by Tina Folsom
“It looks like it. Mendoza took Isabelle and was waiting for the man who hired him to take her off his hands, but when the guy showed up, he realized immediately that Mendoza got the wrong woman. He killed Mendoza and took Isabelle with him.”
“How do you know that?” Katie asked. Her heart beat as loud as a drum, and she knew the vampires in the room could hear it.
Blake motioned to Grayson. “We sent four of the hybrids to Mendoza’s house when we identified him from the surveillance video. The house was empty, but apparently Mendoza didn’t trust the man who’d hired him. He turned on a voice recorder before he let Forrester into the house. It recorded everything. The moment he saw Isabelle, he knew she wasn’t you. He killed Mendoza for his stupidity. But we know he’ll keep Isabelle alive.”
Katie swallowed hard. She knew exactly what that meant, even if Blake didn’t say it. “He’s going to want to do an exchange.”
Silence descended on the room. Nobody said anything. Nobody moved.
Luther’s voice cut through the quiet. “It won’t come to that. There’s another way.”
Katie lifted her lids to meet his gaze. “It’s my fault that he’s got Isabelle. I put her in danger. Had I not changed roles with her, this would have never happened. If I—”
“It doesn’t matter whose fault it was,” Luther interrupted. “I won’t allow an exchange. Once he’s got you, what’s to stop him from killing Isabelle anyway?” He shook his head and looked past her to the other men in the room. “We’ll find him. I know how.”
“And what do we tell Samson?” Wesley asked calmly.
“Nothing,” Blake said. He nodded to Grayson. “Are you with us?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“No.”
“Guess you have my answer then.” He took a step toward Luther, lifting his chin. “One false move, and you’re dust.”
Katie caught how Luther acknowledged the threat with a simple nod.
“How will we find Forrester?” Blake asked.
Suddenly Blake, Luther, and Grayson snapped their heads toward the door. A moment later, Katie heard it, too. A sound outside. Their sensitive vampire hearing had picked it up a few seconds earlier. Wesley drew his weapon, just as Blake and Grayson did, while Luther grabbed her and pushed her behind his back, shielding her from whatever was outside the door.
When the door opened, Katie peeked past Luther. Relieved, she went around him, though he tried to hold her back.
“I’m fine.” She pointed to the new arrival. “That’s John, he’s with them.”
The tall vampire with the southern accent stepped into the room, his eyes quickly scanning the room. Apparently satisfied with what he saw, he addressed Blake, “Somebody’s approaching.”
“Vampire?”
“Yeah.”
“That must be Striker,” Luther said. “He owns this cabin. I sent him out to get info on Forrester.”
John furrowed his forehead. “Are you talking about Striker Reed?”
“You know him?”
“I know of him.” John tossed his colleagues a sideways glance. “I’d suggest you lower your weapons, guys, because that dude is trigger happy, and if he finds you in his house uninvited and armed, he’ll shoot first and ask questions later.”
“Your friend has a point,” a voice came from the hallway behind them.
Katie spun around and stared right into their host’s glaring red eyes, a gun leveled at them.
Luther’s arms locked around her, pulling her into the protection of his body. “Striker, don’t!” Luther yelled. “They’re friends.”
“Then tell them to put down their weapons.”
“Guys, please,” Luther said over his shoulder, his arms still around her, pressing her against his warm body.
The gesture made her feel protected, and the knowledge that Luther’s first instinct had been to protect her, sent a pleasant tingle through her body.
Slowly she noticed Striker relax. Then he pulled one side of his mouth up. “When I said make yourself at home, Luther, I didn’t mean you could invite your friends for a party.”
Katie felt Luther’s muscles relax, but he didn’t let go of her. She was glad that he kept her in his embrace, giving her a chance to enjoy a few more moments of closeness.
“It was kind of last minute,” Luther said with a chuckle, “and a little unexpected. Not to say inconvenient.”
At his last words, Katie lifted her face and caught Luther’s gaze. Did he regret the interruption of their lovemaking as much as she did? The look in his eyes seemed to suggest it.
Striker approached, holstering his weapon at his belt. “Don’t you wanna introduce me?”
Luther released her from his embrace, albeit seemingly reluctantly. He motioned to the other men in the room. “These men work for Scanguards: meet Blake, Grayson, Wesley, and John.”
All the men nodded.
“This is Striker Reed. He was the council’s best tracker.”
“Still am,” Striker threw in and grinned. “I just don’t work for them anymore.”
“A tracker?” Katie asked.
“I find people,” Striker said cryptically.
“People who don’t want to be found,” Luther explained, turning to her. “Mostly escaped criminals. It’s one of the most dangerous jobs out there. There are few vampires who make the cut to be a tracker, and even fewer who want the job. Though I hear the council doesn’t take no for an answer when it sets its sights on a capable candidate.”
Striker pulled one side of his mouth up and tilted his head to the side. “Something like that.” Then he exchanged a look with Luther. “I have a location for you.”
30
Sitting in the back of Scanguards’ blackout SUV, Luther casually glanced over his shoulder. John and Grayson were following them in Katie’s Audi, which they had retrieved from the place in the woods where they’d left it behind. They’d ditched the stolen truck. Wesley was driving the SUV and Blake sat in the front passenger seat, his cell phone glued to his ear as if it were permanently attached. He’d been talking to headquarters since they’d left Striker’s cabin, conveying all the information to his team and receiving an update on what Scanguards had been able to find out on their own.
Next to Luther, Katie was sitting silently, her head leaning against his shoulder.
“You tired?” he murmured, keeping his voice low. With a little luck, Blake was too distracted by his phone call to listen in on their conversation, and Wesley didn’t have a vampire’s sensitive hearing.
“Just a little,” she admitted and snuggled closer to him.
He lifted his arm and put it around her, pulling her against his chest, inhaling the scent of her hair. “Sleep a few minutes. I’ll wake you when we get there.”
“I’m too agitated to sleep.”
She lifted her head from his chest. Even in the darkness her green eyes sparkled. Instinctively, he cupped her face with one hand and tilted her chin up, gazing into her emeralds. The temptation to kiss her was overwhelming, but he knew he couldn’t allow himself such intimacy in the presence of Katie’s brother and the vampire who seemed to carry a torch for her.
“I know,” he said instead. “We’ll find her, Katie, I promise you. You can count on Striker’s intel. If he says that Forrester was seen in the area just recently, then it’s the truth.”
“I just hope we’re not too late.”
He brushed his hand over her hair, caressing the soft strands. “He’s not stupid enough to kill her. She’s his bargaining chip to get to you. She’s safe as long as he doesn’t have you.”
And by God, he’d move heaven and earth to make sure Forrester didn’t get his hands on Katie.
“Luther?”
“Yes?”
“About earlier,” she started, hesitating.
He glanced to the front of the SUV, but Blake was still on the phone and Wesley seemed to be concentrating on driving.
He lowered his face to Katie�
��s, bringing his mouth close to her ear. “We’ll talk about it later.”
She gave a slow shake of her head. “I just want you to know that I regret nothing.” She took a breath of air. “And that I wish we hadn’t gotten interrupted. I wanted you to—”
He stopped her by putting a finger over her lips. “Don’t. Maybe it was better that they stopped me.”
Because if he’d bitten her, he would have gotten even deeper into this, whatever this was. And he knew he couldn’t get involved. He couldn’t make a commitment. Not even to a woman like Katie. No matter how much he was drawn to her. He would only hurt her in the end, just like he’d hurt Vivian, and just like Vivian had hurt him.
Katie’s hand curled around his wrist. “You don’t mean that.”
He sighed. “Katie, you don’t know me. I’m not the man you think I am.” He motioned toward Blake. “If you’re looking for something, you’d be better off with a guy who’s decent and… well, nice. I’m none of those things.”
“Decent? What does that really mean? We look at people and think they are good and decent, but once we dig under the surface, we see what they’re really like.”
“Katie, I was in prison for twenty years, for a crime I committed, a crime against innocents. I’m not a choirboy.”
“You saved my life today, without even blinking an eye.”
He scoffed. “Yeah, after endangering it. What did you expect me to do? Let you die? I was responsible for you in there. I promised to keep you safe, and I didn’t keep my promise. That alone should tell you to stay away from me.”
“That’s honor, Luther. You acted out of honor, and that makes you good inside. And even now you’re with us, because you know it’s the right thing to do. You’re helping us find Isabelle even though you don’t have to.”
“I needed a ride into the city,” he deflected.
Katie chuckled. “I’m sure Striker would have given you a lift to the next town where you could have rented or bought a car.”
Luther closed his eyes and shook his head. “Can’t I win a single argument with you?”
“You can try,” she hedged, “but I’m very competitive.”
“You could have warned me about that earlier.”
“And spoil the surprise?” She lifted her face and pressed a quick kiss on his lips.
“Don’t do that,” he murmured, motioning toward the front of the SUV. But the brief contact had given him an appetite for more. “Or I’m gonna have to use mind control on you to make you behave.”
“Would you really do that?”
“Don’t test me,” he warned and slid his hand onto her thigh, squeezing it.
Her breath hitched, and he slid his hand higher. Even through her jeans he felt the heat that radiated from her sex, scorching his palm.
“Trust me, you don’t want me to embarrass you in front of your brother.”
“Okay,” she said breathlessly.
“Good girl.”
He withdrew his hand from her sex and took a deep breath. This woman was driving him crazy. He shouldn’t be drawn to her like this, shouldn’t allow himself to be caught up in her net, but he couldn’t help himself. Maybe if he hadn’t abstained from women during his time in prison, sex with Katie wouldn’t have had such a profound impact on him. But he couldn’t forget the few minutes of sheer and utter ecstasy he’d felt in her arms. And he wanted more, though he knew nothing good would come of it. He’d only hurt her, and in turn himself.
“I just got word from Haven,” Blake suddenly said, turning to look over his shoulder.
“Haven?” Katie asked, her voice shaking a bit.
“Yeah, he and Eddie are already there. They’re waiting for us a quarter mile from Forrester’s hideout. We should be there in a few minutes.”
“What did you tell Haven?” Katie asked.
“Just what he needed to know. That we have a lead on the kidnapper. And that Luther got us that intel. That’s all.” Blake’s gaze shifted to Luther, then back to Katie. “I’m sure you’ll want to fill him in on the rest yourself.”
“Thanks, Blake, I appreciate it.”
“I’m assuming Haven and Eddie know not to tell Samson I’m involved?” Luther asked.
“I’ve briefed them. The official story we gave Samson was that a contact within the prison system pointed us to Cliff Forrester after we examined the letters Katie received. We kept it as vague as possible.”
Luther nodded, satisfied. Not because he was afraid that Samson would make good on his threat to kill him, but because he didn’t want Samson to react irrationally and jeopardize his daughter’s rescue. Once this was all over, Luther would disappear back into the shadows as if he’d never been here. Samson would never need to find out that Luther had assisted. He wasn’t here to get credit for his help.
Minutes later, Wesley stopped the SUV on a rural road without street lights and turned off the engine. Behind them, John brought Katie’s Audi to a stop.
“Let’s go,” Blake said and exited the car.
Luther reached for the door handle and opened the passenger door, stepping out into the darkness. In front of them, a minivan was parked. Next to it stood Eddie and another vampire. It had to be Haven, Katie’s brother. Luther ran his eyes over him. He was slightly taller than his witch brother. Haven glanced past Luther, searching for the person who exited the car behind him.
Luther turned and reached for Katie’s hand to help her out.
“Katie!” Haven called out and walked to her. He pulled her into his arms and pressed a kiss on the top of her head. “You scared the shit out of me when you disappeared. Don’t you ever do that again.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What the fuck are you doing with him?” Haven slanted Luther an annoyed look.
Katie peeled herself out of his arms. “Everything’s fine.”
“If I find out that he—”
“How about we postpone the pleasantries until later?” Blake suggested, drawing everybody’s attention to him. John and Grayson had joined them.
Luther nodded. “Fine by me.” He noticed Eddie acknowledge him with a quick glance.
“We all know what to do?” Blake asked, looking at the assembled group. “Grayson, you’ll stay with Katie. The rest of you, let’s go. Haven and John will approach the house from the back. Luther, you’ll be with me, Eddie, and Wesley. Questions?”
“Let me come with you,” Grayson demanded. “John can watch Katie.”
“No!” Blake protested, then looked at his colleagues.
Luther lifted his hands. “If you could spare a weapon, I’d be of more use…”
“You brought extra?” Blake asked Haven.
Haven already turned to the van and pulled a semi-automatic handgun from the interior. Luther followed him and took the weapon.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” Haven’s narrowed eyes made his position clear. He suspected that something was going on between him and Katie, and he didn’t like it.
Dropping his voice to a murmur, Luther said to him, “Your sister is an adult. She makes her own decisions.”
“And not all of them smart ones,” Haven hissed back.
Blake’s barked command interrupted them. “Let’s go. We’re not on a picnic here.”
Under cover of darkness, they reached the house moments later. It was an old ranch style home in need of a good paint job and yard work. Nobody had lifted a finger here in years. According to Striker’s information, it belonged to Cliff Forrester, and neighbors had seen him a few nights ago, after he’d been released from prison.
There was no light coming from the interior, no sounds either. Blake gave a sign to spread out. Via his mic and his earphone he communicated with John and Haven who approached from the other direction.
“Anything?” Blake whispered into his mic.
Luther didn’t hear the response, but Blake pointed to the front door a moment later, indicating that he was going in first. Luther wa
tched from a few feet away as Blake approached the entrance without making a sound, his weapon drawn. He saw Blake’s lips move, but no sound emerged.
Blake tested the door. There was a sound of a floorboard creaking, then Blake pushed the door open and charged in. Eddie was on his heels. From behind the house, similar sounds could be heard, and Luther took it as a sign to charge in after them.
It was evident immediately that the place was empty. Disappointment curled through Luther. There was no sign of Forrester or Isabelle. They’d come too late.
“He’s gone,” Haven confirmed.
“Any outbuildings in the back?” Blake asked.
John shook his head. “Shed’s empty, too. There’s a motorcycle in it.”
Light suddenly flooded the interior and Luther pivoted, aiming his gun at the person who’d entered behind him. He quickly lowered it again, not wanting to shoot Wesley. The witch might not take it too kindly.
“Search the place for any evidence that Isabelle was here,” Blake ordered.
The search didn’t take long. The place was only sparsely furnished.
“He was definitely here. There’s a newspaper from a couple of days ago,” John confirmed and motioned to the bedroom he’d just exited. “And the bed’s been used.”
Haven nodded in agreement. “Looks like he left in a hurry.” He motioned to the hallway, where a set of keys hung on a hook on the wall. “His keys are still here.”
Blake turned, giving Luther an assessing look. “Could Striker have tipped him off?”
“Not a chance,” Luther said firmly. “I trust him. He wouldn’t have alerted Forrester.”
“Fine. John, bag everything that’s not tied down. Grayson can help you. Bring it back to HQ and have the team sift through it. The rest of us, we’re leaving now and heading back to San Francisco.”
“No problem,” John agreed. “I’ll take Katie’s Audi back and meet you at HQ.”
31
“What are we gonna do now?” Katie asked.
They’d just crossed the Bay Bridge with the blackout SUV and were back in San Francisco. Another half hour and the sun would be up. Eddie and Blake had taken the other van back, while her two brothers were chauffeuring her and Luther back into the city.
