Her MapQuest announced they had arrived at their destination. Pulling in, she expertly took in the house and yard.
“Nice place.” Tessa looked around too. “Big yard for kids to play. Looks like there’s a large play set in the back.”
Nicole smiled with a nod. “You may just be a natural, Tessa. That’s the first thing I look at. Not that a nice or big yard with a play set makes a good foster home, but it’s part of our job to observe.” Nicole grabbed the correct file and handed it to Tessa. “Make any notes you need to in here for future references. There’s also a checklist in the back that we do during our visits.”
Tessa glanced at it. “Got it.”
“Okay, here we go.” Nicole got out of the car, shutting her door. “You ready?”
Tessa closed her door and locked the car with a smile and a nod. Nicole frowned when Tessa’s gaze shifted away, sure Jared was the one responsible for the dip in mood. She knew all too well how to put on a carefree mask, and how sometimes, that carefully controlled exterior slipped. She really wanted to kick Jared’s ass. Her friend was hurting and trying to put on a brave front. What in the hell was going on? Screw not butting into their business. She was going to get Tessa to open up if it was the last thing she did.
Chapter 22
Nicole drove as Tessa continued to make notes on their last scheduled visit. Everything in all three visits seemed great, which was a relief. Two of the foster families had actually called in and talked to someone at the agency because no visits had been scheduled and they were worried. Nicole had apologized, noting they were understaffed, but that was soon to change.
“Any red flags you’ve seen?” Nicole asked when she stopped at a red light.
“No, not at all.” Tessa closed the file and chuckled. “Wyatt was really excited to show us his room. You think they’ll adopt him?”
Thinking of the young boy at their last visit made Nicole smile. “If they don’t, I might.” She laughed. Wyatt was a seven-year-old human placed with a human man and vampire woman. It was easy to see and feel the love they had for each other. “Seriously, though, I see it happening.”
“So do I.” Tessa smiled. “Now this part of the job I like.”
“Yeah, but believe me, it’s not always like that.” Nicole kept her eyes on the road. “I’ve seen things I wish I’d never seen. It’s not all bad, but it’s not all good either.”
“How do you handle it? I can’t imagine anyone treating a child badly.” Tessa shook her head in disgust.
“One day at a time,” Nicole answered, stopping at another light. She glanced again at Tessa. “This next one is unscheduled, so I have no idea what we’re walking into. Just keep your guard up. It’s the same protocol until it’s not.”
“That doesn’t sound promising.” Tessa frowned.
Nicole returned her attention back to the road as the light changed. “It’s not, but they’re necessary, especially if we have a feeling something isn’t right. When I first started, all foster families got one unscheduled visit, but since we began getting vampire children, we don’t have the manpower to do that because of the homes that definitely need the unscheduled visits.”
“This is the home I called on where the lady was acting funny.” Tessa looked inside the file, checking the address to the one on the house they pulled up to.
“Let’s go.” Nicole’s gaze was on the house. There was no car in the driveway, and a few newspapers littered the front yard. It was neatly landscaped, but the house was in disrepair with a falling gutter and peeling paint.
Once in front of the door, Nicole looked for a doorbell. Not seeing one, she knocked loudly, her senses alert. She listened closely, not hearing anything from inside the house. She knocked again and waited. With a frown, she leaned over to see if she could spot anyone in the window, but was unsuccessful. “Stay here.” Nicole rushed off the porch and walked toward the backyard. A bicycle lay on its side in the middle of the yard, and a few full garbage bags sat on the back porch. She could smell the rot of spoiled food.
Turning, she started back to the front yard when an old man stepped from behind the bushes. Startled, she moved to the side.
“They been gone for a day or so,” the man stated, nodding toward the house.
“I guess you wouldn’t know where they went, would you?” So many times Nicole had gotten vital information from neighbors, especially the older ones who didn’t miss anything going on in their neighborhood.
“No, and don’t want to know. Hope they don’t come back. They packed their car up and took off.” He huffed and nodded toward the street. “Seen them leaving with that little girl. Cute thing, but didn’t see her too much outside playing. It was quite odd though. I never saw them leave together and they never took the little girl with them anywhere.”
Tessa had come around to the side of the house and was taking notes. Stopping, she looked up from the file. “When did they leave?”
“Yesterday, I think about lunchtime ’cause I was at my kitchen window right there.” He pointed. Nicole saw that his kitchen window had a complete view of his neighbor’s yard, driveway, and half the street.
“That’s about when I called.” Tessa glanced at Nicole with a frown.
Nicole took the file. Don and Ann Brewer were both human as was their foster child, Beth. “Did they have many visitors, Mr.…?”
“Rose. And you are?”
“I’m Nicole DeMasters and this is Tessa Kincaid.” Nicole smiled at the man. “We’re Beth’s caseworkers. She’s in the foster care program. We’re doing a visit, but can’t seem to get in touch with the Brewers.”
“You asked me about visitors,” Mr. Rose said, his brows creasing. “Not many until about three weeks ago. A man started coming around with a boy who was older than that Beth girl. That was about the only time I saw the little girl out back playing.”
“You wouldn’t happen to have heard any names, would you?” Nicole knew it was a long shot, but maybe if they could get a name or any piece of information, they could find these people. The churning in her stomach put her on edge. She had a really bad feeling about the situation.
“Kids aren’t quiet when they’re playing,” Mr. Rose grumbled. “She called the vampire Frankie. You could tell he was a little too old to be playing with her, but he stayed outside until they were both called back into the house.”
“Frankie is the name of the child of our next visit, Nicole.” Tessa’s eyes widened. Nicole had already realized that as soon as Mr. Rose said the name.
Grabbing a card out of her back pocket, she handed it to Mr. Rose. “If you see anything at all that is odd, or they come back, can you please contact me right away?”
“Is the little girl Beth in trouble of some kind?” Mr. Rose glanced up from her card with true concern.
“I hope not, but that’s what we’re here for, to make sure everything is okay,” Nicole replied, anxious to get to the next location. This was too much to be a coincidence. “Thank you for your time and information. You’ve helped us so much.”
“You’re welcome,” Mr. Rose said as they walked away. “But what about the animals? I don’t know what they have in there, but they took a bunch of big cages into the house. I haven’t heard any dogs barking or anything, but I think someone should check it out just in case they don’t come back.”
Both Tessa and Nicole stopped in their tracks and looked at each other. “Okay, we’ll make sure someone checks that out,” Nicole called back to Mr. Rose, who was already heading slowly back to his house. She pulled out her phone. “Mitch.”
“What the hell did you do now?” Mitch didn’t even say hello, kiss my ass, or anything. Nope, he just started bitching.
“No one is at the unscheduled visit at twenty-five Morris.” Nicole didn’t even give him shit as she rushed to the car with Tessa following. “The neighbor told us they left, and it was right after Tessa made the call to the woman who was acting strange, which prompted the visit.”
; “Okay.” Mitch was alert now.
“He also informed us that the man had brought cages into the house. Large ones.” Nicole put him on speaker as she started the car and backed out. “Call someone to come check. I’m not going in because the girl isn’t here, which was confirmed, but the neighbor also indicated that another young boy was here by the same name as the child for our next unscheduled visit. Something is going on, Mitch.”
“Shit!” Mitch cursed, and she could hear rustling on the other end. “I’m on my way to Morris. Watch your ass, Callahan. I’m going to send the police to that residence also for your backup.”
“No, don’t do that until I contact you as soon as we get there and find out what’s going on.” Nicole sped down the road to the next residence. “I don’t want to spook them.”
“I hope I don’t regret that,” Mitch growled into the phone, sounding like he was running. “Call me as soon as you get there. If not, I’m sending backup.”
“Okay.” Nicole hung up. A deep frown settled on her face when she realized how close the two residences were to each other. They were already there. This time, someone was home.
Instead of pulling into the driveway, she drove past to check the place out. A moment later, she pulled into another driveway further up and turned around. She parked a few houses up.
“Pull Mitch’s number up on your phone, Tessa.” Nicole’s eyes took in everything as she spoke. “If anything happens, hit Send and just let it go. That will be enough for Mitch to call backup.”
“Do you think Beth is here?” Tessa’s gaze was on the house.
“We’re about to find out.” Nicole got out of the car. “Just act like this is just a visit to check up on Frankie.”
The closer they got to the house, the calmer Nicole became. It was weird, but this was how she did her job, and if a kid was in trouble, her calmness could save their life. “No one answered on this one, correct?”
“Correct,” Tessa replied as they climbed the steps.
Nicole knocked on the door, and just as she pulled her hand away, a woman answered.
“Can I help you?” She was older, probably in her late forties, and very beautiful.
“Ms. Tucker?” Nicole smiled.
“Yes, and you are?”
“I’m Nicole DeMasters and this is Tessa Kincaid. We’re Frankie’s new caseworkers.” Nicole introduced them and was impressed when the woman showed no signs of surprise. “We’re here to do a visit. We actually tried to call yesterday but got no answer and thought since we were in the area, we’d stop by. Is Frankie here?”
“Why yes, he is.” She opened the door. “Please come in.”
Nicole was cautious as she entered the house. Something was off. The woman was way too confident. Most of the time that would be a good thing, but in her line of work, it was almost unheard of. Almost all of her foster parents were nervous, because let’s be honest, a stranger coming into your home, looking at your life under a microscope to see if you were fit to be a foster parent was not pleasant.
The inside of the house was clean. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. “As I said, we tried to call yesterday, but—” Nicole began, but was cut off.
“Yes, I heard you.” Ms. Tucker continued with the same smile she wore when she opened the door. Nicole was starting to realize it was as fake as the woman’s seemingly pleasant disposition. “We were out and didn’t get in until late.”
Time to shake things up a bit to see exactly where they stood. “Oh, that’s fine.” Nicole plastered on a fake smile of her own, her eyes missing nothing. “Did Frankie have a play date with his friend Beth?”
“Beth?” Ms. Tucker questioned, her smile slipping slightly. “We don’t know a Beth, Ms. DeMasters. Why don’t I see where Frankie is? Excuse me.”
She had to give the woman credit. She was definitely calm and cool, but deep down, Nicole knew she was lying. Glancing at Tessa, who was frowning at her, she cocked an eyebrow.
“She’s lying,” Tessa whispered, also picking up on that very important fact.
Nicole nodded and was getting ready to tell Tessa to hit the Send button on her phone to contact Mitch when Tessa’s eyes shot wide.
“Watch out!” Tessa’s warning was too late.
Before she could turn, something heavy and hard hit her, taking her to the ground. The pain was excruciating, keeping her immobile. Silver. “Run, Tessa.” Nicole managed to scream through the pain, but it was too late.
Chapter 23
Damon pulled up to the house on Morris and jumped off his bike. Sloan stood talking to the metro police chief. His eyes searched the area, taking everything in. He had been on the trail of a rogue vampire when Sloan had sent an emergency text to everyone saying to meet here.
Heading toward the house, he frowned when Sid came out with Steve following, carrying large cages. Damon headed their way.
“Anyone in those?” Damon’s face set into a frown as he stared at them.
“Nope,” Steve answered, tossing the one he carried into the yard.
“Looks like they were setting up the same kind of operation though.” Sid also tossed his next to Steve’s, then turned to Damon. “Nicole called this in. It was one of her visits.”
“She’s not here,” Steve said, stopping Damon from going in search of her.
Dread flowed through him. “Where the fuck is she?” He knew Nicole would not leave after finding something like this.
“I told the cops that the people here left yesterday.” An old man with a cane made his way toward them. “I also told the young ladies who were here earlier.”
“You talked to them?” Damon’s eyes narrowed.
“Who, the cops?” The old man frowned. “Well, yeah, I talked to them.”
“No, you said ladies. Did you talk to them?” Damon continued to question him, trying to maintain his patience.
“I just said I did.” The old man gave Damon a narrowed-eyed stare. “Sweet girls. Pretty too. They were interested in the little girl, Beth. But she’s gone. They got real interested when I told her she played with an older boy named Frankie. They took off real fast after that.”
“They didn’t go into the house?” Damon knew that was odd. Nicole always did shit like that without backup.
The man shook his gray head. “They just ran to the car and took off.”
“Damon!” Sloan shouted in a tone Damon didn’t want to hear. Looking away from the old man, he turned to see Mitch standing with Sloan who held out his phone. Jared had just arrived on the scene and was standing next to them, his eyes pitch-black.
Rushing toward them, Damon listened to the call, which Mitch had on speaker, but all he could hear was loud rustling, moans, and then what sounded like a car door slamming. The line went dead.
“That was Tessa.” Mitch frowned, glancing at Jared. “She must have called when I was in the basement, and it went to voice mail. Ben, bring me those files,” he ordered, his tone sounding panicked.
“Where are they?” Jared and Damon growled at the same exact time.
“Nicole thought that this foster placement was connected because of what the neighbor told her. This house and the next were her unscheduled visits.” Mitch snatched the papers from Ben as soon as he ran them up. Mitch shuffled through them. “Six-fifty-two Maple Avenue.”
“That’s the Tucker place. Ms. Abigail Tucker’s brother was on the force years ago, but was killed in the line of duty.” The police chief frowned. “Come on, it’s not far.”
By the time they arrived, Damon was ready to crack his handlebars from his bike, his grip brutal. He spotted Nicole’s car parked a few houses up the road, which was protocol when doing an unscheduled visit. Knowing that for the moment this was police business, he had to fight with himself not to overstep. Walking toward the house, he knew Jared was having the same fight as their eyes met.
The chief knocked on the door, and Damon was surprised when a woman opened it. “Oh, hello, Officer. Can I help you?”
“Ms. Tucker, I don’t know if you remember me, but I worked with Charlie. I’m Avery Miller,” the chief said patiently.
Damon wanted to knock him out of the way and storm the house, but he glanced at Duncan who shook his head in warning. So he remained where he was, for now.
“Oh, yes.” Ms. Tucker smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes as she let them roam over Damon and the rest of the Warriors standing on her front lawn. “And who are these gentlemen?”
“Ma’am, these men are looking for two women who were supposed to have shown up here,” the chief explained. “May we come in?”
“No one has been here all day.” She wore the same expression as when she’d opened the door, and that was odd, very odd. “I’m sorry I can’t help you. I think you need to leave.”
Damon moved the chief out of the way as he pushed his way inside the house. “Their car is parked on the street.” Damon continued into the house. “They came here to do an unscheduled visit.”
“Unscheduled visit for what?” She shook her head, but her fake smile remained. “Young man, I think you have the wrong house.”
“Get Adam and search the house,” Damon ordered, as Jared and the rest began to search.
Within minutes, Jared was back. “Nothing. The house is clear.”
The woman began to laugh, but it wasn’t a woman’s laugh. It was a deep, manic laugh of evil. And it stopped as quickly as it started. “Nothing is what you will find.” Her head snapped to a strange angle then turned to look up at both Damon and Jared.
Damon stared down at the woman and knew her neck was broken, but she still stared up at them. There was no debating it; they were dealing with some sort of demon. His panic for Nicole tripled.
“Warriors,” the woman said in a sing-song voice. “We’ve come out to play.” The woman’s eyes glazed over as her body slumped. Whatever had control of her was gone.
“Fuck!” Jared cursed, then looked at Damon. “No black breath.”
Nicole (The Mate Series) Book #1 Page 14
