Blood Loss by Alex Barclay

real?’ said Ren. Jared flinched
.
Ren exploded. ‘Risk
what
? Two children have been abducted—’
    ‘Shelby’s sixteen years old,’ said Jared.
    ‘A minor!’ said Ren. ‘A
child
in my book. And that hardly exonerates you.’
    Oh my God, you don’t know what exonerate means.
    ‘You don’t get off the hook is what I’m saying,’ said Ren. ‘There is an eleven-year-old girl out there,
and your friend,
and you tell me that Shelby works for Breck Sitters, and is therefore background-checked, when she is not.’
    ‘There’s no need to background-check her,’ said Jared. ‘Shelby’s cool. I could vouch for her. If this hadn’t happened, Tom would have been fine with it when he got back.’
    Ren paused. ‘Now I get it – you were hoping you could have a quiet word in Mr Olson’s ear before we got to him, get him to back you up?’
    Jared looked away.
    ‘What difference does it make?’ he said, his head snapping back to her.
    ‘Every bit of difference,’ said Ren. ‘You lied at the beginning of an investigation, first off. That is the most crucial time for us. Do you have any idea the damage you could have caused?’
    ‘They’ll probably come back,’ said Jared. ‘They probably just went out … it’s Saturday night.’
    Sweet Jesus.
‘
How
did you get a job here?’ said Ren. ‘How?’
    ‘Aw, my dad’s buddies with Tom …’
    You absolute idiot.
‘Jared, you need to listen to me, OK?’ said Ren. ‘If there is anything else I should know about Shelby Royce, this is your time to speak up.’
    ‘No – nothing,’ said Jared. ‘She’s a regular girl. I don’t know what all this is about, same as anyone else. I don’t know why anyone would, like, burst into a hotel room and take them away. Seems crazy to me.’
    ‘Is that what you think happened now? They were taken away by someone? Not that they just went out on a Saturday night for some fun?’
    ‘No! I don’t
know
, I told you. I haven’t a clue what happened. If I did, I’d say.’ He held some random fingers up. ‘I promise.’
    ‘You are looking at me like I’m supposed to believe everything that comes out of your mouth,’ said Ren. ‘The same mouth that did not open a crack to tell me that Shelby was just one of your buddies, and not even authorized to be here …’
    ‘Look, I’m sorry, OK?’ said Jared.
    ‘Do you get the gravity of the situation?’ said Ren.
    ‘Yes, OK? Jesus. You’re probably doing a background check on her now, anyway. What’s the difference?’
    ‘Just go,’ said Ren. ‘We’re done here.’
    Bob Gage was standing in the center of the foyer, talking to Mike Delaney. Ren walked over to them. ‘That desk guy is such an asshole,’ said Ren. ‘How he could just bareface lie …’
    ‘Lot of kids just don’t give a shit these days,’ said Mike.
    Ren’s attention was drawn to three men and a woman in dark suits and pristine white shirts walking through the lobby doors and moving her way. Three of them stopped just inside but one of them, the handsome one, kept walking, smiling, toward her. Late forties, fading tan, and hair that had gone very sexily gray.
    Oh. Dear. God.
    ‘Excuse me, gentlemen,’ said Ren. She walked toward the man walking toward her. She could barely feel her legs, but they managed to move, and they managed to stop. And for the first time in eighteen months, she found herself standing face to face with the man who messed with her head like no other.
    Damn you, Paul Louderback.
    Paul hugged her lightly, and kissed her cheek. ‘Hello, there.’
    To what do I owe the discomfort?
‘How are you?’ said Ren.
    ‘I’m good. It’s great to see you.’ He paused. ‘Really great.’ He pulled away. And stared a little too long.
    Shit. Shit. Shit.
    ‘You too,’ said Ren. ‘What are you doing here?’
    ‘She said accusingly …’ He laughed.
    ‘More miserably than accusingly …’ said Ren.
    ‘I am here, Agent, because I’m the CARD guy,’ said Paul.
    ‘What?’