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"But now she’s been warned off, it’s too dangerous" Clay slid his ar over her hip in a blatantly territorial gesture "There’s no question of her going in"
She bristled "Hold on You don’t get to dictate - "
"He’s right," Max interrupted "If it is adirty, that h up The bastard clearly has access to preliminary contact reports from around the country He or she will eitheruseful or shut you up for good"
"Men," she iven Clay’s arrogant pronounceo in, we need information from the inside somehow"
"Anybody you trust there?" Max asked
"Dev - Devraj Santos," she said without hesitation Clay’s hand tightened on her hip She retaliated with a scowl "He’s a good guy"
"He’s also the director" Max’s face was grim
"No He’ll help us" She turned to Clay "You knohat I mean Tell him"
After a taut second, he nodded "Talin’s instincts about people are pure gold"
His support warain They had only been together a day and already she knew that ut, she returned her attention to Max "That’s not everything, is it?"
Max nodded "First thing - absolutely no one but me, the medical examiner, and a couple of detectives I trust - knows this The bodies were all ans"
It was too ans?" Clay’s hand stroked over her hip, jerking her out of her shell-shocked state and fir blackWhile the world had coans, certain parts of the human body continued to defy medical science’s efforts to create perfect replicas Added to that, a sans over cloned ones "Did they take the heart or eyes?" It was ihter and hope
Max nodded "But I think those res to divert our attention in exactly this direction"
"I don’t understand" Talin frowned "Hearts are the most expensive and difficult to clone and eyes follow close behind"
Clay suddenly went predator-still "There’s one other very coan you haven’t yet mentioned"
Talin watched the men’s eyes lock, felt the murky truth pass between them But her mind refused to make the connection "What?" she asked, frustrated
"The brain, Talin" Max’s tone was full of quiet grief "All the victih to perfor their brains"
Clay sensed Talin’s shock, her driving pain It threatened to tear the heart right out of hihter
"Top of the line This is an organized operation, not soraphical spread of the victims, the schedule of body dumps, and the lack of evidence - the kids had literally no trace on their bodies but for a single fiber"
"It help narrow things down?"
"Not to a specific location, but the ical labs" Max shoved a hand through his hair "The victims were taken to so it was the same one in all cases, whichany alaranization"
"Were they tortured?" Talin’s voice was raw, as if she’d been screa silently
Clay’s leopard flexed its claws, disliking the scent of her anguish "Come on, Tally You don’t need to know that"
"Yes, I do" She sed and when she looked up, he saw that her eyes were dull gray, that exotic ring of fire ht tell us why these particular kids were taken, the deviance driving the killers If we knoe can narron the list of other children who ht be at risk"
"What the hell I’ll send you everything I’ve got" Max pushed aside the peanuts he’d spread on the table, his fist clenched "You know these kids, the way they think - youI’ve missed"
"What about the search for Jon?" It broke her heart, but Di, Mickey, and the others were already dead Their justice could wait "He has to come first"