*
*
Modriana was still at police headquarters at ten that night, with a cup of cold tea in her hand and nothing useful to add.
Warden Varn sat at the end of the briefing table, reading the reports one by one. She hadn't spoken in an hour. On the screen behind her, Jaenor's face was still frozen in the center, three angles of him, patient and unreadable.
Holt came in and stood at the opposite end.
"Warden. Every district is searched. Every checkpoint is staffed. No sign of him, and no sign of the family."
"The family," Varn said, without looking up.
"Kate Buchanan and Martha Buchanan. Both have been missing since this morning, in different places. Neither one left anything behind."
"Not missing," Varn said. "Hidden."
Holt hesitated. "By who?"
Varn put down the last page and looked at the screen.
"Either by him or by someone who wanted them out of his way," she said.
"I don't know which, and I don't like not knowing."
She stood.
