"Yes, I understand, but given the animosity between the Cabals and vampires-"
"It's not animosity," Cassandra said. "To have animosity, you have to acknowledge that the other party exists. You needn't worry. I will be as the Cabals wish me to be: invisible. Since no one can outwardly recognize vampires"-she shot a pointed look at Jaime-"there's no need for him to know what I am."
A knock at the door. Lucas opened it. Sean Nast walked in, followed by a man who could only be a Cabal bodyguard. Sean turned to his guard.
"Wait outside," he murmured.
"Mr. Nast said-" the guard began.
"Please," Sean said.
The guard nodded and retreated into the hall. Lucas closed the door behind him.
"Granddad's getting paranoid," Sean said. "I feel like I'm twelve again."
"Sean, this is Jaime Vegas," Lucas said. "Jaime, Sean Nast, Thomas Nast's grandson."
Sean grinned. "Hey, my frat watches you on The Keni Bales Show every month."
As they shook hands, Sean's gaze flicked to Cassandra.
"Sean, this is Cassandra," Lucas said. "Cassandra, Sean Nast."
If Sean noticed the lack of a surname for Cassandra, he gave no sign of it, only shook her hand with a "Pleased to meet you," then turned to us.
"Tyler Boyd is missing." He glanced at me and added, "That's the Boyd CEO's youngest son. He's seventeen."
"He's missing? Since when?"
"We aren't sure. Tyler went to his hotel room around eleven last night. When he didn't show up for breakfast, his dad sent someone to get him. His bodyguard was in the room, dead, and Tyler was gone. Mr. Boyd called Granddad and the Cabals have been out searching ever since."
"Good," Lucas said. "My father has excellent shaman trackers."
"That's the problem. They didn't call your dad, or anyone in your Ca-your family's Cabal."
"What?" I said. "But he went missing here, right? In Miami?"
"And the Cortezes have all the resources here, I know. It's crazy. I am so fucking-" He glanced at Jaime and Cassandra. "Sorry. I'm just fed up with their crap. Joey's dead and now Tyler's missing and all the Cabals can do is bicker about who's to blame and who's trying to take control of the investigation. Without your dad's trackers and CSIs, all we have is a bunch of VPs and bodyguards milling around the city, hoping to bump into Tyler."
"So you want me to call my father."
Sean rubbed his hand over his chin. "Yeah, I know you're on the outs with him, and I hate to ask, but I don't know what else to do. I tried phoning his company switchboard but, of course, they just kept routing me to some junior, junior assistant who won't even relay a message. If you have your father's direct number, I'll make the call."
"Your family wouldn't appreciate that. Better let me handle it."
"I'm not worried about what my family thinks. You can tell your dad I'm the one who told you to call."
"I'll call him, because he has the resources to process the scene and search for Tyler. I won't, however, tell him it was at your instigation. You're angry, with good reason, but that's not a decision you want to make right now."
"I don't care-"
"Lucas is right," I said. "Not only don't you want to start a rift with your family, but you don't want to widen the one between your Cabals. It'll only make things worse."
Sean nodded. "Okay, but after you make the call, will you come to the Boyds' hotel with me? I came here because I wanted to get your dad involved, but also because I wanted to get you two involved. So far you've done a hell of a lot more than the Cabals."
"We'll certainly go," Lucas said. "But I believe it would be best if we arrived independently. Why don't you give Paige the hotel address while I phone my father?"
When Lucas was gone, Sean glanced at Jaime and Cassandra, neither of whom was making any attempt to pretend they weren't listening. He obviously had something else to say to me, so I offered to walk him down to his car. The bodyguard followed us to the elevator. While we waited, Sean gave me the address for the Boyds' hotel.
"So, you, uh…" Sean said as we stepped onto the elevator, "you've got someone with Savannah, right? She's someplace safe?"
"With friends," I said. When I saw him hesitate, I added, "Supernaturals."
"Good, good. I figured that. I tried mentioning it to my uncle, that someone should ask whether she's being protected, since she's a potential target. I can't mention it to Granddad. After… after what happened with my dad, he… well, we aren't allowed to talk about Savannah. My uncle wouldn't ask Benicio about her, either. I think they…"
"Would rather pretend she doesn't exist? After last spring, I'm just as happy if they do."
He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels. I should have kept my mouth shut. Nothing stops a conversation deader than reminding someone that his family is responsible for sending your life swirling down the gutter.
The elevator doors opened. I motioned for Sean to wait as I jotted down an e-mail address.
"This is Savannah's," I said. "If you ever want to say hi, introduce yourself, this might be the easiest way to do it. If you'd rather not, I understand."
He took the paper. "I'll do that. I'd like to… make contact. It's not right, ignoring her." He folded the sheet into quarters and tucked it into his wallet. As he did, he looked down at a tattered photograph in his ID holder. "You wouldn't have a picture of her, would you?"
"Sure do." I took out my wallet, and flipped through my card holder, which was filled with photos. "Someday I need to break down and buy a purse-size photo album, like those little old ladies who show you all their grandchildren while you're waiting in line at the bank."
I took out two. One was Savannah on her first-ever horseback ride that summer; the other was Savannah, Lucas, and Adam shooting hoops near our place last month.
"Cute kid," he said, smiling. "Definitely got Dad's eyes."
"You can keep that one," I said, pointing to the horseback photo. "I have it on file at home."
He thanked me and we said our good-byes.
I returned to our room to find Cassandra and Jaime sitting at opposite ends of the sofa, Jaime reading her latest magazine, Cassandra coiled to pounce the moment I walked in.
"So the killer is targeting Cabal families?" she said. "The Nasts first, and now the Boyds?"
I gave her a very brief rundown of the events to date.
"The grandson of a CEO?" Her frown deepened. "So it's a revenge crime."
"Uh, yes. That's what we-"
Lucas opened the bedroom door.
"Did you get hold of your father?" I asked.
Lucas nodded. "He's on his way to the hotel with a team. I told him we'll be arriving shortly, and he's promised to clear the way for us. That should be simple enough. I suspect anyone with the authority to challenge him will already be out searching for Tyler. Shall we go?"
Cassandra stood and picked up her purse.
"Uh-uh," I said. "This is very serious-"
"I realize that, Paige. You're looking for a missing person. A vampire is a far better tracker than a shaman."
I hesitated and glanced at Lucas. He nodded.
"Good," Cassandra said. "You can explain the rest of this matter on the way."
Predatory Insight
Lucas had rented a car the morning before, so we no longer needed to borrow Jaime's. She stayed behind in the hotel room and promised to call if anyone else showed up. Now, normally, if we have a guest in the car, I'll sit in the backseat. It's only polite. But Cassandra brings out the rude in me, so I slipped into the front passenger seat and left her to wrinkle her Donna Karan in the cramped rear.
It took us an infuriating forty-five minutes to reach the Boyds' hotel. Not only was it on the other side of the city, but we hit gridlock in a construction zone and might have been even later if Lucas hadn't navigated an alternate route down back roads.
On the way, I gave Cassandra a fuller overview. When we pulled into the hotel parking lot, she was still asking questions.