“That’s enough.” Lena grabbed Deb’s shoulder with one hand. Deb opened her mouth to protest, but Lena squeezed, eliciting a squawk of pain and protest. “We drive to Virginia and assess the situation. Then we figure out our next move.”

“You mean Isaac figures it out,” Deb muttered. “While you go along with whatever your boy-toy decides.”

“This would be an excellent time for you to shut up.”

I turned to Lena. “To change the subject, how did you stay submerged for so long in the water out there?”

“I grew a hollowed wooden tube and used it like a snorkel.”

“Nice.”

Deb folded her arms and glared out the window, but she didn’t say anything more.

I rubbed my forehead. The Commandant of the Coast Guard had ordered his people to seek out these sirens, to kidnap them and destroy their homes, killing who knew how many in the process. He’d also sent them out to assess the vampires’ strengths and weaknesses.

Someone was using Vanguard to supply them with expendable lab rats.

I watched Deb for a while. She had connections in Vanguard, and she was certainly capable of selling people out. But her fury felt genuine, and she’d been telling the truth back at the airport. She wanted whoever was behind this as much as I did.

Thomas Hayes had ordered the Coast Guard’s assault, but who had infiltrated Vanguard? Who was passing along Porter information and equipment? Who coordinated the attacks in Lansing and elsewhere?

My thoughts kept circling toward Senator Alexander Keeler. In addition to chairing the Joint Committee on Magical Security, Keeler served on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, reviewing and approving military spending. How many high-ranking contacts had he made in his years on that subcommittee?

He’d also summoned any number of Porters to testify in D.C. How many of his questions had been for the public record, and how many had been his way of probing our attitudes and beliefs, searching for someone who would be sympathetic to his goals?

Perhaps someone like Babs Palmer.

My jaw was clenched so tightly my teeth were starting to hurt. I forced myself to relax. “Wake me up when we reach Virginia.”

I woke up four times: twice from nightmares, another time when Lena hit the brakes to keep from hitting a deer, and finally when my tooth beeped with an incoming call.

“Hitto soikoon!” I swore, repeating one of my grandfather’s favorite Finnish exclamations. “All right, I’m awake. Who’s this?”

“I’ve been asked to help investigate a possible Vanguard attack on three Coast Guard vessels earlier tonight.”

“Hi, Nicola.” I sat up and rubbed my neck, trying to work some of the stiffness out. “How’s life in D.C.?”

“Aggravating. According to your staff, you left New Millennium for an unscheduled weekend in Michigan.”