I was still too wound up about the breach to play word games with him. “Then how about this? You think my parents’ disappearance is connected to the missing ke’tain, and you’re hoping they will remember something that will help you find it.”
His head jerked back. “Why do you say that? Do you know something you haven’t told us?”
“No, but it’s not that hard to put the pieces together.”
“What pieces?” He furrowed his brow.
“I’ve been wondering why the Agency would guard two bounty hunters around the clock, especially since no one here was too concerned about finding them when they were missing.” There might have been a hint of accusation in my tone. “I was at the Plaza yesterday when you made your announcement about the ke’tain, and then I get a call from you, instead of one of your agents, about the security breach. That doesn’t sound like something the head of Special Crimes would do.”
He nodded. “Go on.”
“Last night, I thought about what you said about the Agency looking into collectors of Fae antiquities. When I spoke to Agent Curry at the hospital after my parents and I were found, he asked me if Raisa Havas had said anything about Cecil Hunt trafficking stolen Fae antiquities. I didn’t think anything of it then, but now I suspect they are connected.”
“Is that it?” His expression gave nothing away.
“No. As I said in my official statement, Raisa Havas told me it was the Seelie royal guard who took my mother and father. What if they did that because my parents uncovered something about the ke’tain?”
“You think the Seelie royal guard took the ke’tain?” He steepled his fingers against his lips, no longer trying to appear casual.
I shrugged. “I’m not saying they stole it. All I have is my gut feeling, which might not count for anything with you. But I do know this. My mother and father are too smart to go up against the royal guard of either court. There has to be a damn good reason why the Seelie guard wanted them out of the way.”
Stewart pursed his lips. “Impressive. I read in your file that you have an above average IQ. With your academic scores, you should be an agent, not a bounty hunter.”
“I should be in college.” I chose not to respond to his implication that agents were smarter than bounty hunters.
“Why aren’t you in college? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Life happened,” I said matter-of-factly. “I’ll get there eventually. Right now, my only concern is the safety of my family. If a faerie got past your agent at the hospital, what makes you think your agents can protect my mother and father at the rehabilitation facility?”
“The agents posted there are only a precaution. Your parents are protected by the ward attached to them.”
I clasped my hands in my lap. “And you’re sure it will keep out all faeries, including the Seelie royal guard?”
“Nothing is one hundred percent guaranteed, but I don’t think you’ll find a more powerful ward.” He smiled confidently. “Your parents are as safe as the First family.”
I relaxed my stiff shoulders. “When can I see them?”
“Tomorrow. Their doctors said the upheaval and sudden move was taxing, and your parents will need a day to settle in.” He glanced at his watch. “I have a meeting in five minutes. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss before then?”
There were a lot of things I wanted to ask him, but I settled on one. “You said yesterday that no faerie can use the ke’tain’s magic. Why would one of them want the ke’tain?”
“I wish I knew.”
The slight tightening of his jaw made me suspect he wasn’t being entirely honest with me, but I didn’t press the matter. He had been cooperative so far about my parents, and I didn’t want to do anything to change that.
I thanked him for everything they were doing for my parents and left his office with his business card, in case I ever needed to contact him. Instead of leaving the building, I took the elevator to the second floor, where I had gone to have my ID done. It was also where we had to go to sign out the ke’tain sensors.
One thing I knew for certain was that my mother and father were still in danger. If the faerie who had tried to get to them last night was after the ke’tain, they weren’t going to give up until they had it or until my parents were no longer a threat to them. The only way my family would be safe was for someone to find the ke’tain first and turn it over to the Agency.
I told the guard what I was there for, and he sent me down a hallway to the requisitions room. Inside, an agent stood behind a tall desk, working on a computer. He looked so young he had to be fresh out of the academy. I guessed they had to start new agents somewhere, and I realized this could have been me if I’d joined the Agency. I imagined working in this dull, windowless room and shuddered. I’d go stark raving mad before my first week was up.
He looked past his monitor at me. “Can I help you?”
“Yes. I’m here to sign out a ke’tain sensor.”
“Those are only for agents and bounty hunters,” he replied dismissively, going back to his computer as if I wasn’t there.
I was used to people assuming I wasn’t a hunter, and it normally didn’t get to me. After my morning, I was in no mood to deal with the attitude of someone, who would probably wet his neatly-pressed pants if he saw the things bounty hunters faced.
I slapped my ID down on the counter so hard he jumped. “And you think the guard would have let me in here if I wasn’t authorized?”
“Everything okay here?” asked Bruce, who had entered the room without my notice.
I looked over my shoulder at him and Trey. “I’m waiting for…” I peered at the agent’s badge and had to swallow back a laugh. “Agent Smith to issue my sensor.”
The agent in question picked up my ID, his gaze flicking between me and the card. “You’re that bounty hunter who got kidnapped in Queens last month. They found you and your parents in some basement.”
“That would be me.” I tapped my fingers on the desktop. “Can I get my sensor now?”
“Uh, sure.” He clicked around on his computer with the mouse and then stuck my ID in a scanner. After the light on the scanner turned green, he removed the card and slid it across the counter to me. “I need to go in the back and grab you one.”
“Thanks.”
He left through a door behind him, and I turned back to Bruce and Trey. “I guess I know why you guys are here.”
Bruce smiled. “We’re still going to take on the usual jobs, but it would be foolish not to search for the ke’tain, too.”
“We weren’t expecting to see you here,” Trey said. “Thought you weren’t going after the ke’tain.”
I pocketed my ID. “I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have a sensor just in case.”
“Very smart of you,” Bruce said.
Trey snorted. “You came all the way to Manhattan first thing this morning to pick one up just in case?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “No, I came all this way because I got a call from the Agency, telling me they had to move my parents after a security breach at the hospital last night.”