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Grange rolled his eyes. “You’re not in the military anymore, Jed, and neither am I. And I’m getting tired of reminding you. You don’t salute me, you don’t stand at attention, so just relax. Call me Grange or General. I don’t give a shit. But pull the stick out of your ass and sit the hell down.”
Jed pulled up a chair in front of the general’s desk.
“You know, kid, I get that you thought you were going to be career military, and that you went straight from two tours in the Marines to four years with the FBI. And you suffered doing nothing with the G-men because they’re stick-up-the-ass regimented asswipes, but here we’re more relaxed and nobody jumps unless I’m pissed off. And when I’m pissed off, Jed, you’ll know it. Understood?”
“Yes, si . . . General.”
“Good. Now, for your next assignment.”
Thank God. The last thing Jed wanted was downtime. He was ready to go.
The general clasped his hands together. “This one’s a little different. I want you to fly to Florida. Daytona Beach. Your target is Elena Madison, age twenty-six.”
“Undercover?”
“You’ll be undercover. Sort of.”
Jed cocked a brow. The general raked his hand through his hair. “It’s hard to explain. I know Elena’s mother, Carla. She’s gone missing, but Elena doesn’t know that.”
“And you do.”
“Yes. Carla has always been sort of a free spirit, very New Age. Kind of a hippie, back when hippies were the thing. She comes and goes as she pleases, takes off whenever she feels like it.”
“So Elena wouldn’t think anything of it if her mother was gone.”
“Right.”
“But you—being friends with Carla all these years—have kept tabs on her.”
Grange nodded. “You could say that.”
“How do you know she’s missing?”
Grange stood, rubbed the back of his neck and turned to look out the window. Jed could tell he was uncomfortable as hell. Obviously having some kind of personal relationship with this Carla was doing a number on him. From what he knew of the general, he left his personal life out of all his dealings with the Wild Riders. Why he was giving Jed this assignment, he didn’t know. But he was going to be patient and listen.
“I’ve kept tabs on Carla for years. I always know where she is. But this time . . . I’ve lost her.”
“Lost her?”
“Yeah. And that’s not good.”
Whatever was between Grange and Carla Madison, it was something deep and meaningful, or at least that’s what Jed was taking away from that comment. “Okay. Have you . . . lost her before?”
“On occasion, but I always pick her back up. This time I haven’t been able to.”
“Oh.” Well, hell. How was he going to do this mission without stepping on the general’s toes?
“Ask your questions. Nothing’s off-limits. I’m not going to send you into this blind.”
“Who is Carla Madison, General?”
He blew out a deep breath. “She’s my sister.”
“Okay, which means Elena is your niece.”
“Yes.”
“Can’t you just go to Elena and the two of you try to figure out—”
