Page 50 of John’s Yearning

“Likewise.”

“Did Grayson get a chance to fill you in on what we’re looking for?” John asked.

“The basics, yeah. I’m sure anybody on my staff could handle this.” Thomas tossed a quizzical look at John. “Care to explain to me why you need me for this?”

“Because you’re the best and the fastest,” John said, emphasizing his Southern accent.

“Flattery, I see. How about you teach Eddie that accent, and we’ve got a deal?” Thomas sat down in front of the laptop. His hands flew over the keyboard with a confidence that stunned even Savannah. She’d always thought that she was good, that she knew her craft well, but watching Thomas unlock bits and pieces of information from the photographer’s laptop made her feel like an amateur in comparison.

She turned her head to look at John and caught his gaze on her.

“Do you want anything to eat or drink?”

She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“Did you have dinner?” John added.

“No, but that’s okay.”

“It’s not.” He looked at Grayson. “Call my cell the moment you guys have something. We’ll be in the H Lounge.”

“But I’m not hungry,” Savannah protested.

“Give me thirty to forty minutes,” Thomas said, glancing over his shoulder, his eyes meeting hers. “You can’t do anything here right now anyway.”

John took her arm and led her outside. “You might not think you’re hungry, but I can’t have you collapsing for lack of energy. You’ve been up all day, you’ve been through a terrible ordeal tonight, and then—” He stopped himself as if he’d been about to add something he knew he shouldn’t mention: what they’d done earlier.

“Fine, I’ll eat,” she said quickly to prevent an awkward silence.

She didn’t want to be reminded that only a couple of hours earlier she’d had wild, hot sex with John, a man she barely knew. Surely he didn’t want to be reminded of it any more than she did. After all, it had been a mistake. A lapse of judgment on both their parts. Entirely a product of the danger they’d been in.

John led her to a large room on the first floor and closed the door behind them. They were the only people here. Savannah looked around. The place looked like a first-class airport lounge. She didn’t really know what she had expected. Maybe a cafeteria? But this was much more than that. There were comfortable seating areas, dining tables, a bar, and along the walls, refrigerated shelves with pre-packaged food of all sorts, as well as fresh fruit, chocolates, and other sweets. There was something for every taste.

“This is the cafeteria?” she asked, giving John a surprised look.

He shrugged. “We just call it a lounge. Employees come here between their shifts or on their breaks. It can be a stressful job, and there are days we don’t have time to go home. Management knows how to keep everybody happy.” He pointed to the food. “Take whatever you want.”

When she walked toward the shelves stacked with yogurts and fruit, she noticed that John sat down on one of the comfortable sectionals. “Aren’t you having any?”

“I had dinner earlier. But don’t let that stop you. You need your strength.”

She chose a yogurt, a bowl of mixed fruit, a bottle of water, and a bar of fancy looking chocolate, and joined John on the sofa, sinking into the corner at the other end.

“That doesn’t look like a lot,” he said with raised eyebrows.

“It’s more than I can eat right now,” she assured him and dug into the yogurt. Only when the food hit her empty stomach did she realize that she was famished. She’d polished off the yogurt, the fruit and most of the chocolate, when she looked up and realized that John had gotten up and fetched more of the same.

“Eat,” he simply said and put the items in front of her. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

She nodded and watched him leave the room. The soft music coming from speakers in the ceiling felt soothing, and for a short moment, she leaned back into the comfortable cushions and closed her eyes to relax.

John and his colleagues at Scanguards had impressed her. They were efficient and extremely capable. Thomas was clearly an IT genius, and John knew how to get information out of anybody. She knew she was in the right hands. Scanguards had achieved more in a few hours than the police had in the weeks since the first child had gone missing.

She sighed. Would this nightmare be over soon? Would Scanguards be able to keep its promise to her? Would they bring Buffy home?

22

John quickly popped into the V Lounge to get a glass of blood. Being in Savannah’s presence made his need for blood stronger than usual. He knew he had to take precautions in order not to lose his head around her, so he quickly downed two glasses of O-Neg. Just as he left the lounge, his phone rang. He looked at the display.