Nick crouched beside him and studied the pavement to which the elder pointed. His heart sank. “Blood?”
Aidan nodded. “Not a lot of it. But it’s relatively fresh. There’s more on the passenger side.”
Nick touched a finger to it, brought it to his nose, and inhaled. Oil. Brake fluid. Transmission fluid. And… “This is Kayla’s.”
“I’m guessing the other is Oliver’s.”
Nick rounded the car and checked it out. “Yes.” His skin again prickled as sunlight bombarded him. Ignoring it, he drew out his cell phone and sent Kayla another text: Call me ASAP.
A chime drew his attention to a trash can by the stairwell.
Nick quickly crossed to it and found Kayla’s purse inside, underneath a bag containing complimentary toothpaste, dental floss, and a toothbrush. As he yanked the purse out, fear inundated him. What had happened?
“Over here,” Aidan murmured.
Nick rejoined him, the purse clutched in his hand.
“Is that hers?” Aidan asked, eyeing it.
Nick nodded. The prickling in his skin became a burn as his skin began to pinken.
Aidan rested a hand on his shoulder. Nick’s skin healed within seconds.
“I can heal the damage in real time,” Aidan murmured absently, keeping one hand on his shoulder as he pointed to a spot near the blood. “There’s something there. Close to the blood. A scent that’s different. Not like the usual ones cars leave behind on pavement. But not like the blood either. Do you smell it?”
Nick drew in a deep breath. “No.” But Aidan was an ancient with senses heightened more than Nick’s. “Where is it?”
Aidan crouched, keeping his hand on Nick’s shoulder and drawing him down with him. He pointed, his finger hovering an inch or so above the pavement. “There.”
Nick started to touch it, but Aidan stopped him. “Just sniff it. If it’s what I think it is, I want Henderson’s forensic team to see if they can collect a sample and trace it.”
Right. Nick leaned down and sniffed without touching the pavement, then sat back on his heels. “It’s familiar.”
“You’ve smelled it before?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
He searched his memories, trying to pinpoint where and when he’d encountered that particular scent. It had happened recently. On a hunt maybe?
No.
When it came to him, he spat an epithet and met Aidan’s gaze. “It’s the sedative the men who attacked me used.”
Which meant those bastards had Kayla and Oliver.
And Nick had no idea who the hell they were or how to find them.
Chapter Thirteen
Seth abruptly appeared beside Nick, summoned telepathically by Aidan, no doubt.
Nick rose and stared up at him, panic making his heart race.
Seth’s brow furrowed. “What’s wrong?”
“They have Kayla and Oliver.”
His frown deepened. “Who does?”
“Whoever sent those men to attack me.” Nick quickly filled Seth in.
The Immortal Guardians leader vanished, then reappeared with Henderson, head of the Midwest division of the network. “Bring him up to speed.” He vanished again.
Henderson eyed them expectantly.
Aidan did the talking this time, one hand still clasping Nick’s shoulder while Nick’s stomach twisted itself into knots.
Seth reappeared, his hand on the shoulder of a tall, imposing immortal with obsidian skin.
Imhotep, an Egyptian immortal so ancient he even predated Aidan.
Seth addressed Imhotep. “Nick’s mortal girlfriend and his Second have been taken. This is her car. Tell me what you can.”
Nodding, the silent immortal touched the car.
Henderson drew out a cell phone and began to make some calls, but Nick kept his gaze on the ancient Egyptian.
Imhotep backed away a few steps, then turned in a slow circle. “They weren’t followed,” he murmured. “The ones who took them arrived after they did, then waited until the woman and the Second returned to their vehicle. They shot the Second with a tranquilizer dart. He drew his weapon but lost consciousness before he could fire it. They tranqed the woman next, then loaded both into a van. They tossed the woman’s purse into the rubbish bin and confiscated the Second’s phone and disabled the GPS. Then they restrained them both and left.”
Seth looked toward the street, packed with rush hour traffic. “Can you tell us where they took them?”
The ancient warrior eyed the bumper-to-bumper cars. “I’ll try.” In the next instant, he darted off in a blur of preternatural speed the drivers wouldn’t even notice.
Seth caught Nick’s gaze. “Imhotep has strong postcognitive abilities that allow him to see events that transpired in the past.”
Nick motioned to the garage around him. “So he actually saw what happened here?”
Seth nodded. “As clearly as though he replayed a scene on a DVD.”
Hope rose. “So he can just follow them and tell us where they are?”
“Ideally, yes. But there are limits to his ability. Had this happened early on a Sunday morning with less traffic to muddy the waters, I would have more confidence. But the more time that passes and the more activity that takes place in the interim, the more difficult it becomes for him to follow the clues. It’s sort of like trying to gather evidence at a crime scene after a crowd tramps through it.”
And there went the brief flare of hope.
A van pulled into the parking lot.
Nick stiffened.
Henderson held up a hand. “They’re from the network. One of our forensic teams. Let me see your phone.”
Nick handed it over, trying to stay calm.
Staring at the screen, Henderson swiped and tapped until he pulled up an app Nick hadn’t even realized was on there. A map appeared on the screen, indicating their current position with a blue circle. Several colorful icons appeared, one by the blue circle, the rest some distance away. Two devices were blacked out.
Henderson swore.
“What?” Nick asked, having no idea what any of it meant.
“All Seconds wear smart watches now so we can use this app to locate them if something foul goes down and they lose their phones. But Oliver’s appears to have been taken offline. It isn’t showing up.” He handed the phone back to Nick.
Seth nodded toward the stairwell. “Let’s get you out of the sun.”
Nick and Aidan followed Seth into the shadows of the stairwell. Tense silence embraced the three of them as they watched the forensic team work.
Nick had never seen such a group in action. He’d seen cleaners. Vampire hunting could be a messy business, and he wasn’t always successful at driving the battles that ensued into areas where they would go unnoticed. So he sometimes had to call in a network cleaning crew to help him dispose of the vampires’ belongings, eliminate the blood spilled on the pavement, and take care of any footage that might have been captured by surveillance cameras.
But forensic teams?
No. He had never needed one of those before.
The men and women in this one reminded him of those he sometimes saw on British television shows. They pulled on white jumpsuits with hoods, donned masks, and even covered their shoes with white booties to avoid contaminating any evidence they might find.
Nick fervently hoped he and Aidan hadn’t done too much damage. The small parking garage was bereft of surveillance cameras that could’ve aided them. If Imhotep didn’t find Kayla and Oliver, the only clues they would have to go on were whatever this forensic team could dig up.
The doors to the building swung open. A man and woman emerged. Both appeared to be professionals whose office or offices had just closed for the day.
The network van blocked their view of Kayla’s car and the individuals in white who studied the pavement around it.
The woman bid the man goodbye and ducked into a parked SUV. Seconds later, she backed out an
d drove away. The man continued walking in Nick’s direction. He was so busy staring at his phone that he didn’t notice anything amiss until he passed the network van. He glanced at the figures in white, then at his phone, did a double take, halted, looked at Seth, Nick, and Aidan—all tall, imposing figures clad in black—and blanched.
He opened his mouth to speak, paused, and closed it again. His expression went blank. Seconds later, he returned his attention to his cell phone and casually continued forward as if he’d never seen them. He raised the phone to his ear. “Hey, babe. I’m done for the day. You need me to pick anything up on my way home?” His voice echoed loudly in the empty garage.
The three Immortal Guardians, Henderson, and the forensic team watched him silently.
A woman on the other end of the conversation rambled off a short list Nick couldn’t care less about. His mind was too focused on Kayla and Oliver.
Unlocking the door of his SUV, the man tossed his briefcase inside. “Are those the ones in the pink box or the blue box?” He settled himself behind the wheel. “Nah, I don’t mind.” He closed his door and drew his seat belt across his chest with his free hand. “Hey, you want me to pick up some dinner, too?” He started the engine. “Okay. See you soon. Love you.”
A moment later, he backed out of his parking space and drove away without so much as giving them a second glance.
The forensic team went back to work.
Henderson looked at Seth. “My job would be so much easier if I were telepathic and had your mind-control ability.”
Seth’s lips twitched. “I’m sure it would.”
One of the white-clad investigators approached Henderson and held something out. “We found this on her car.”
Nick stared at the small device but couldn’t guess its use. “What is it?”
Henderson studied it. “A GPS tracker.” He accompanied the man back to the forensic team and consulted them.
Nick looked up at the Immortal Guardians leader. “Who are these guys, Seth? Could they be connected to the base Gershom commandeered?”
Seth shook his head. “There’s no way the two could be related. We tied up all the loose ends with the base. We’ve even located the last missing gifted one.”
The forensic team began to pack up their tools and whatever samples they’d found to study.
Henderson rejoined the immortals. “We’re going to identify the sedative and confirm it’s the same one used on you, Nick, when they attacked you in your home.”
“It is.” Nick didn’t want them wasting time confirming what he already knew.
Henderson nodded. “My guys tell me it’s an animal tranquilizer. We’ve identified the company that produces it and are tracing all recent shipments to Houston and surrounding areas. But it’s a big damn city with a lot of veterinarians.”
“Why the hell would a veterinarian attack me and kidnap Kayla and Oliver?” Nick blurted.
Henderson shook his head. “We’re looking for purchases that didn’t ship to clinics. If we don’t find any, then we’ll look into any police reports made by veterinary clinics who reported stolen drugs.”
That sounded like it could take a long time.
A blur raced toward them from the other end of the parking lot.
Imhotep stopped before them, his face grim. “I lost them on I-45 North.”
Nick took a step forward. “Where on I-45?”
“Close to Beltway 8,” the ancient Egyptian immortal replied.
That familiar feeling of panic gripped Nick again as he looked at Seth. “Do you think they’re heading for the airport?”
Henderson answered. “I think it more likely they’re heading for Brightwood Industries.”
Nick frowned. “What’s Brightwood Industries?”
“One of the companies owned by Richard Roubal.”
Nick stared at him. “You think this was Richard Roubal’s doing?”
“I do.” Henderson’s words carried complete confidence. “Roubal recognizes you at the hospital, shows up at your house. You get attacked shortly thereafter. Now this?” He shook his head. “I don’t believe in coincidences. That’s why I fully expect my team to be able to link the animal tranquilizer to him or one of his subsidiaries.”
“How would that even be possible? When Roubal showed up at my house, Seth erased his memory of it.”
“I did,” Seth acknowledged. “I even erased his memory of running into you at the hospital and erased his son’s memory of the brief encounter. I’m as puzzled as you are.”
Nick thought furiously. “Could he have told someone else? One of his doctors or something?”
Seth shook his head. “I found nothing in his memories to indicate he did, but…”
“But what?”
“He suffers from dementia. And his memory and cognitive issues have been exacerbated by either the cancer he’s fighting or the treatment he’s undergoing. It’s very difficult to negotiate a mind so afflicted. I don’t think I missed anything, but it’s possible he could have spoken with someone and lost the memory of it before I could find it.”
Nick consulted Henderson. “So this is all because Roubal refuses to believe that I’m my own grandson? What the hell? That shit has always worked in the past.”
Henderson lifted a shoulder in a slight shrug. “He doesn’t believe it because he doesn’t want to believe it. I checked him out after Seth told me about your encounter with him at the hospital. Roubal is dying. Oncologists have given him three months to live, but they’re being generous. I had some of our network doctors look over copies of his medical files, and they unanimously agreed he probably won’t live another month. He’s desperate. And the vultures are circling. He has three greedy sons he doesn’t give a shit about who are already squabbling over their impending inheritance while they basically sit around and wait for him to die.” He shook his head. “I don’t think I’m too far off the mark in guessing that he thinks you are the key to not only beating the cancer and dementia but regaining his youth and thwarting his money-grubbing children.”
It sounded frightfully plausible. “Where is Brightwood Industries? We’ll head there now.”
Henderson shook his head. “You don’t even know for sure that’s where they’re taking Oliver and Kayla.”
“No. But it’s a damn good place to start.” He had to do something.
Henderson glanced at Seth before answering. “Brightwood Industries has eight different campuses—six large and two small. I’ll get you the addresses.”
Aidan spoke. “We should bring Dana and Eliana into the loop so they can help us search the campuses.”
Imhotep stepped forward. “I will search as well.”
Henderson held up a cautionary hand. “These places are going to have tight security. Lots of cameras. Hundreds—if not thousands—of employees.”
Nick ground his teeth. “Most of whom will have left for the night. It’s after six. We’re going.”
“Look,” Henderson said, visibly striving for patience, “I know you’re worried. But you don’t want to rush into this half-cocked. If they catch you doing immortal shit on camera and leak it or live-stream it to the internet, we’re going to have a hell of a time trying to silence it… if we can silence it. Sometimes we have to just discredit it instead and hope it takes.”
Seth sent Nick a warning look. “We will exercise extreme caution.”
Of course he would. He didn’t want to do anything that might cost Kayla or Oliver their lives. “Agreed.”
The network crew piled into the van. Henderson stepped away to speak with them for a moment.
Seth caught Nick’s gaze. “Be calm. Kayla is still alive.”
“How do you know?” They really had no idea what they were dealing with here, if immortality was really Roubal’s endgame, or how much he was willing to sacrifice to obtain it.
“She’s a gifted one,” Seth said. “Now that Gershom is no longer distracting me with his chaos, I would feel it if they killed her.�
�
Nick had heard that Seth sensed it whenever an Immortal Guardian was killed. But he hadn’t realized the powerful immortal leader could also sense it when gifted ones died. “What about Oliver?”
Regret entered Seth’s eyes, which were so dark a brown they were almost black. “He’s human. I’m afraid I wouldn’t sense it if he came to harm.”
The network van drove away.
As soon as Henderson rejoined them, Seth clasped his and Imhotep’s shoulders and teleported away. Aidan followed, taking Nick with him.
Dana and Eliana rose as soon as the four of them appeared in Nick’s living room.
Seth, Aidan, and Henderson quickly filled them in while Imhotep stood silently by and Nick fretted over every minute that ticked past.
“Nick,” Aidan said.
Blinking, he realized it wasn’t the first time the Celt had called his name. “Yeah?”
“Do you have a recording of Kayla’s or Oliver’s voice? We may be able to determine where they’re being held simply by lingering outside and listening once we reach the campuses.”
“Yes. I have voice mails.”
The first he played was from Oliver. “Hey, man. Where the hell are you? The sun will rise in a few minutes and I don’t want your ass to fry in it.”
He played it a couple more times so they could get a feel for Oliver’s voice, then played a longer one from Kayla: “Hi, Nick. I just got a very unusual call from Becca. Apparently her A-hole, always-a-bitch roommate is now acting just as sweet as sweet can be. And when I say sweet, I mean I heard you just won the mega millions lotto and am hoping you’ll spread some of that money love my way if I’m nice to you sweet. She’s even keeping the other A-holes at bay and shutting them down. You didn’t by any chance have something to do with that, did you?” Her voice was both teasing and suspicious. “Call me.”
Everyone stared at him.
Seth arched a brow.
“What?” Nick asked defensively.
Eliana grinned. “You had Lisette talk to her, didn’t you?”
“Maybe.”
She thrust a fist in the air. “Yes! I knew it! I so wish I could’ve been there.”
Dana smiled. “Becca is Kayla’s daughter?”
Broken Dawn (Immortal Guardians Book 10) Page 22
