Page 17 of Cherished by the Sinners (Sinners Never Die #4)

Mason

“F or the last time,” Mason said to the mob of men arrayed around him. “I’m wearing the latest design in bulletproof suits.”

He’d finished his statement, signed the damn thing, then the detective nodded at a couple of officers who’d been hanging around, watching. At that nod, though, they’d started asking him about his suit and why the hell wasn’t he a corpse in the morgue.

Their questions had brought more cops, officers in uniform and detectives in their ill-fitting suits, over to listen and ask their own questions. Which were, unfortunately and irritatingly, repetitive.

“It’s made with nanotechnology,” he continued. “And it’s fifty percent lighter than Kevlar. It protects me from my neck to my ankles. It’s the only reason why I’m not dead.”

“It’s the jacket and the pants?” A young officer who’d managed to wiggle his way through the crowd until he was in front of Mason asked.

“Jacket, pants, undershirt, and button-up shirt.”

The cop pointed at Mason’s chest. “But there’s holes in your jacket.”

Mason sighed. Heavily. The way things were going he’d be here for a week trying to explain, but he had other places to be, people to keep safe, and assholes to kill. “May I?” he asked the group at large.

Only the young officer answered. “May you what?”

“Show you.”

Several officers nodded and a few said, “Yeah, sure, go ahead.”

Mason got to his feet and took off his jacket.

His audience took a step back.

He held it up so the damage made by the bullets was clearly visible. “Look closely at the fabric,” Mason said, jiggling the jacket a bit. “See how the holes don’t go all the way through? The outer layer of nanofibers is broken, but the inner isn’t.”

The officers in the front row bent closer and a couple reached out to lift the front panels of the front of the jacket. They turned them this way and that.

“Huh. You’re right,” the young officer said. “The holes don’t go all the way through.”

Mason lowered his jacket. “You can see that there are marks on my dress shirt, but no penetration at all.”

The whole group moved a little closer to look at Mason’s chest. Black marks, but that was all.

“Must cost a lot,” a different officer said.

“Several thousand dollars, four fittings, and three months.”

The group shifted, some in the back moved to the front so they could see.

“Where did you get it?” Another uniformed officer asked.

“A company out of Toronto, Canada,” Mason replied. “They do excellent work.”

“How many shots did it stop?” someone else asked.

“Seventeen.”

A low whistle came out of more than one man in the group.

“Get out of the way,” a female voice demanded. The group parted and Nika strode through them. “Mason, you’re with me,” she said, her face a blank expression first responders get when things go wrong. “Darlene was taken.”

Her words froze him in place for a moment. When what she said sunk in, a bomb went off in the back of his head. It triggered a firestorm that swept through his body, breaking him out of the ice so fast he was surprised when he didn’t shatter into a billion pieces.

“Where?” he asked Nika.

“Come with me,” she said, turning and striding away. Cops scattered in front of her as if she were a wild predator in their midst.

He followed in her wake.

“Your jacket,” the young officer shouted behind him.

Mason turned and, walking backward, held up his hand. The officer tossed the jacket at him, and he caught it.

He followed Nika out, down the hall, and out of the precinct door. They crossed the parking lot and got into her car.

“Tell me everything,” Mason said.

She glanced at him as she guided the vehicle into the street. “I will on one condition.”

He didn’t want to hear about conditions, he wanted to rend and tear who’d ever touched Darlene with his bare hands.

“See that,” she pointed at his clenched fists. They were shaking. “That’s why the condition. I can’t have you killing everyone until after I’ve had a chance to interview them.”

“I get to kill them after?” he asked. Damn it, that sounded much too eager. She wasn’t going to say yes.

“No, but you can scare the shit out of them.”

“That’s not nearly enough fun as killing them would be.”

“Geez, that’s exactly what Baz would say.” She shook her head. “You guys are so dark sometimes.”

“We have our priorities in the right place,” he said.

“Whatever. The deal is, you do what I tell you, when I tell you, and you can come with me.”

“Fine.”

“I need a complete sentence from you, Mason.”

“Yes, I will do as you say.”

“Good.” She relaxed a very tiny fraction.

“Tell me what happened.”

She did.

“I don’t know what they want,” he said after she was finished. “It doesn’t make sense to want Darlene this much. She’s a normal human.”

“Magnus thinks it might be because you two are in a relationship with her.”

“We want to be, but we were interrupted by the current stupidity. She doesn’t have all the information yet.”

Nika chewed on her bottom lip. “Does she have any idea that you two are interested in her, or is all of this going to blindside her?”

“She knows we... want her, but she’s hesitant.” He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“She’s had a rough life,” Nika said softly.

“She has more courage in her little finger than most people have in their entire body. She’s been treated like garbage her entire life.

But despite that, she chooses joy, and she shares it with everyone she meets.

Our head of housekeeping told me today that Darlene is the most reliable, hardworking employee she has.

” He thought about her cleaning the suites for the Japanese and Chinese guests.

“She was singing while she worked this morning,” he said in a whisper.

“She’s a survivor, Mason,” Nika said. “Whatever is going on with the British, I don’t think she’ll panic. She’ll wait and look for a way to get to safety.”

“If they hurt her...” he couldn’t finish the sentence. Couldn’t imagine what might happen without wanting to destroy something or someone. “Where are we going?”

“They want to meet in Central Park. The kidnappers have demands, the first of which is dealing directly with you and Magnus. In person.”

“In person can mean only one thing,” he said.

“They want to ambush you?” She grunted. At his nod, she said, “That’s exactly what Baz and Magnus said. Brian immediately wanted to send in some drones, but Anna shot that idea down.”

“Recording our conversation would not be wise.”

“No, but there are so many people around the Park, anyone could be recording it. So, we’ve decided to avoid that confrontation and create one where we have more control of the environment.”

“How?”

“Baz got a text from one of the British bastards, a guy named Eli.”

Mason had never met the man, but he was the youngest vampire they had. “He’s only a couple of hundred years old and the last vampire they added to their group.”

“Eli told Baz that his uncle is planning some kind of major event that will destroy you. A public event. He said Darlene is with them and is unharmed, but he’s worried about her safety.”

“Baz believed him?”

“It turns out, Baz met Eli once during the Afghan war. At the time, Baz said he was arrogant and disrespectful, so Baz told him to pull his head out of his ass.”

“And that made Eli friendly to him?” Mason shook his head. “It’s a trap.”

“A distinct possibility. Eli thinks his uncle, Sebastien, has completely lost his grip on sanity.”

Mason grunted. “Most of us seem that way, and Sebastien never did like anyone telling him what to do.”

“Yeah, not like this. He doesn’t care if regular people witness anything. Eli says he’s after revenge and that it’s completely taken over his thinking.”

Fuck . “We need to keep the fight private.”

“Yeah, and in the spirit of wanting to stay alive, Eli told Baz where they are. A warehouse not far from Homeland Security’s current office.”

“Of course it is.”

Mason considered the problem. “When is this Central Park meet supposed to take place?”

“Two hours from now.”

“After dark.”

“Yes.”

“We need to hit them before they leave their warehouse.”

“You’re going to have to convince Baz and Anna of the wisdom of that.”

He patted his jacket pocket, pulled out his cellphone, and called Anna.

“What do you need?” Anna asked.

“It’s Mason. Nika and I are on our way to the hotel, but I think we need to move now. Hit them at their warehouse where we have some hope of preventing our confrontation from going public.”

She sighed. “That has me worried too.” She was silent for several long seconds. “Baz agrees with you. Go to the location and wait for him there. Try to blend in with the tourists.”

Mason grunted.

“Do try to talk to the British first,” Anna said in a genuinely encouraging tone.

“Kidnapping people has never been a good negotiating tactic. If they want to sit down with us and work out a new business arrangement, we can do that. But not with a knife at one of our employee’s throat.

No treaty or deal or transaction will last more than five minutes if it’s done like that. ”

“Agreed. I’m not sure I’m the best person to do these negotiations. I’m very... angry.”

“And you have every right to be angry, Mason. They kidnapped someone you care for. Baz will handle any discussion. Focus on getting Darlene back unharmed. She has become a favorite among our guests with her hard work and sunny nature.”

“I will,” he said, making those two words a vow.