Perfect Assassin by Wendy Rosnau Page A

come up with anything solid he could run with. Not one damn lead on Alun Beltane from Edmonton. And to top off his mood, he’d hit a brick wall with the kill-file Merrick was hoping he could decode.
    He had the latest in equipment, knew how to hijack information from every resource across the country, and still he was no further ahead than he’d been weeks ago.
    He had decided that Alun Beltane didn’t exist, and that Holic had no system or order to the bogus kill-file he’d manufactured.
    Both conclusions stunk.
    Was he losing his touch, or was Billy wrong about the name? And was Merrick on a witch hunt?
    Koko had said the name Alun didn’t fit his houseguest. And he could count on one hand the number of times his grandmother had been wrong.
    So where did that leave him?
    No one had come forward looking for a missing person. Not one inquiry.
    Jacy shut down the computer and left his office. He stepped into the hall, his eyes locking on the scene in the living room. She was in a tug of war with Matwau. He was growling playfully, and sisttsi nan was more than a little frustrated.
    “ Bitte geben Sie es mir, Matwau. Bitte! ”
    Jacy had become fluent in a number of languages working for Onyxx, and he knew German as well as French and Italian, and a dozen other languages. Now he was once again sorting out the words, wondering who the hell she was.
    “What’s going on?”
    She looked up, frustration had colored her cheeks. “He took my sock and he won’t give it back.”
    “I’ve heard you speak German before. Where do you suppose you learned that? You speak it like a native.”
    She let go of the sock and Matwau—thinking he’d won—hopped up on the couch, tucking his prize between his huge paws.
    “I…don’t know.”
    It was clear she was uncomfortable with the question. He’d caught her in a number of awkward situations in the past weeks since she’d been staying with him. And if she could lie about this, what else was she capable of lying about?
    He heard his phone ring, and he stepped back in his office and closed the door.
    Pierce was calling to discuss cold trails, more dead bodies, and the fact that Holic’s replacement had managed to make the kills even though his shots were not perfect.
    “More messy shots, taken in haste,” Pierce was saying. “Merrick told me you’ve been working on the kill-file. That there might be a way to decode the pattern. Find anything?”
    “No. And I don’t think that I’m going to.”
    “Holic still claims someone else is shooting those agents,” Pierce said. “He claims his replacement wouldn’t take a bad shot.”
    “Those agents are dead,” Jacy reminded. “I don’t consider a shot that kills someone a bad shot. Do you?”
    “No, but he still claims it’s not his man. What do you think?”
    “I’ve looked over the data you sent me on the first four kills. It’s true the killer’s shots have changed since the first two, but maybe there’s a reason for it. Maybe this is part of Holic’s game. Maybe his man was told to dirty things up a bit. Hell, I don’t know.”
    “You sound stressed out. What’s going on with you?”
    Jacy hadn’t told anyone about his houseguest. He said, “I’ve got a situation here. A woman staying with me.”
    “Is she pretty? Your type or mine?”
    “She’s too young for both of us.”
    “How old.”
    “Not old enough.”
    “Too vague.”
    “She went down in a plane in the mountains. She doesn’t know her name or where’s she’s from.”
    “What’s the hold-up? You’re the detail man. You should be able to figure that out.”
    “That’s just it. I’ve hit a roadblock at every turn. Someone has to be looking for her.”
    “Meaning she’s pretty and you’re frustrated.”
    Jacy set his jaw. “Like I said, she’s too young and innocent for someone like me.”
    “Can I help?”
    “You’ve got your hands full chasing after dead bodies. I’ll work this out.”
    “If I get anything new on Holic’s