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5
Dana stoodin front of her television, something she rarely did. But when the FBI’s Assistant Director tells you to do something, the best course of action is to listen the first time.
“Turn on the news,” was all Remi Jenkins said in that commanding tone of hers.
Dana had answered the phone on the first ring, worried it was something to do with Jake, but this was much worse.
She read the words scrolling across the news broadcast ticker at the bottom of the screen, but her mind rejected them:Brutal murder at renowned rehab clinic. Whereabouts of patients unknown as fire rages on.
“Claire?” The question came out in a breathless gasp.
“She’s among the missing,” Jenkins answered.
Claire was missing.Dana’s chest tightened as panic began to rise. Instinct forced her logical mind to intervene before she spiraled down a dark path. “Missing is good. Missing means she could be alive,” Dana said, more to herself than Jenkins. “I need to call her parents.”
“Next of kin have already been notified,” Jenkins assured.
“And Jake?”
“Left him a message,” was all Jenkins offered.
So, Jake hadn’t answered a call from Jenkins either?
Remi Jenkins was more than Jake’s direct superior. She was a friend—family even. The fact that he’d ignored her call raised almost as many alarms as the fear-mongering news team invading Dana’s television.
Pushing all thoughts of Jake away, Dana shifted her sole focus to Claire. “I should reach out to Claire’s parents personally.”
Their already estranged relationship had fractured further when Claire admitted her struggles with addiction, but Dana refused to believe the girl’s parents had completely given up on their daughter. They lived on the west coast and hadn’t seen her in years, but surely, they’d be there for her in a time like this.
Dana held the phone to her ear, her attention transfixed on the smoke billowing from the building behind the news crew.
Jenkins spoke again. “Claire’s not the only reason I called. “
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t get into it over the phone. How fast can you get to the lab?”
“The lab?” Dana hated sounding like a confused echo, but she was at a loss, her inquisitive mind reeling with too many questions.
“The FBI forensics lab. Your presence has been requested.”
“By who?”
“Dr. Raynard. He asked for you by name. I assumed you were acquainted.”
They were. Dana would never forget her first meeting with the man everyone in the FBI referred to as the Alchemist. “I don’t understand. What does this have to do with Claire?”
“Don’t know. Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. Won’t know till you get here.”
“But—”
Jenkins cut her off. “I can’t say more. Just get here, Gray.”
The line went dead, ending Dana’s objections. She should’ve expected it. Jenkins didn’t tolerate nonsense; a trait Dana appreciated. And right now, nothing seemed to make sense.
Snapping into action, Dana dressed quickly and grabbed her purse and phone on her way to the door, intending to get some answers.
6
