“Neither of them saw you the way I did in that Middle Eastern dungeon either,” he snapped.
Diane came out of the chair, anger pushing her to her feet at the chastising tone of his voice.
“You are not my f**king keeper,” she informed him furiously as one finger poked firmly into his chest before her hands went to her hips. “Get that in your head, Lawe Justice. I haven’t had a keeper since I was twenty-one years old, and I refuse to accept one now. Especially one as high-handed, arrogant and completely superior as you appear to be.”
His gaze narrowed. “We’re definitely going to have this fight,” he informed her. “But Jonas wants your report first.”
“There is no report.” Crossing her arms over her br**sts, she was confident that the scent he was searching for when his nostrils flared wasn’t there.
There really was no report. She wasn’t about to tell them a damned thing. Not in this lifetime. Not as long as she risked losing control of the mission she considered still active. The one she considered her personal responsibility.
“You told Jonas you weren’t comfortable sending information electronically,” he reminded her, his tone become cold, hard. “If there was nothing to report, why bother?”
She sneered back in his face. “Because I was being watched. For some reason, dumb little ole me thought it was an enemy or one of those pesky little groups that thought they could get to the prize before I did. Do you think I wanted them to know I couldn’t find a damned thing? I do have a reputation to consider, Lawe. And I’m also sick of the confidence displayed by the Council when it comes to finding subjects they don’t want us to find.”
She’d learned while the two Breeds were with her team exactly how to lie to a Breed. Hell, they had even helped her learn how to do it.
A fierce frown furrowed Lawe’s brow as a snarl lifted the sides of his lips. “That’s why the rogue they call the Executioner was shooting at you. Because he thought you knew something, Diane.” He bit out his words, the ice in his tone barely covering the anger. “Why the hell are you risking yourself and your men that way?”
“Let him keep thinking it then.” A toss of her head and a wave of her hand should be enough to convince him she really didn’t give a damn. “I hope the bastard has nightmares about me getting there first. Wherever the hell ‘there’ is.”
He raked his fingers through his hair as he turned from her, took two steps then turned back suspiciously. “You were gone three months,” he reminded her. “You found nothing?”
“Oh, I found plenty,” she informed him. “The files are in my bag.” She flicked her fingers to the leather bag she’d carried downstairs earlier. “Brandenmore and his scientists were some coldhearted monsters, but you already knew that. They were determined to make the Genetics Council’s scientists look like cuddly teddy bears. But none of them knew where the Roberts girl or the other two earlier subjects were. As far as they knew, the Bengal and the remaining girl had been terminated. If they knew any differently, they weren’t telling.”
She hadn’t expected them to know differently. She’d hoped one of the techs who had befriended the girl, or perhaps one of the scientists’ assistants, would have come forward, but none had.
“Son of a bitch,” he growled, the exclamation an animalistic rasp pushed between his teeth.
“None of the information I found applies to her,” she informed him. “And you know what, Lawe, I’m tired of looking. Especially considering the fact you’ve had a team just waiting to push me out and take over.”
The look on his face assured her he would have done just that.
“I didn’t know you were on that mission,” he finally told her, his voice harsh. “I had the team covering you, nothing more, in case your uncle’s enemies found you again. They hadn’t even notified me that Jonas had sent you out. As far as I knew, you were still on that security detail in California.”
The expression of self-disgust on his face had her suspecting he just might be telling the truth, but it didn’t really matter. Once he had learned what she was doing, he would have still pulled her out of it.
She snorted at the excuse. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, ass**le. And that security detail? I’m not a friggin’ moron. I knew it for what it was while I was there. A damned pat on the head and a safe little corner to stand the weak little female in.” She flipped her hand carelessly as she stared back at him in disgust. “Now, I have reports in triplicate to write for your boss and a few vacations to arrange for my men. I have paychecks to write and bills to pay. Deposit my damned fee in my account so I can get that done.” Her voice rose in anger. “And leave me the hell alone.”
While he was speechless, or at least not speaking, she pushed past him and stomped across the room to the door. She threw a very human, more than furious snarl at the guard standing inside.
There were two more outside and two more at each end of the hall. The mated wife of the director of the Bureau of Breed Affairs was in attendance, so the security required was no less impressive than that of the alpha’s mated wives on the next level.
That didn’t mean there was a single damned Breed in the place that she wanted anything to do with at the moment.
Jerking her key card from the back of her jeans Diane swiped it through the electronic lock and pushed her way into the room.