She yanked open the phone. "Hello?"

"Toni?" The gruff voice sounded urgent. "What's going on there?"

"Howard?" Her supervisor? Howard Barr was in charge of daytime security, and he monitored Toni from his location at Roman Draganesti's house. Howard was supposed to call for a morning report at eight A.M., but yesterday morning he'd used the house phone, not her cell phone.

Her gaze flickered to the bedside table where the digital clock glowed 7:26. "Is something wrong?"

"That's what I'm asking you," Howard continued in a rush. "I did my morning rounds here, and Connor had his cell phone open by his ear. Were you talking to him?"

"No. Everything's fine here—"

"I don't think so. Connor's phone was connected to your house phone there. I hung up and tried to call, but your line is still busy."

Toni glanced at the phone on her bedside table. A light indicated it was still in use. Of course. Ian had said he would check up on her. "It must be Ian MacPhie."

"Ian?" There was a pause during which Toni could hear the shuffling of papers. "Are you sure? He's not due back for another week. And his coffin's empty."

"He outgrew it."

"So it's true? The boy doesn't look fifteen anymore?"

She wrinkled her nose. "He looks older than that, but his behavior's not what I would call mature."

Howard chuckled. "Made a good impression, did he? Look, he's not showing up on any of my monitors, so you'll have to find him and make sure he's all right."

"I'm sure he's fine. Where would he go? He's dead. That sorta cuts down on his mobility."

"Yes, but we're responsible for these guys during the day. You can't guard a corpse if you don't know where it is. So find him."

Toni groaned silently. There were five floors in this townhouse, six counting the basement, more than eighteen bedrooms, and a bunch of bathrooms and closets. It would take all morning to search the whole place.