Read Perfection (JL Spelbring) for Free Online Page B

Secrecy was of top priority and becoming impossible to maintain.
    “Fine. Take the dogs.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “You have to understand the dilemma we are in. Ellyssa must be found, but by divulging as little information as possible.”
    “I understand.”
    He paused for a moment while he removed a ticket and the proper traveling papers from his desk drawer. He slid the credentials over to her. “Unfortunately, due to our circumstances, you will have to travel by train. It will leave in two hours.”
    She leveled her eyes on the doctor. “I will find her.”
    “Very good,” Doctor Hirch said, dismissing her.
    With a curt nod, Detective Petersen departed. As soon as the door closed, George reached into his bottom left-hand drawer and pulled out another file on his missing beloved creation. The file contained his lifelong work, each of the children’s powers well documented and studied. When Ellyssa returned home, Hitler’s future goals—his future goals—would soon come together.
    Detective Petersen stalked through the long corridor of the sterile center on her way to her apartment. From her coat pocket, she removed a copy of Ellyssa’s picture and unfolded it. The creases were beginning to warp part of Ellyssa’s face, but the photo only served the purpose of keeping her quarry next to her, not for a reminder of her appearances.
    The platinum hair, the bright azure eyes, and smooth, pale skin were embedded in Angela’s mind. She served as a constant reminder that the detective had failed.
    But Angela wouldn’t fail again. Ellyssa would pay for the embarrassment and disgrace she had caused.
    When she was a child and had been brought to The Center for training, she’d competed with the children born there, both types—the ones like Leland and the ones considered pure, whom no one ever saw. The visions of perfection were sectioned off in a secure part of the building, where only a few were allowed to go.
    Angela had worked hard, studied hard, and excelled in physical fitness. She was just as intelligent, cunning, and beautiful—determined by the unwanted attention she received from male suitors. But even with working her ass off, her excellent record, and obtaining the position of Chief of the Kripo Unit, she still fell short. At least according to Dr. Hirch and The Center’s prerequisites. But the detective knew without a doubt, if given the same type of training the pictures of perfection had, she would’ve excelled beyond them. Even with their special abilities.
    Angela released the tension in her hands, where the edges of the photo crinkled under her grip. Fighting an urge to rip it apart and stomp on it, she placed it against her stomach and smoothed out the wrinkles.
    After glancing at the photo one more time, Angela slipped it back into her pocket. She rounded the corner and stopped at the first door, extracting her card to swipe through the lock.
    Because of her position as head of the Kripo unit held, her set of rooms was larger than those of her subordinates. The apartment opened to a decent-sized living room, decorated in soft earth tones, and a black and white walk-in kitchen. Immediately to the right of the kitchen, a small hall led to the bathroom and ended at the bedroom.
    Angela went straight to the bathroom, shrugging off her jacket and clothes along the way, and turned on the shower. Steam rose in the air and coated the mirror with a sheen of condensation. She stepped into the hot water and quickly washed away her grogginess. There would be time for a nap on the train.
    Her head wrapped in a towel, the detective hurried to her bedroom, where she changed into off-duty flared-leg jeans and a gold blouse. Then, she went to her closet where a military-green duffle bag hid on the top shelf behind blankets and other knickknacks. She yanked it out. The bag fell like it held bricks, and thumped against her thigh on its way down. She shuffled over to her bed and dumped