the error of my ways."

"And perhaps tomorrow they'll put a woman on Mars." I shifted from one foot to the other. I wasn't trusting this new and improved Blake any more than the last one, but it couldn't hurt to play along, "Why do you think her disappearance is a Directorate matter?"

"Besides Patrin's feeling she's in mortal danger, you mean?" Yes.

"There's a pattern, as X said."

Annoyance swirled through me. "So tell me the pattern."

"For a start, they all vacationed at Monitor Island."

Is that why he'd contacted me? He'd been investigating the island and discovered my presence? It'd be my luck, that was for sure. "And?"

"And they all disappeared within a week of returning home from the island."

"Meaning the island might not be the connector."

"Then there's the man."

"Human or nonhuman man?"

"Human. He works on the island, apparently."

Which wasn't much of a clue, considering over half the people working on the island were males of the human variety. "What as?"

Blake shrugged, and the movement made his image shimmer. "Adrienne said he worked as a bartender."

"Blake, there's at least five bars in this cove alone. It'd be nice if you could pin it down a little."

"I believe his name might be Jim Denton."

"So she danced with this Jim Denton?"

He hesitated and annoyance flashed in his eyes "I believe so."

I restrained a sudden smile. So Adrienne wasn't telling Daddy and Granddaddy everything. Good for her. Though I was surprised she'd gone against pack law and danced with a human. But maybe that was the whole point. "And the others?" And how would the pack feel about her dancing with a human? Add that observation in, too.

"I've talked to one other family. They also mentioned their daughter meeting a man who worked on the island."

"Meeting? What about bedding?"

"That I can't say. But probably."

"And the women were all wolves?"

He nodded.