'I'm sorry,' Fontana said in his emotionless, utterly inflexible Guild boss voice. 'Ray and I will be moving fast in the jungle. We don't know what we're going to find. We don't have time to babysit a civilian.'
'Don't you dare call me a civilian,' she shot back. 'I'm an investigative journalist. What's more, if it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't even have those coordinates.'
Elvis muttered unhappily, responding to her anger and frustration. He dashed across the coffee table, scampered up onto her shoulder, and murmured into her ear.
'I know we owe this break to you,' Fontana said quietly. 'The Guild won't forget that.'
'Oh, great, now you're going to try to fob me off with that ridiculous line about how the Guild always repays a favor. Well, forget it. I don't want any favors from the Guild. I did this for all the men the Guild left behind as ghost bait on the streets of this city.'
A crystalline silence gripped the room. No one moved. No one spoke. Even Elvis went very still.
After a moment, Fontana went to stand in front of her. He gripped her shoulders with both hands.
'I understand' he said. 'I'm trying to make it clear that the Guild appreciates your work. But taking you with us is out of the question. You've only spent one night in the jungle. You've had no training or experience. We'd have to nursemaid you every step of the way. That would not only slow us down, it could jeopardize the mission. If Jake and the others are still alive, it might mean the difference between life and death for them.'
Reality slammed through her. He was right. She had no business going into the jungle. Still, it was infuriating to be shut out like this when she could feel the story coming together.
'Okay,' she said wearily. 'Go find out what happened to Jake and the others.'
'There's just one more thing,' Fontana said.
'Don't press your luck.'
'I want you covered by a security detail while Ray and I are gone.'
'Is that a polite term for bodyguard?'
'Yes.' He glanced at Ray. 'But given the circumstances, I don't want to take the risk of arranging one through the Guild. It will start rumors that may give whoever is behind this a heads-up.'
'You need some men from outside the Guild,' Ray said. 'Private agency, maybe?'
Fontana crossed to the window and stood looking down at the street below.
'I think I know where we can get some reliable men,' he said.
Chapter 29
SIERRA GRIPPED THE ARMS OF HER DESK CHAIR AND gazed, stricken, at the copy of the
'Good grief,' she said. 'Did I really look that bad yesterday when you found us?'
'Hey, don't blame me for the picture.' Kay angled one hip onto the corner of Sierra's desk. 'Phil's the photographer. I'm just the ace reporter who got the exclusive honeymoon interview with the Guild boss's wife.'
The cover photo showed her along with Elvis and Fontana emerging from the jungle. Fontana looked like he always did: cool, confident, and utterly in control of the situation. Elvis was as cute as always. But as for herself…
'I will never live this down,' she declared. 'I want everyone to know that I'm holding Phil personally responsible for destroying what was left of my reputation. He can talk to my mother when she calls. And she will call, I can guarantee it.'
'What's wrong with the shot?' Phil demanded. He wandered over to her desk, half of a doughnut in one fist. Elvis hovered nearby in his balloon basket, nibbling on the other half of the doughnut. 'It's a masterpiece.'
'Some masterpiece,' Sierra said. 'I look like a low-rent hooker who just spent the night entertaining clients in a dark alley.'
'It's the hair,' Kay said, commiserating. 'The way it's all tangled up does have a certain after-the-fall quality.'
'Nah,' Matt said. 'I think it's the way Fontana's shirt is hanging off one of her shoulders, and you can tell she's not wearing a bra.'
'I look cheap,' Sierra said flatly.
'No, really,' Kay said quickly. 'A woman dressed in a man's shirt looks sexy.'
'Right,' Phil said.
'Cheap,' Sierra repeated.
'Well, sure, that, too,' Phil agreed. 'But take it from a man: cheap and sexy go together like chocolate sauce and ice cream.'
'Thanks for that insight into the masculine mind,' Sierra muttered.
Ivor Runtley loomed in the doorway of the newsroom. 'What's going on in here? I want everyone back to work. Today's edition is almost sold out. I've got advertisers begging me for more space. Kay, I need another exclusive report on the jungle honeymoon. Matt, give me something else on the fire that destroyed Fontana's house.'
'What do you want, boss?' Matt said. 'I already used the arson angle.'
'I don't want ordinary arson,' Runtley bellowed. 'Give me arson caused by aliens. Which reminds me. Sierra, I need something more on the secret alien lab.'
She looked at him. 'I think we should hold off on that for a bit, sir.'
Runtley's brows shot skyward. 'You've got inside information?'
'Let's just say that I'm hoping to have a major scoop for the
'All right, sounds good. Meanwhile, you can work with Kay on the follow-up interview. Readers are really interested in the Guild boss's jungle honeymoon story.'
'Yes, sir,' Sierra said.
Runtley stormed off down the hall toward Marketing.
Sierra looked at Kay. 'Any bright ideas?'
'You're the one who spent the night in the jungle with Fontana,' Kay reminded her. 'Something exciting must have happened.'
'Well, there was an incident with a lizard,' Sierra volunteered. She was not going to tell anyone about the crystal alien ruin, let alone what had happened inside. The ruin had been Fontana's secret. Now it was hers.
'Lizards are boring.' Kay tapped her pen on her notepad. 'What do you say we go with a water feature this time? 'Guild Boss and Wife Bathe Nude in Hidden Lagoon.»
'Oh, man,' Phil said. 'Does that mean I get to do a photo shoot of Sierra in the buff?'
Sierra gave him a warning glare. 'Do not mess with me today. I am not in a good mood.'
'Yeah,' Phil said. 'We noticed.'
She picked up her coffee and started across the room to join Kay. She was almost to her destination when she noticed two men hovering in the doorway. One of them was Simon Lugg.
'Someone here to see you, Sierra' Simon said. 'Mitch let him through downstairs because he says he's a relative. That right?'
Her security detail, which consisted of Simon, Mitch, Jeff, and Andy from the Green Gate Tavern, had taken to their assignment with enthusiasm. They had all been more than happy to do the new Guild boss another favor. Make that thrilled, Sierra thought. The fact that the chief respected them enough to entrust his wife's safety to their care had produced an immediate and transformational impact on the four. You could see it in the new spring in their step and the determination in their eyes.
The only problem, as far as Sierra was concerned, was that in their zeal to prove themselves, they had gone overboard. She was not even allowed to walk down the hall to the ladies' room without an escort.
She looked at the man standing beside Simon. He appeared to be in his early thirties, dressed in a high-end designer's notion of casual. His expensive trousers, open-throated blue shirt, and slouchy, cream linen jacket would have looked at home at the local yacht club. He gave her a tentative smile.
