Chasing Constellations (The UGS Constellation Series)

by HA Fortman

  He nearly dropped the plate of what he hoped was edible food and the glass of water, he brought to Elisa when he heard the detective clear his throat and nervously begin picking at lint that wasn’t on his black slacks.

  “Elise, I have to ask this and I’m really not sure how to. Hell, I don’t even want to but I know I have to.” David said as he allowed his eyes to beseech Chase before turning back to Elisa. “Do you know who Sandy Constance is?”

  “Yes. She’s my best friend. Why? Has something happened to her? David, what’s going on?” Chase quickly set his dishes on the table beside Elisa and swept her up into his lap once again, he could tell by the look David gave him that Elisa wasn’t going to like this. Whatever it was, Elisa was tense as a strung bow and Chase did whatever he could to calm her down.

  “She’s been kidnapped. Her ex hasn’t been seen. A detective in Detroit called me since you’re her emergency contact she has listed everywhere. I’m sorry Elisa. They don’t know what happened to her.” David said as he reached out and clutched Elisa’s hand.

  Chase tightened his arms around her and glared at David. He knew the man wasn’t responsible, but he had brought more bad news to the girl and he wanted to try and comfort her however he could. “What do you know Detective?”

  “We don’t know much, just that she was taken and a call placed to her parents demanding the return of one Elisa Jones.”

  “I see. Elisa is not leaving here Detective. She’s not safe traveling that far and definitely not alone… not as some bargaining chip to be traded callously.” Chase said as he wrapped one arm around Elisa’s waist while the other guided her head to his shoulder. The silent tears were killing him, but he didn’t know what else to do to comfort her as he’d never been in such a situation.

  “I wouldn’t dream of using her like that. The detective in Michigan just wanted to pass it on. They’re doing everything they can to find her.” David’s eyes showed just how much it tore him up to tell them, but he needed her to know what was going on.

  “Chase, I will go track this friend of hers. If I can get an image of what she looks like and where she was taken from I should be able to find her. You know I am this girl’s best chance; I am the best tracker we have. If there is any trace of her I will return her to Elisa.” Tracker stepped forward and reached out to rest his hand on Elisa.

  Chapter 17

  To say that she was in shock and devastated by the news would be like saying Elisa was a fluffy marsh mellow bunny. She couldn’t believe that her friend was missing, never mind that Sandy had been kidnapped. She was so in shock that she had stopped paying attention to the men around her until Chase’s face loomed in front of her. She blinked and checked around her before returning to the man kneeling before her.

  When had he grabbed her hands? She wasn’t sure, but she gave him as brave a smile as she could while fighting rioting emotions. Elisa nearly started blushing when she realized that all three men were staring at her as though she were a piece of priceless and fragile artwork.

  “We will get her back for you Elisa. You know that we will and we will not stop until she is sitting here beside you.” Chase said as he gave her clammy hands a tight squeeze, putting everything he could into his words until Elisa gave him a hesitant nod.

  “I know Chase. I’m just… with everything else that’s happened today I’m not sure how to process this as well. We need to focus on getting this bastard off of the streets as soon as we can so we can go off after Sandy and bring her home.” Elisa hoped the trembling of her voice wasn’t too awfully noticeable but she knew she wouldn’t be able to hide all of it.

  Movement out of the corner of Elisa’s eyes brought her attention to Tracker as he knelt down beside Chase. However, he was smart enough not to touch her when he heard the soft rumble of the other man’s growl. Apparently, Chase was already highly possessive of her, and while it shouldn’t, it did bring a small swell of excitement.

  “I will go after your friend Elisa, while you and Chase stay here and try to capture his brother. Do not worry about her, she will be safely returned to you before you are aware of her even being gone.” Tracker spoke the words as though they were a vow he would give to his Gods and he meant every single word.

  When Elisa gave him a brief but grateful smile in return to his kind words, Tracker stood and moved to the bags that were still sitting in the far corner. She wasn’t sure what all he had in them but, honestly, she didn’t really care at this point in time.

  Tracker turned and placed one of the bags beside Chase before moving to whisper something to him to which Chase nodded in return. Her brows furrowed together in confusion as he stood and both men walked out the front door. Before the door closed fully she heard their soft voices murmuring, but was unable to tell what was said.

  “David, do you think he can do it?” Elisa said as she turned her attention back to the detective still sitting in the recliner beside her.

  The man lifted his shoulders in a shrug as he scooted until he was just barely balanced on the edge of the chair. “I don’t know, Elisa. I hope so though. Chase seems to think so and he’s known Tracker longer than either of us, or so it seems.

  “Right now I need to focus on this dirt bag that’s killing people. I can’t tell you much, but there’s been another murder, you’ll find out about it as soon as you read tomorrow’s paper. She’s almost a spitting image of you and if I were smarter I’d place you in protective custody, and with the attack I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s targeting you intentionally. I just don’t know why.”

  “We need to stop him, David. Chase and I were talking about it and we think it’d be a good idea to use me as bait. We can set up the house to capture evidence and I can make a statement with the news about how I was attacked by someone and managed to survive. I’m betting he was expecting me to die from that beating. And honestly, if it weren’t for Chase I probably would have!” As she spoke, Elisa was unable to prevent the shudder that wracked her body. Thankfully, she didn’t have to try to hide it as Chase walked back into the house quietly.

  It was almost as though he was attuned to her in such a way that he felt her distress and came back to her. As soon as he returned, he picked her up effortlessly and sat once more with her in his lap. “It would behoove us all to catch him Detective and the best way would be to antagonize him into foolishly make another attempt on Elisa’s life. She won’t be alone, I will be here, but hidden the whole time. You can station your men around the perimeter and wait for him to show up. We will make it as safe for my Anare as possible.”

  “I should clear this with my Captain, and I don’t like the idea of using Elisa as bait. But… and I mean but, I agree that it might be our only chance. We haven’t found anything that we can use to figure out a pattern here. At least nothing that’ll help us with catching him.” David said as he leaned back against the seat and sighed, dragging his hands across his face tiredly. It was clear the man hadn’t been getting enough sleep. “IF we do this, we do it my way. Otherwise, I’m taking Elisa and locking her into protective custody and you’ll never see each other again. Understood?” David’s eyes shot each of them with anger, and though Elisa knew it wasn’t directed at her she still shrank against Chase’s side.

  “Very well, but I will be here to help. I may not be one of your officers, but I do have experience apprehending individuals and I will not be away from Elisa’s side. You may not see me, but I will be there. I will not leave her unprotected. Otherwise, I will take her and leave and you will never see her again.” As he said this, Chase’s arms tightened once more around Elisa and making it hard for her to breathe.

  Finally, she had enough of their posturing and jerked to her feet, his hands fisted on her hips as she glared from one male to the other, “Enough! I will not be some bone for you two to fight over! Get your testosterone in check and deal with this like adults!

  “I don’t want to be bait, believe me, I don’t, but I understand that this is the best w
ay. Heck, I suggested it first! David will set up what he needs to do with the police and Chase and Tracker, if he’s still here; will do what they need to do. We’ll contact the newspapers and set up a time to do the interviews for this week. I suggest we do it so that only one or two papers release their story instead of everything being thrown out there at once, maybe a different angle each time? That way it’s sure to piss him off to no end and really entice him into coming after me again. Is that good with both of you?”

  As she spoke both men nodded, they may not have liked the idea as a whole, but they couldn’t really say she didn’t have fire they hadn’t seen before.

  Slowly getting to his feet and wrapping her in his embrace, Chase was noticed the faint tremors that wracked her slight body. “The Detective and I will work out details, do not fear Anare. Why do you not go back and try to get some more sleep. Are you in need of your medication? Why do you not eat and take them, then go rest?”

  Elisa let her hands drop from her hips before shaking her head in amazement at the way Chase seemed to be able to read her. She was hurting and didn’t want to show any weakness, but at the same time she didn’t want to miss out on the planning stages.

  “You’re right, I should probably try to get some more sleep, but I’m not hungry. I ache, but it’s not enough to need some of the pain meds. Just… try to work together ok? I don’t want to hear you two argue anymore. I just want to catch him and get it over with.” Elisa leaned into Chase, resting her head against his chest as she said this. It took a lot for her to voice these concerns, but there were so many others she didn’t want to say. Never mind the fear that her best friend would never be found and returned safely.

  “That reminds me, David. Why did the detective call you and not me about Sandy?” His words stopped Elisa cold in her tracks as she started to remove herself from Chase’s lap. Instead of moving to go lay down, she paused and turned slightly to David and waited for an answer.

  Looking completely uncomfortable with the question, David turned to Chase before looking at the floor. He did everything he could to keep from looking at her as he said, “The reason they know she was kidnapped is because the man that took her called her brother and told them that unless you returned to Michigan and stopped helping us, they would start to send her out here… one piece at a time.”

  Elisa’s gasp was buried beneath Chase’s cry of outrage at the news. She was shocked when Chase dropped her onto the couch next to where he was and ran out the door bellowing for Tracker to get back in here as fast as he could. When both men came charging into the house like rampant rhino’s on a stampede she cringed and almost expected to be bowled over even though she was still perched precariously on the couch.

  “You say ‘they’ Detective. Who is ‘they’?” Chase demanded as soon as he came to a stop, his eyes on Tracker the whole time.

  “For that matter, how did he know he was your brother Chase? I didn’t even know until after the attack! And I never said that he was your brother when I told him what happened.” Elisa said as she turned toward David after mentally going over the story in her mind once more. She really didn’t recall telling him that little tidbit and it concerned her for Chase’s safety.

  “I said ‘they’ because it’s obvious there are two of them, the killer can’t be in two places at once. We had another murder and with the girl being kidnapped happened just hours before your friend was taken and that’s too close together for there to be just one person. As for his being Chase’s brother? Chase was here or at the hospital with you, therefore he couldn’t have killed the recent victim. Plus, we have this…” David said as he reached into his inner pocket, making Elisa wonder just how deep the thing was.

  But instead of pulling out the ever present black notebook, David surprised them all by pulling out a small vial with a shiny gold liquid. Elisa’s curiosity was peaked when both Chase and Tracker gasped as soon as they saw what was in the other man’s hand. “What? What is it? Hey guys? You’re worrying me. What’s in the bottle?”

  “Besides the fact that with each photo you showed us of Chase and the man at the crime scenes after they were done gathering evidence where each man had a different eye color, we pulled this off of the latest murder. When your Chase was arrested and brought in for booking, they did the usual fingerprinting and photographing. But on a hunch I had them pull DNA samples, or try to at least. The funny thing is… Only the photographs were any good. The fingerprints were smudged as though he didn’t have any fingerprints. There wasn’t any way for them to pull DNA even though with the way he was fighting the cuffs he should have left blood all over the bracelets, there wasn’t any.

  “However, at the last scene there was a small puddle of this on the ground. Now we’ve run it through every test we can and it keeps coming up as unknown liquid, but it has the markers of being someone’s blood. Perhaps you two would like to tell me what it is?” While he was speaking Elisa was unable to pull her eyes away from the contents sloshing about in the small bottle. It drew her attention over and over again, no matter how many times she tried to look away.

  It was almost as though the liquid was a dangling watch used to hypnotize people. Elisa was unable to tear her eyes from the thick liquid that slipped from one side to the other slowly as David dangled it from thumb and finger, rattling it from side to side. No matter how fast he moved the bottle back and forth, the liquid inside refused to move any faster than the slow glide from one side to the other and back again.

  The frustrated sigh from behind Elisa was enough to finally pull her attention from the viscous liquid. When she turned to see who had heaved it with such a disgusted air, she noticed Chase and Tracker eyeing it with trepidation.

  “It is blood. Normally it would have not been found as it tends to… degenerate rapidly. Which makes catching someone of our… unique qualities all the harder to catch.” While he didn’t mention anything about the prints the police took, he did seem rather reluctant to impart that little bit of knowledge.

  “I see.” That was all David said as he looked between the two men and the bottle in his hand before tucking it back into that black hole of infinite holding inside his jacket. He patted it once to assure it was safely ensconced in the dark fabric before he turned his attention back to Chase and Tracker. “What are your plans for getting Sandy back?”

  “Tracker is going to go to her place of residence, her employer, and where she usually goes for recreation.” Elisa watched as Chase began to pace slowly as he talked, his body moving in a graceful prowl that had her clenching her thighs tightly together.

  “She doesn’t work so that won’t be an issue. And she usually hangs out at either the library or the Diner. I can give Tracker the addresses for those and her home, as well as her sister’s and mother’s.” Elise hung her head and ran her fingers through her hair. She still couldn’t believe this was happening. “Why would they take her? Why me for that matter?! I had only just talked to the police and a day later I get attacked? It just doesn’t make sense!”

  “Yes, it does Anare.” Chase’s softly spoken words drew Elisa out of her rant, stopped the panic before it could get a firm foothold inside of her.

  “What… what do you mean Chase? What’s going on? Please. I need to know!” Elisa whispered as she moved closer to him, tilted her head and beseeched him with her very being.

  Stunned at his next move, Elisa watched as he dropped slowly to his knees before her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “You are my life. The very reason I breathe and I will do anything in my power to keep you here with me.”

  “How can I be Chase? We just met days ago. You don’t even know me!”

  “Yes, I do Anare. I know you because I have seen you and watched you for years. This is not our first time on our planet, nor is it the only time we’ve been here in this time. I have seen you in my dreams both as I slept and while awake. I have felt you against my soul as I waited for the day we would meet. As soon as I saw you standing so def
iantly in the station I knew who you were. I knew you were mine and I knew I would die to protect you.” She wasn’t sure what to say to Chase’s declaration since it was something she really didn’t expect to hear.

  “I know you don’t believe me, but we are born knowing who our Anare could be. I have dreamt of you, but I never knew your face until that day I accidentally fell into you when I was trying to get you to listen to me. I know you felt it too. Each time we touch there is a spark that drives me insane with the need to be inside you. It is all I can do to keep from throwing you to the floor and ravaging you so deliciously over and over again.” She felt Chase tighten his arms around her waist as he hugged her tightly.

  Shocked didn’t even begin to cover her riotous feelings that coursed through her body, but she felt the truth ringing in his words. Before she had a chance to say anything he continued, “He knows because we are twins. As soon as I felt that spark of recognition he felt it as well and began hunting you down. You would have died had I not felt a tremor and a need to find you that could not be denied.”

  “So what… you have some hoodoo voodoo thing that lets you know when I’m hurt?” She was trying to understand, she really was, but this was so far out of her depth, even beyond what she expected that she couldn’t keep the skepticism out of her voice.

  “That and I have a cortex recorder in you. It helps to keep track of your body functions, among other things.” He was looking at her like a little kid having been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It looked rather adorable the way he hunched his shoulders up into his ears and smiled sheepishly up at her. That is, until his words registered.

  Chapter 18

  “Wait, back up. You put what in me? Where? What does it do? Why would you…?” She paused and closed her eyes as she took a deep, fortifying breath before understanding dawned on her, “You did it to protect me didn’t you? Even then, you knew what I was. And while we’re on ‘what’, mind telling me exactly what ‘Anare’ is and why you keep calling me that?”