Zilch.

Then, dammit, find out about him.

She reached for her phone. Jeff had introduced her to a few of his fellow agents on cases, and surely she could find out about Lynch from one of them.

If they'd talk to her. There were times when she'd been very impatient with them.

Jeff had said subst.i.tute "rude" for "impatient."

Well, perhaps. But they'd kept arguing with her when she'd known she was right.

She found a name in her directory. Agent Bill Santini. Yeah, she remembered him. He hadn't seemed to be too antagonistic toward her.

Maybe.

She dialed the number.

He answered the call on the second ring.

"Santini, this is Kendra Michaels. I need some information."

Silence.

"What kind of information?" he asked warily.

"Adam Lynch."

"He contacted you? I'm surprised. We told him it wasn't worth his while."

"I told him the same thing. He doesn't listen. Has Jeff really disappeared?"

"Unless he just decided to take off for the South Seas. No one has seen him for seventy-two hours. We've all been worried as h.e.l.l."

"And what does Lynch have to do with it?"

"Who the h.e.l.l knows? Lynch's a secretive b.a.s.t.a.r.d. He just showed up and started asking questions."

"And why would you answer them?"

"You must not have been around him long. People usually do what Lynch wants them to do."

"Why? He's not with the Bureau any longer, is he?"

"No, but he has friends in high places." He added impatiently, "Look, why pick on me to question? If you're so smart, why don't you work it out for yourself?"

"It would waste time." She added honestly, "And I chose you because I don't think you dislike me as much as the other guys at the Bureau do."

"Don't count on it." He sighed. "Okay, that was rude. I shouldn't have been that blunt. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"You didn't. It was just an error of judgment on my part."

"Kendra, I don't really ... You just manage to p.i.s.s me off. You made me look like an idiot on the Salvatori case."

"You were wrong. And you argued with me. I had to show you how foolish that argument was."

"And you did. You have a tongue like a buzz saw. You embarra.s.sed the h.e.l.l out of me."

"Then you shouldn't have argued with me. It was so clear."

"To you." He added resignedly, "But I honestly don't think there was any malice in you. Though some of the other guys don't agree with me."

"Then I was right about your not disliking me as much as they do?"

"Aren't you always right?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Yeah, I was the right choice. What else do you want to know about Adam Lynch?"

"Everything."

"I don't know everything. I wasn't with the Bureau when he was here. I've only heard rumors."

"Rumors are good."

"Nothing much good about the rumors about Lynch. He's notorious. Or maybe it depends on your viewpoint. Some agents think of him as a legend. They call him the Puppetmaster."

"Absurd. Why?"

"He's a master manipulator. He had a dislike for the court system and didn't trust it worth a d.a.m.n. When he was an agent, there were stories about how he'd manipulate criminals into situations in which they'd bring about their own deaths, forcing them into corners or tricking them into taking lethal chances." He added, "Probably his most high-profile case was when he went undercover with two different crime families in New York and Philadelphia and pitted them against each other. They crippled each other's operations and murdered many of each other's top men. It was much easier for us to step in and bring them down entirely. He was a hero for a while until he got into trouble again for disobeying orders and going his own way."

"How long did he get away with it?"

"For a long time. Until Lynch clashed with a new FBI director, and he parted company with the Bureau. He's now a black-ops strategist for U.S. Intelligence agencies."

"Lynch said he met Jeff. How?"

"That I don't know, Kendra."

Kendra was beginning to have an idea of the connection between Jeff and Lynch. Jeff would have been intrigued and enthusiastic about an agent with Lynch's capabilities just as he had been with her gifts.

"Jeff didn't mention Lynch to me when he spoke to me recently. He didn't speak to any of you about him?"

"No, I told you I don't know anything about a connection between them. Is that all?"

"What do you think of Lynch?"

"Are you asking my opinion? Will wonders never cease?"

"I don't have anyone else to ask."

"I'm glad you put me straight. I wouldn't want to get a swelled head. Lynch? I barely know him." He was silent, thinking. "I'm not sure I'd trust him, but I'd be glad to have him in my corner if I was in trouble. We were kind of glad when he showed up after Jeff disappeared." He hesitated. "Look, I know that you cared about Jeff. I want you to know we're doing everything we can."

"Thanks, Santini." He had been helpful. She should probably say something else. "You probably did better than anyone else in the Bureau could have done on the Salvatori case."

He gave a mock groan. "Condescension. That was worse than the verbal slap on the face. Good-bye, Kendra." He hung up.

She pressed the disconnect and sat there thinking. She shouldn't really have asked Santini his opinion when she'd probably discard it anyway. He was an okay agent but not particularly brilliant, and Lynch could probably manipulate him if it suited him.

Puppetmaster?

She made a face at the corny term. She could imagine Lynch being just as scornful as she felt. He was much too sophisticated to want to be labeled in any way.

Yet she admitted that she had definitely noticed him trying to pull her strings. She was glad to know where he was coming from and what she could expect.

But that didn't mean that she wanted to deal with him, even if he was trying to find Jeff. He made her uneasy. She would have to think about it.

And how she felt about being involved in the search for Jeff. If it was trouble, then she- Her phone rang.

She tensed. Lynch?

No, her friend, Olivia Brandt.

She breathed a sigh of relief. No challenge, just warmth and affection. "Hi, Olivia, how are you doing?"

"Great. How did your day go?" Olivia asked. "Any breakthroughs?"

"A possible with Jimmy."

"I celebrate possible. Come over to my place and have a drink."

"I just got home. I need to shower and change."

"Nope. It's c.o.c.ktail hour. I'll see you in ten minutes." She hung up.

Kendra shook her head. Olivia could be immovable when she wanted something. Well, maybe she needed to talk.

And maybe Kendra needed to talk instead of brood.

Why not?

Olivia was in a condo in the same complex, and Kendra could be there in five minutes. She'd have a drink and relax, and she could be back in an hour or so.

She grabbed her handbag and headed for the door. It was ridiculous that Lynch had made her this uneasy. She was in control of what she did or did not do.

Why the h.e.l.l did she feel like she needed that drink?

CHAPTER.

2.

OLIVIA STEPPED OUT OF THE kitchen with a bottle of Chianti and poured it into two winegla.s.ses on the living-room coffee table. She positioned her index and middle fingers on either side of the gla.s.s stems to position them as she poured.

"How was that?" Olivia said. "Did that look too 'blind'?"

"You are blind."

"I don't want it to show every minute of every day. Tell me, did that look too blind?"

"No. You can pour wine with the best of 'em. But I wish you would stop."

"Easy for you to say."

It wasn't easy, Kendra wanted to tell her. She and Olivia had known each other since they were small children at a school for the visually impaired. Back then, they had banded together against their challenges and discovered new ways of defying expectations.

And in the bonding had come a deep and abiding love.

Olivia had been genuinely happy for Kendra when she was suddenly given the gift of sight through an innovative new stem-cell operation, with no trace of jealousy. To the contrary, Olivia had reveled in each of the opportunities available to Kendra, and she almost seemed to live vicariously through new experiences they had only dreamed about as girls. Recently, however, Kendra noticed that her friend was concerned more and more with her outward appearance and behaviors, especially those that might reveal her as a sightless person.

"What in the h.e.l.l is going on?" Kendra said. "Since when do you care about 'looking blind'?"

Olivia sat on the couch next to her and took a sip of her wine. "I've always cared about it. Even when I said I didn't."

"Not like this. Are you doing this for a guy? Because any guy who can't accept you for who you are isn't worth-"

"It's not for a guy." Olivia made a face. "Give me some credit."

"All the credit in the world." She studied Olivia as she sat there on the couch. If she could see herself as Kendra saw her, she wouldn't be this insecure, dammit. Dark sleek hair that hung in a shining curve to her shoulders, olive skin, enormous brown eyes, and lips that were almost always smiling. As usual, Olivia was dressed in the latest fashion, black velvet trousers, silk blouse, and a leopard-print vest that made her look svelte, trendy, and totally beautiful. "I'm just trying to figure this out. This isn't like you."

"I'm not one of your puzzles that you can just crack, Kendra." She grinned. "As much as you've always liked to try."

"Then don't be such a puzzle. Out with it."

Olivia spoke quietly. "I want people to talk to me ... like they talk to you."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I noticed it almost from the moment you got your sight back. The people you meet are more relaxed, more themselves with you now. I know that you've noticed."

"Of course. But we always knew how awkward some people could be around us. We used to laugh about it."