His smile faded, his expression turning more serious. “I’ve seen how you take everyone and everything under your wing. I just want you to be realistic about what we may find.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, hunching his shoulders. “If it works the same way in this world as it does in the regular one . . . we may not find those kids alive. Or at all. Are you prepared for that?”
Swallowing hard, I answered carefully. “I know. I’ve thought about that since the moment Arella told me about it. I still have to try, though. If there’s even the slightest chance . . .” Tears sprang to my eyes and my throat closed up to the point that I couldn’t finish.
He reached over and grabbed my hand. Without thinking, I squeezed his and then froze, staring down at our linked hands, then quickly back up at him. He was every bit as shocked as I was. Tess, noticing we’d stopped, turned back and gaped as what was happening—or rather not happening—registered with her. Cappy, still several steps ahead on the maze of docks and boats, slowed down uncertainly, looking confused.
“Is there a problem?” he asked hesitantly.
Rand answered, his eyes not leaving mine. “No problem at all.” The slow, sexy smile he gave me nearly curled my toes right then and there. I felt smug satisfaction coming from my bracelet and sent it a silent thank you. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tess take Cappy’s arm and motion for him to continue on.
My mind whirled as we walked, so astounded by the fact that I could touch Rand again, that I barely noticed as Cappy and Tess slowed to a stop at the end of the dock.
“Welcome aboard the Sea Witch,” Cappy announced proudly. He gave us a moment to stare before he ushered us onto the large deck. Rand helped me step over from the dock, not relinquishing my hand for more than the few seconds it took for him to follow me.
“Um, Jeremy, I thought you said this was a little boat?” This thing had to be at least thirty or forty feet long. I had been expecting . . . well, I didn’t know exactly what I’d been expecting, but this wasn’t it.
He snickered. “Dis is da little boat. Dat o’er der is da big ‘un.” Our gazes followed his, to where several larger yachts were tied up. Squinting, I could just make out one that had Sea Witch II across the back of the hull.
“Why would Stella have two, what are these, yachts?”
“If I might answer that one,” Cappy said with a respectful bob of his head to Jeremy. “Yer aunt, she used ta go out quite often, back in her, er, younger days. She entertained on ‘em a lot, too. Even after she became more . . . reclusive . . . she still had me ta keep up on her boats for her. She told me ta trade out the old ones for these, just in the last coupla’ years, but she only ever stepped foot on ‘em once. She never even had me take her out on ‘em. Last year, she sold half o’ that big one across the marina there ta Jeremy, here, but I still captain it for him. And for you, should ya be needing me ta.”
So technically, I only owned one and a half boats. Still . . . I shook my head, trying to absorb it all. “How long have you worked for my aunt?”
“Oh, maybe about forty years or so now. My da, he captained for her before me.”
I wondered if he had paranormal roots or if he was human. He wasn’t a shifter, I could tell that much. Then I remembered I couldn’t see Clyde or Dutch’s animal side, either, so maybe Cappy was like them. Wouldn’t he be younger, though?
He’s part leprechaun. Less than a quarter, so he doesn’t have the longevity most of his kind normally have. His father retired when he was about one hundred years old and he still accompanies both his sons out on the water for short trips.
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I filed the information away until I had time to process it.
Cappy gave us a few moments to explore the boat. There was a generous seating and entertaining area here on the upper level. Rand and I followed Tess down to the lower level and just stood there for a moment, taking it all in. There wasn’t a ton of room to move around, but there was a kitchenette and a seating area with panoramic views.
“Oh. My. Gosh. Come take a look, you two.” Tess’s hushed awe brought us over to an open doorway. We stepped into a fairly large bedroom with gorgeous wood walls, built in cupboards, and tons of shelves. There was even a skylight above the bed. Tess had already rushed over to open a door on the left side of the room. “It’s a bathroom. A little on the smallish side, maybe, but still.” I peeked around her to see an odd looking toilet. Rand nudged me.
“That’s the head. The shower is over on the starboard side.” He nodded to the door on the right.
We explored my ‘little boat’ for another fifteen minutes, talked to Cappy for a bit, and then, after getting a text from Sam informing us she had just pulled into the resort, we headed back to the restaurant, leaving Cappy to his own devices on the boat. Rand's hand didn’t leave mine the whole way.
Back at the restaurant, Jeremy downloaded the app for the video he had recorded earlier onto our phones, promising to forward any further activity. Sam and the horse shifters watched the video Jeremy had shown us earlier. Jeremy, Rand, and I were the only ones who would have recognized the person in the video, so it didn’t mean much to them.
As soon as the short clip was done, Sam pulled a small plastic bag out of her attaché. “We stopped at Merv’s on the way here. He found this hidden under the rear bumper of the Jeep. Clyde removed it. He says he doesn’t sense any magick on it, but that you might want to double check.”
Taking the bag, I held it up. It contained a small, black piece of metal about the size of my thumb nail. Reaching for my magick, I studied it through the clear plastic. Finally, I shook my head.
“I don’t sense anything, either. But at least we know how Danai and Tess were followed.” That didn’t explain how the witches had known where to set up the trap, though, especially since Danai had only just gotten back into town that day. Were we being watched somehow, and if so, for how long? “We need to check the rest of the vehicles over.”
“Merv and Dutch went over the truck back at his garage. Nothing,” Clyde said. “We’ll look the Hummer and Charger over as soon as we get back.”
“I’ll be happy to help look everything over. My unit worked with a few different types of trackers.” Rand put his hand on my shoulder and I covered it with my own. Sam blinked at us, clearly surprised. I smiled, shrugged, and pointed at my wrist. She nodded, a small ghost of a smile on her own lips, but I noticed her eyes looked wistful, and I immediately felt bad, knowing she was thinking about Leo.
“Thanks. We should head back and let Arella know what we’ve found so far.”
Jeremy looked up from the phones. “Why you no talk to ‘er ‘ere?”
Everyone in the small office went silent and looked at me. “Is there a way to reach her?” How would that even work? Did the water fae have waterproof cell phones?
Jeremy chuckled, opened his desk drawer, and pulled out a phone. His fingers flew over the virtual keyboard and I saw him hit send.
“Did you just text the water fae? From a burner phone?” Sam asked, her brow raised.
“Dey keeps a phone close to de shoreline an’ one of der peoples stays close by, jus’ in case. Dey gets de message to de queen.”
Faster than I expected, his phone chimed. He read it and then handed it to me. The message said someone would be here within twenty minutes. When I asked Jeremy about how that could be, he shrugged and told me that most water fae were incredibly fast in the water.
Sure enough, there was a knock on the office door—the one that led down to the water—sixteen minutes later, and Jeremy opened it to a bemused Dorn. He took in all the people in the small office and hesitated in the doorway. I carefully pushed past everyone and greeted him.
“Maybe we should do this outside,” I suggested. “It is a bit crowded in here.”
Relief flooded the water fae’s face. Once outside, I put a privacy bubble up around us and explained to Dorn what we’d found out so far. Tess handed him the list and he scoured
it. I bit my tongue short of asking how it was he could read.
“Did the children who disappeared receive any of these things?” I asked softly.
He looked up at me, then back down at the list. Finally, he pointed at something on the page. “This.” I leaned forward and saw the picture he indicated. It was a Nerf type of water blaster. Okay, I could see water fae children having fun with something like that. “This, as well.” He pointed at a remote control shark with a price tag of several hundred dollars. Thinking back to the ‘tithe’ they’d brought me, I guess it really shouldn’t surprise me that they had money to spend on things like this. “As for the rest of these things, I’m not sure. I will have to show the list to the parents of the missing children.”
“I’ll send this copy back with you to show the parents.” I went back into the office and grabbed the baggy with the tracker in it, holding it up to show him. “Look for anything that looks like this on or possibly even inside all of the things that were brought back to your colony.”
“What is it?”
Rand answered for me. “A device that sends out a signal showing its location. It’s called a tracking device. We think it’s possible something like this could have led whoever took the children to your colony. Then it was only a matter of watching and waiting for the right moment.”
Anger warred with disbelief across his face. “That?” He pointed to the tiny black piece of metal and plastic. “I do not understand.”
How could I explain technology I didn’t understand myself? I didn’t even know exactly how cell phones worked; I just knew they did. Maybe he would get that, too. “Do you know how cell phones work, Dorn?” I held mine up.
“They emit digitized voice through radio frequency waves at the speed of light to allow communication.”
Well, okay then. I felt kind of like I’d just lost on an episode of ‘Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader’—and I wasn’t the fifth grader. Plus, how did he know all that, but not know about GPS trackers? Rand let out a soft chuckle and it was all I could do not to elbow him in the ribs. “Yeah, that. That tracking device works kind of like a really tiny cell phone, sending out a signal to another device that can . . . find,” I had no idea if I was explaining this right, but I forged ahead anyway, “where the tracking device is. Even if it moves around.”
He nodded slowly. “I think I understand. I will go back and look for these . . . tracking devices. What should I do with any that are found.”
I looked back at Rand, then at Clyde. Again, Rand answered. “You could destroy them, but chances are it’s already too late. If any of them made it into your colony, your location is blown. We don’t know if the children were the actual targets or if they were taken just because the opportunity to do so was there. I would prepare your colony, just in case.”
Tess handed me several large Ziploc bags. I’d felt her pass through the privacy bubble when she’d gone back into the restaurant and grabbed them moments ago. Gently, I took the papers from Dorn and carefully sealed them in the bags. “This should keep them dry on your way back. We’ll need to know where your people have already searched. We have a couple of leads to follow up on before we start searching the coastline.” I handed the bags back to him.
“Do you have a map?” he asked, accepting them.
“Jeremy gots one. Jus’ a minute.” He hurried inside and reappeared moments later with a map and a marker. He spread the map out on a small picnic table off to the side of the doorway.
Dorn studied the map, looked out at the water, then back at the map. Unerringly, he put his finger on the spot where Jeremy’s was located. Tracing back to the inlet that led to the estate, he began circling areas. When he was done, he said, “We still have many small hunting parties out searching, but we have found nothing. Soon we will be moving away from the coastline and expanding further east and west.”
I studied the areas he’d marked. “Okay. We’ll have to figure out a way to keep each other updated so we’re not searching areas you’ve already covered. This is a start, though.”
“I will take these back to my people and begin searching for the devices.”
“You’ll need to be thorough,” Rand said. “They can easily be hidden in unlikely items. They’re often sewn into the hems of clothing.”
Dorn arched a brow at Rand and snapped his fingers. His clothing—similar to what we’d seen him in this morning—suddenly changed into something completely different. He now wore a long, loose robe.
“Can the shifters in your colony do that little trick, too?” Rand asked, crossing his arms.
With a frown, Dorn shook his head. “No. They do require clothing for their time on land. They rarely keep any at the colony, as it is not needed there, but I concede your point. I will make sure the search is thorough. Madame.” He gave me a curt bow. “I will take my leave.” Without another word, he made for the water, disappearing beneath the waves with a splash.
Sam turned to me. “So, what now?”
Instead of answering her, I held up a finger and motioned Jeremy over. “Are there any bird shifters here that you trust?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Maybes. Depends. Wit’ what?”
“I need someone fast, someone who can stay a step or three ahead of Margo so we can see if she can actually track the things that leave her shop.” And how far.
Rubbing his chin, he said, “Jeremy gots jus’ da one fer dat job.” He cackled, making both Sam and I jump. He rubbed his palms together. “Jeremy goin’ ta have fun wit’ dis.”
“Great. Have your person pick up the package waiting at the front desk of the law offices. If you’ll give me a name, I’ll tell Louise who to expect.”
We spent the next few minutes going over my idea, with Rand, Jeremy, and Sam adding to it. By the time we were done, I had to say I was impressed. Jeremy stepped to one side of our small group to make the call to his person.
“So how are we going to do this?” Tess asked. “Will we split up? Half of us watch Margo and the other half search for the missing water fae?”
Deflating a little, I said, “I’d rather not, but I think we’ll have to. I just wish we had a real direction to begin searching for them.”
“Jeremy’s peoples watch dat Margo an’ let you know what’s goin’ on. You jus’ find dem kids.” Jeremy may have stepped away, but he was still paying attention to our conversation.
“We need to go back to the estate and search the rest of the vehicles.” Clyde was right. Even though, as Rand had said earlier, the estate’s location was likely already known, we needed to be sure. “Dutch and I won’t be much good out on the water anyway.” That statement got all of our attention.
“What? Why not?” We all turned to the horse shifters.
Looking somewhat guilty, he gave me a sheepish grin. “We’ve just never done well on boats or planes. No idea why. If we can’t travel by road or over land, we don’t travel at all.”
I’d definitely come to depend on their steady presence more than I should have. Knowing I had to respond somehow, I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile. “We’ll be fine, I’m sure. I’ll feel better having you guys keep an eye on what’s going on here, anyway.”
Neither of the brothers looked overly convinced, but they nodded.
Alerts chimed on all of our phones and we looked at each other in momentary confusion. Rand was the first to open the app on his phone. “It looks like Jeremy’s lookout person just forwarded something.”
He held the phone up so we could both see. Tess did the same for Sam, as did Clyde and Dutch. The video showed Harris leaving Margo’s shop, clearly recognizable despite the ball cap he was wearing. He looked around nervously as he stepped out onto the sidewalk.
“Someone needs to follow him!” I hissed. Even if he didn’t have anything to do with the missing kids, I wanted to know what he was doing back here—and if he had his memories back.
“No worries, Jeremy gots dat covered. Ms. Roxanne will knows where he st
ay by de end of de day.” He motioned down to the phones and we all watched as the view suddenly changed to a split screen shot. On one half, the front of Margo’s shop was still visible. On the other half, there was a view of Harris’s back as he scurried around the corner, but whoever was filming this was right behind him and quickly closing the distance. The person must have been running, but the picture hardly reflected that, staying almost completely stable. A few seconds later, the person bumped into him, causing the ball cap to go flying. The screen showed a hand catching Harris’s arm, pulling him up from what might have been a nasty fall, then the camera angle dipped as the ball cap was picked up, dusted off, and handed back to an angry Harris. As if a switch had been flipped, there was suddenly audio.
“Sorry about that. I was looking the other way and didn’t see you there. Are you all right, mister?” The voice was male and didn’t have any definite accent from what I could tell, but he sounded younger.
Harris snatched the hat back, his expression indignant. “Get your filthy hands off of me! How could you not see me, you oaf? I’m the only person on this side of the street for nearly half a block.”
A pair of hands went up in a placating gesture. “Hey, I said I was sorry, man. I was just out for a run and I thought I saw someone I knew drive by. I only looked away for a second, no need to get upset. No one was hurt, buddy.”
“Hmmph! I’m not your buddy. Start watching where you’re going.” Harris took another wary look around, turned away, and stomped off as he settled his ball cap back on his head.
“Well, isn’t he a ray of freakin’ sunshine. Mission accomplished, boss,” the voice murmured, just before the camera shut off.
Suzette and Jeremy looked up from Jeremy’s phone. Suzette was grinning. “That sounds like Mac. He just put a tracker in that guy’s hat. So long as he doesn’t toss the hat, Jeremy’ll know where he’s at from this point on. Mac or one of the others will track him to wherever he’s staying and put another tracker in his wallet, his shoes, or whatever they think will be on him the most. They’ll also set up a camera or mic in his room and probably his car, if he’s got one. ”
MAKING MAGICKAL ALLIANCES: A Paranormal Women’s Fiction Novel Page 11
