by I. T. Lucas
He parked right in front of the store, but instead of getting out and ordering them coffees, he reached for his duffle bag and pulled out a laptop.
Apparently, a cappuccino wasn’t in Peter’s near future, and the only reason Emmett had stopped next to the Starbucks was to use their free Wi-Fi.
Was he checking flight schedules?
Peter couldn’t see the screen because he’d been ordered not to move, and he couldn’t ask because he’d been ordered not to talk. But Emmett had allowed him to look his way, so maybe he could use it as a loophole. The guy hadn’t specified which part of him Peter was allowed to gaze at, which meant that he could look at Emmett’s hands as he typed away on his laptop.
One thing was obvious, his abductor wasn’t looking for flights. Given the volume of typing, he was composing an email, and his pinched expression indicated that it was important.
Who could he be sending an email to, though?
Perhaps to a member of his Safe Haven inner circle?
Peter’s greatest fear was that Emmett would share what he had learned from him, but he wouldn’t do that with anyone in Safe Haven, and he had escaped his immortal community before there was an internet, so he couldn’t have their email address.
But what if he did?
Thinking back to what he had told Emmett, there was nothing that his people could use to find the clan. Emmett hadn’t asked him for specific locations. So far, he seemed most interested in the activation of Dormants, which according to him, his people didn’t know how to do or couldn’t because their venom was different.
It took the guy nearly an hour to compose his email, and after sending it, he slumped in his chair, looking exhausted as if he’d just run a marathon.
A long moment later, he turned the engine on and eased out of the parking spot. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you coffee from a place that has a drive-through. In fact, I’m going to take very good care of you. You are my most valuable possession.”
Stunned, Peter couldn’t even lift a brow in response.
Slanting a look at him, Emmett smiled. “You can talk now, only quietly, and you can move, but don’t touch the doors, the steering wheel, or anything else on the dashboard.”
“What do you mean, I’m your most valuable possession? You said that you were going to let me go.”
“I can no longer do that, Peter. I’m sorry. You are the key to my people’s future. You can activate our Dormants, saving us from extinction.”
That wasn’t happening. “You ran away, and now you plan on going back and taking me with you?”
“I have to. I left because there was no future for me in my tribe. I couldn’t father long-lived children with anyone but a pure-blooded female, and I rarely received an invitation because they had enough pure-blooded males to service them. We don’t have enough people to ensure genetic diversity either, and without you, we will eventually die out. But you can activate the children who otherwise would have been human, giving my people new hope. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t bring home our only salvation.”
“I won’t cooperate.” Peter crossed his arms over his chest. “You can’t force me to breed with your females.”
Emmett’s smile was cold. “I can force you to do whatever I want, and that makes me most valuable to my leader. For some reason, my compulsion ability is stronger than even that of the pure-bloods.” He sighed. “If I bring the solution to my leader’s biggest problem, she will welcome me with open arms instead of killing me on the spot for betraying her.” He turned to look at Peter. “Maybe if you breed with her, her male offspring will be born with your type of venom, and they will become the activators. Then we could let you go.”
Imagining the head of Emmett’s tribe as a giant queen bee, Peter’s lips twisted in a grimace. “Is that what your email was about?”
“When I left thirty years ago, there was no internet, but I’m confident that the business enterprise my people ran back then is still under their control. I sent the email to their current chief operating officer.”
“What if a human opens it?”
“Only my people will understand it. I wrote it in our language, using the English alphabet, and I included a pronunciation key.”
“With today’s technology, an intelligent computer will be able to decipher your email just from that. You sent it with a fucking Rosetta Stone.” Peter wasn’t sure about that, but it sounded plausible, and he wanted Emmett to sweat.
“I doubt it.” The guy didn’t seem worried. “Our language is very different than anything spoken by humans.”
56
Bowen
When the team assembled outside of Emmett’s cottage, Magnus turned to Jay. “Go back down and search the place for clues about Emmett and where he came from.”
“I’m on it.” Jay went back inside.
“I can help him,” Eleanor offered.
As her stomach growled, Magnus waved his hand. “You need to eat. Go get something from the kitchen. Elliot, go to Emmett’s office in the main lodge and search for clues there.”
“Do you want me to take his computer?”
“Good idea. Bring it out to the fire engine but cover it with something so people won’t ask questions.”
“They will notice the computer missing,” Eleanor said.
Magnus shrugged. “They will assume that Emmett took it when he ran away.” He turned to Bowen. “Your job is to find out the make and model of Emmett’s car, and if you can, the license plate. Also, find out if his car is the only one missing, and if he could’ve taken another vehicle. Text me the information as soon as you get it, and then come to the kitchen. After I report to Turner and Kian, I’ll join you there as well.”
“What about me?” Elliot asked. “I’m hungry.”
“When you are done, you can come to the kitchen.”
“We need to keep the people out on the front lawn until we are done searching.” Magnus looked at Bowen. “Find who is in charge and have her or him compile a list of everyone’s names and check that they are out on the lawn. That should keep them busy for a while.”
“Yes, sir.”
Bowen headed for the front lawn, where everyone was waiting for the green light to come back inside. He needed to find a staff member who worked in the office and had access to the car insurance files. The license plate number should be found in those.
Murmurs started as people saw him coming out of the lodge, and as he crossed the gate and stood in front of the gathered crowd, one of the guests asked, “Is the fire contained?”
“Everything is under control. There were two small gas leaks that caused minor explosions, and we sealed them up.”
“Is it safe to go back inside?” asked a woman dressed in Safe Haven’s official colors.
“First, we need to determine that no one is missing. I need someone from the administration.”
“I’m Riley Greger,” the woman said. “I’m the office manager.”
She looked the part, managing to appear professional even though she was dressed like all the other staff members in white and pastels. Her hair was styled in a neat updo, her white slacks were ironed, and she wore a white cardigan that looked like a suit jacket over a light-blue blouse.
“I’m Bowen.” He offered her his hand. “I need you to appoint someone to count heads and make sure that everyone is accounted for before we can let people go back to their rooms, and then I need you to come with me.”
She nodded and turned around. “Stacy, can you count everyone? We had eighty-four guests in the retreat and there are one-hundred seventy-nine community members.”
“Emmett is not here,” Stacy said.
“I’m aware of that. Let me know if anyone else is missing.”
As they started walking, Riley shook her head. “He chose a really bad time to leave without telling anyone.”
“Do you have his cell phone number?”
“I’ve already tried to call him. He didn’t answer.”
She looked up at him. “Why do you need to know that?”
“We have reason to suspect that the gas leaks were sabotage. We need to talk to Emmett and make sure that he is okay.” He reached into her mind and planted worry about her leader.
“He drives a Corvette. It’s bright blue.”
Using a car like that as an escape vehicle was like painting a target on its roof that could be seen from a satellite.
“Are there any other vehicles he might have taken instead?”
She shook her head. “Other than Emmett’s car, the only vehicles we own are two buses.”
A guy like him wouldn’t use the community’s bus as his escape vehicle.
“Do you have the Corvette’s license plate number written down somewhere?”
“It’s EMMETWAY, Emmett with one T.”
“That makes it easy.” Bowen pulled out his phone and texted the information to Magnus. “That’s all I need for now. I want you to go into your office and print out the names of all the guests and permanent residents. Take it outside and put a checkmark next to each one that’s accounted for. Once everyone is marked as present, you can let them back inside. When it’s all done, bring me the list.”
“What if someone is missing? I heard people looking for Devlin.”
“We know where he is. But if anyone else is missing, let me know.”
She nodded. “I hope that Emmett is okay.”
“I’m sure he is.”
Not for long, though, and he was not coming back to Safe Haven. Hopefully, Riley was as capable as she seemed and could manage the place without him. If not, Kian might have to send someone to oversee the transition and make sure that the replacement wasn’t worse than Emmett.
That was always the risk with overthrowing a leader, even one that was corrupt. The successor might do much worse to assert his or her power.
“I’m worried,” Riley said. “What if something has happened to him?”
“Can you or anyone else run this place in his absence?”
She nodded. “I’ve been running the day-to-day operations for years. Emmett is our spiritual leader, and he supervises what we do, but if need be, we can hold the fort until his return.”
Wondering how much she knew about the activities that had been taking place in her leader’s underground, he put his hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes. “Tell me, Riley. Did you know what Emmett was doing in his basement?”
Smiling, she nodded. “He has a voracious sexual appetite, of which he makes no secret. But I assure you that all the participants were of legal age and wanted to be there. Safe Haven’s philosophy is free and non-exclusive love that is shared among all members. Every member of this community is aware of it and accepts it.”
“What about the drugs?”
She frowned. “What drugs? We don’t even allow alcohol in our community.”
“Didn’t it strike you as strange that Emmett’s sex partners needed a day off to recuperate?”
“Who told you that?”
“Answer my question.”
Riley shrugged. “Being with Emmett is more than a physical experience, it’s spiritual, uplifting, perception changing, and it brings about a natural high. I’ve shared his bed on many occasions, so I speak from personal experience. Being with him can’t compare to anything else.” Her eyes shone with fervor. “It’s life-altering.” And then the tears started. “What are we going to do without him? He’s Safe Haven’s heart.”
Bowen patted her arm awkwardly. “It’s going to be difficult, but you are a capable woman, and your people need a leader.”
“Yes, they do.” She wiped the tears away and smiled. “I’ll do my best, but I hope that it won’t be necessary because Emmett will come back.”
57
Margaret
“How are you feeling?” Shirley asked when Margaret opened her eyes.
“I’m thirsty.”
“Let me see if they have water in here.” She got up and started opening cabinets. “Yep, they do.”
She unscrewed the cap. “I’m going to lift your head a little. Don’t move anything else.”
“Okay.”
Margaret drank slowly, and after a few sips, Shirley took the bottle away. “That’s enough for now. If you can hold it down, I’ll give you more in a little bit.”
“That’s okay. I’m not nauseous. Do you happen to have some perfume in your bag?”
Shirley smirked. “Do you want to smell nice for the hunky firefighter?”
“I just don’t want to smell of puke.”
“I don’t, but I think I’ve seen an air freshener in one of the drawers. I could spray you with that.”
Margaret grimaced. “No, thank you. I don’t want to smell like vomit and a bathroom.”
She closed her eyes, trying to recall the firefighter’s features. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and he had nice lips, but what she remembered the most was his voice. He’d sounded kind, compassionate.
“Given the dreamy look on your face, you are either thinking about Bowen or flying high.”
“Both,” Margaret admitted.
Shirley was relatively new, so hopefully she didn’t know about Margaret’s history with opioids. It wasn’t something she liked to share with others, even though she was supposed to share everything about herself. Emmett had agreed that who she’d been in her previous life should be buried, and that she should make a fresh start as a new person.
“I wonder what he looks like under those fireman's coveralls and coat.” Shirley sighed. "I bet he’s ripped. It’s a shame he is not going to hang around long enough for me to issue him an invitation.”
“Hands off,” Margaret heard herself say. “He’s mine.”
What the hell had just left her mouth?
Shirley snorted. “Tsk, tsk, Margaret, feelings of possessiveness are not Emmett’s Way. But I forgive you because you are drugged and not thinking straight.”
That’s right, she wasn’t. It was the fireman allure, and the fact that he’d helped when she was helpless and in a world of pain.
As if summoned by their conversation, Bowen climbed into the back of the ambulance. “How are you doing?” He leaned over her.
A strangled groan escaped Margaret’s throat.
He’d removed his mask and his helmet, and his face was the most beautiful she’d ever seen on a man. Bowen’s eyes were hazel brown and warm, and his lips were just as she’d remembered them, made for kissing.
Damn, even Emmett couldn’t hold a candle to Bowen, and she used to think that he was gorgeous. Emmett’s face was mostly hidden by his facial hair, which was lustrous and so very soft to the touch, but it made it impossible to tell whether his jaw was as square and as masculine as Bowen’s, and his eyes and lips weren’t as perfect as the handsome fireman’s for sure.
“You are in pain.” Bowen turned to Shirley. “She needs another morphine shot.”
“No, she doesn’t. She should be good for another couple of hours. But you really need to take her to the hospital. Are there any other severe injuries that need to be seen by a doctor?”
“Not that we know of. They are counting heads now to make sure that no one is missing.”
“I need my documents,” Margaret said. “I can’t go to the hospital without my ID and insurance card. I need my purse.”
“I’ll get it for you,” Bowen offered. “You only need to tell me your room number.”
“I’ll do it.” Shirley pushed to her feet. “There are no numbers on the doors in the community building, but I know where her room is.” She leaned over Margaret and winked. “The nice fireman is going to keep you company until I return.” She turned to look at Bowen. “Will you stay with my friend until I come back?”
“Of course.”
“See ya later.” Shirley jumped down.
“Thank you for coming to check on me,” Margaret said.
&nb
sp; “No need to thank me.” His eyes shifted to the brace. “Are you really okay? No pain?”
“No pain. I’m just groggy from the morphine shot.”
“I’m amazed at how fast it worked.” He sat on the bench and leaned forward.
“You’ve never seen anyone getting it?”
“No. I’m usually nowhere near the ambulance, so I don’t know what goes on in here.”
That was odd. As far as she knew, firefighters were first responders, and as part of their certification, they also received advanced medical training. Bowen should know the effects of morphine even if he wasn’t a paramedic.
“You said that they are counting everyone. Did you happen to see Emmett?”
“He’s not here.”
Panic washing over her, Margaret tried to sit up, but Bowen was incredibly fast, stopping her with a hand on her chest. “You shouldn’t move.”
“Oh, my God. Is he missing?”
58
Bowen
Bowen debated how much to tell Margaret.
She would find out sooner or later that Emmett wasn’t coming back, but she seemed so distraught over his absence that he considered lying to her about the why of it. He could tell her a story that would put her beloved leader in a better light, maybe he had been called away to take care of his ailing mother or something along those lines.
Except, Margaret was looking at him with those big brown eyes of hers, and he felt compelled to tell her the truth, or as much of it as he could without revealing that Emmett wasn’t human, or the reason he had kidnapped Peter.
“Emmett is not coming back. He had done some bad things, and he escaped. Someone else will need to take over for him and run the community.”
Margaret frowned. “What bad things?”
“Drugs, orgies.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You are not really a firefighter, are you?”
“I’m not.”
