Read Retrieval for Free Online

unforeseen events? Did you, for instance, have a bizarre reaction to the sight of my daughter?”
    “What the hell are you asking me?” Sebastian’s lip curled in disgust. It seemed a slimy sickness reached across the room, originating from Smythe-Ward.
    “Were you attracted to my daughter, Mr. Graham? Is that why she isn’t with you now? Did you let her go?” Smythe-Ward’s voice was deadly quiet. An impression of rage tainted the air between them.
    What the fuck? The churning in his gut grew more pronounced, and with a sudden click of clarity, Sebastian decided he wasn’t giving this man what he wanted—whether it was information or Skylar McKannon.
    His directive had changed that fast. His primary goal was to find the woman who’d given him the slip and do his level best to find out what the hell was going on.
    “I’m not sure what you’re intimating, Dr. Smythe-Ward, but you paid my company good money to locate and retrieve your daughter. I repeatedly asked for any information that would be beneficial in that search and retrieval, but you repeatedly hamstrung my team. Now you’re asking me if I was attracted to your daughter, and if that’s the reason why she’s not here now. Let me get this straight—you’re questioning my integrity?”
    Where Smythe-Ward’s voice had been cunning but gentle, Sebastian’s was a scythe, sharp and deadly.
    “No. No. Not at all. I was simply inquiring. I am a scientist and trying to figure out all parts of a puzzle is my job, you see. Never would I doubt the integrity of someone my dear friend, General Post, suggested for this job. Please forgive my question, and let’s start over, please?”
    “Look, maybe this isn’t a job for my company. Maybe you need to involve an entity you can trust enough to give them all the information,” Sebastian pressed.
    “Oh no, please. You’ve already come farther in the search than any before you. It would be a shame to lose your expertise. Again, forgive my question; no affront was intended. Can you tell me how she got away?”
    “She knocked us flat. We’ve already told you that. We want you to tell us how .”
    Smythe-Ward would either answer the question, or they would leave and begin searching for the truth on their own. The thought of Skylar in the clutches of the good doctor caused his vision to blacken, and his hands to curl into fists.
    Smythe-Ward seemed to fight within himself for a minute before capitulation made his shoulders droop.
    “Gentlemen, have a seat. The story I’m about to impart is lengthy and, at times, unbelievable. For the sake of my daughters, there are some things I simply cannot divulge. But I can give you information which will most assuredly help you in your search.”
    Now it was “daughters.” “We’ll stand, thank you.” Ice flew off Sebastian’s words.
    Bleak and Morrissey moved forward, flanking him on both sides. Sebastian wondered at their sudden intense interest in this situation. Did they wonder, and rightfully so, about what the hell knocked them flat back at the McKannon house? Or was it something else?
    He shook off his concerns, concentrated on the man sitting before them. He was in his early eighties. Sagging jowls set in a face that only a mother could love. Gray hair was sparsely spread over a large head. His neck was slim, and his head seemed to wobble on the thin reed that attached it to the rest of his body. He’d once been a large man, tall and robust but was now just a stooped, thinning shell of his former self.
    General Post had given Sebastian some of the information about Smythe-Ward’s past, but Sebastian had gone a level deeper in his research, discovering things Post had in no way, shape, or form disseminated. Something hadn’t rung true after his first meeting with the man, but he’d had no time to delve into what he’d uncovered until after he’d been knocked on his ass by Skylar. Then he’d made the time on the way over here to meet with the