Free PHENOMENAL GIRL 5 by A. J. MENDEN Page B

There is more potential to become drunk on power and take advantage.”
    “So they depend on your expertise to single out who’s the most likely to become a threat?”
    “Something like that, yes.” He tossed me a newspaper. “Take a look.”
    I caught it. “Is this a broadening-my-horizons thing or something important?”
    “There is something inside you should take a look at.”
    “Uh-oh.” I spread the newspaper out on the nearest table not covered in books.
    “Page Twelve,” he suggested, riffling through the contents of another file and scribbling down a note.
    I flipped through the pages, expecting to see a celebrity or a member of the EHJ in the famous gossip column. Instead there was a photo of Robert leaning in to whisper something into a glamorous blonde woman’s perfect shell of an ear. She was laughing, and they looked like they were sharing an intimate moment. The caption under the photo read: “The infamous Robert Elliot was seen out canoodling with a hot blonde at the über-hot Tuscani’s.”
    “Holy hell!” I shrieked. “That’s me! I’m the hot blonde!”
    He grinned, glancing up at me from the files. “I thought you would get a kick out of that.”
    I read the rest of the caption out loud. “Sources close to Elliot say the blonde is a colleague, but they’re looking a little too cozy at the intimate nightspot to be only friends.”
    What would he say to the obvious chemistry the photo captured?
    He shrugged. “You will get that on occasion. The paparazzi like to take a photo out of context.”
    So much for chemistry.
    “Everyone on the Power Squad is going to freak out, even though I’m unidentified,” I said.
    “You will not be unidentified for long. The paparazzi have caught wind of you; now it is only a matter of time before they identify you. Might as well get used to it.”
    I folded the paper, tucking it under my arm, intending to clip the photo later. “So I’m a star now, huh?”
    “To those that read Page Twelve, yes, you are.”
    “
Sir, you’re wanted on the phone
,” Mayhew’s disembodied voice interrupted from an unseen speaker.
    Robert dug a cordless phone out from under a stack of files. “Robert Elliot. Good morning, Detective Pendergast.” He paused, listening, and then looked troubled. My heart sped up. Something was going on. “Yes, I understand. We will be there shortly.” He hung up and looked at me. “Syn is gone.”
    A spike of fear shot through me, echoing phantom pains of Syn tearing at my soul. “What do you mean, ‘gone’?”
    “As in no longer in his cell. He just disappeared. Pendergast wants us downtown to investigate.” He was already heading toward the door.
    “I thought you said you wiped out his magic,” I said, rising to follow him.
    “I did.”
    “So how did he get away?” I struggled to keep up with Robert’s long, purposeful strides down the hallway and up the stairs to the main floor.
    “I do not know. That is the purpose of our investigation, is it not?” He stopped walking and looked at me. “Can you work this case, Lainey, or is it too personal?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, after what happened with Syn, will you be able to investigate this case with a clear head? Not allow emotions to cloud your thinking?”
    I frowned. “I’m a professional, Robert. I can do this.”
    He gave me a nod and a slight smile. “Let us go, then.”
    “Should I change into my costume?”
    “To see the police? I think not. They already have differing opinions of our work, and we do not want to stand out further. In the future, I think you should save the costume-wearing for patrol situations.”
    I shrugged. “Leather chafes after awhile anyway.”
    Robert glanced at me. “Indeed.”
    We stepped outside and I watched as he prepared the teleportation spell.
    “Are you okay now to do this?” I asked.
    “I am fine, Lainey,” he said, in a tone indicating that I wasn’t to question his health, magic-wise, again.
    “Do