Page 32

MAX

T he tires of the van screeched as Jackson took a sharp turn, the unconscious Revolutionary Guard sliding across the floor despite Max's grip on him. In the middle row, Kyra's sisters huddled together like frightened birds, their earlier shopping euphoria gone.

"There is no need to rush," Max told Jackson. "Slow down."

The guy might be an exceptional entrepreneur, but he didn't have what it took to be a Guardian.

Not everyone did, and that was fine.

"I just want that filth gone from my van," Jackson grumbled. "I want to forget that any of this happened."

"Me too," Soraya said. "Where are we going?"

"We need to make a couple of stops," Max said, keeping his tone calm and reassuring. "Standard procedure when we capture an enemy operative or even when we save someone is to check them for tracking devices."

Soraya nodded. "I remember. The handsome doctor checked all of us before we were allowed into the village."

"These days, you can't be too careful," Jackson said from the driver's seat. "They might have trackers sewn into clothing, embedded in shoes, or even subdermal implants."

"That's why we are stopping at the warehouse first," Max said. "The next stop is the keep, where Jackson will drop Theo and me off with the prisoner, and then take you ladies back to the village."

"What's in the warehouse?" Fenella asked.

"We have equipment there like what Julian has in his van. Scanners and other things."

The guard stirred, a low groan escaping his lips. Without hesitation, Theo delivered another precise blow to his temple, rendering him unconscious again.

"How hard are you hitting him?" Rana asked, her eyes wide. "If you kill him, you won't learn anything from him."

Max stifled a chuckle. He'd thought she was asking because she was concerned for the man, but she was only worried about him being well enough to give them the information they needed.

Theo actually looked offended. "I'm a professional, ma'am. I know exactly how much force to apply."

Humans had soft skulls, so Rana's caution was justified. It had happened on occasion that they had unintentionally killed a scumbag that they'd only meant to keep unconscious.

"He'll just wake up with a killer headache," he murmured.

The warehouse was a nondescript gray building in an industrial area, surrounded by similar structures, and Jackson pulled around to the back, where a loading dock provided cover from prying eyes.

"Everyone, please stay in the van until we are back," Max said as Jackson parked.

"I'm coming with you." Kyra unbuckled her seatbelt.

Max caught her hand and squeezed it gently. "We're going to have to strip the dude naked for the scan. Unless you are keen on seeing a Revolutionary Guard's equipment, and I'm not talking about weapons, I suggest that you stay here."

Fenella snorted. "Count me out. I never want to see such a horror show."

Even Soraya cracked a smile.

"I've seen naked men before," Kyra protested. "What's the big deal?"

It was a big deal to him, and he tried to convey it in the look he gave her. "Trust me, you don't want to. From what I can see, personal hygiene isn't high on his priority list."

That got a chorus of disgusted sounds and snorts from the sisters, which was exactly what Max had intended—anything to break the tension and pull them out of the spiral of fear.

All that adrenaline coursing through their bodies wasn't good for them. They weren't immortal yet, and excess of fear and stress hormones wreaked havoc on the human body. Even he knew that.

"Fine," Kyra conceded. "But hurry."

Max hauled the unconscious guard out of the van. The man was heavier than he looked, soft around the middle, probably from eating too much Persian rice.

The warehouse door opened to Max's palm print on the scanner, and he walked in with the prisoner draped over his shoulder.

He dropped him on the metal examination table. "Start stripping him while I call this in."

As Theo started on the guard's clothes, Max dialed Onegus's line.

"Max," the chief answered on the second ring. "I hear you had some excitement at the market."

"News travels fast," Max said. "Where did you hear that?"

"Fenella just called Din, and he panicked and right away called Kian."

"I see." Max leaned against another examination table.

"We have the Revolutionary Guard who recognized Soraya and Rana at the Persian market.

We are in the warehouse, checking him for trackers, and from here we are heading to the keep.

Jackson will drop us off and continue with the ladies to the village. "

"Hold on, I'm patching Kian in."

There was a brief silence, then Kian's voice came through the conference call. "Hello, Max. What's going on?"

Max quickly summarized the events at the market, from Soraya's recognition of the guard to the neutralization of the threat.

"That was quick thinking," Kian said when he finished. "If he'd had time to make a phone call or send a text, we could have had a serious problem on our hands."

"Actually, it was Kyra who told me to grab him," Max admitted. "I just followed her instructions."

Kian chuckled. "Her instincts are better than most. She's been dealing with those thugs for over twenty years."

Max felt a surge of pride for his mate. "That she has."

"I'll meet you at the keep," Onegus said. "This man might be here on vacation, visiting family, or he might be part of a cell. We need to find out what we are dealing with."

Max wanted to say that he didn't need Onegus's help to interrogate a human, but, of course, he didn't.

"Understood. We'll be there in about forty-five minutes."

"Take your time," Onegus said. "It will take me at least that long to get to the keep, and I don't want you rushing the search. Make sure he's clean before you bring him in."

"Yes, sir."

Max ended the call and turned to see that Theo had completely stripped the guard and was feeding his clothes into the scanner piece by piece. The machine beeped as it analyzed each item.

"Two phones," Theo reported, holding up the devices. "One in his pocket, one sewn into the lining of his jacket. Also, a smartwatch, and what looks like a GPS tracker in his shoe."

"Paranoid bastards," Max muttered. "Or maybe just well-equipped. Put everything in the signal-proof box."

"We'll need to vacate this warehouse," Theo said.

Max shrugged. "We keep moving the equipment around anyway.

It's not a big deal. But we might be able to release him before anyone notices he's missing and bothers to check his whereabouts.

Help me get him in the body scanner," he said, not because the guy was too heavy for him to carry alone but because his body was like a noodle, which was difficult to maneuver.

He was pale and soft, with a significant paunch and body hair in unfortunate places. Max was glad he'd kept Kyra in the van—not out of jealousy, but because no one needed to see this.

As they put him on the scanner platform, the device hummed to life, bathing the guard in blue light as it checked for subdermal implants or other hidden devices.

"Clean," Theo announced after several moments. "No implants."

"Good. Let's get him dressed and out of here."

They pulled a set of scrubs from a supply cabinet, which the clan kept there for exactly this purpose. The light blue fabric made the guard look like an escaped hospital patient, which wasn't far from the truth.

Max gathered the man's original clothes and shoes and put them into an insulated bag and zipped it.

It wasn't as good as the box, but since they'd already scanned the clothes, he wasn't really worried about that.

The phones and tracker were in the signal-proof box, which Theo would deliver to William to take apart.

Max hoisted the unconscious guard over his shoulder in a fireman's carry while Theo grabbed the box and the bag and held the door open for him.

When they emerged from the warehouse, the van's occupants all looked their way through the open side door.

"Did he have any trackers?" Kyra asked.

Max nodded. "In his shoe. But it's in the box." He pointed to Theo. "No signal can go in or out of this thing."

That alleviated some of the tension in the van.

"You see?" Kyra said. "The clan has the best protocols for keeping everyone safe. You have nothing to worry about inside the village. No one can find you there."

"But what if he was there looking for us?" Soraya asked. "That would mean that they know we are in Los Angeles."

"That's not likely," Max said as he climbed into the van with the guard slung over his shoulder, careful not to let his head hit the door frame. "I think it was pure coincidence, but we will know more after we interrogate him. Onegus is meeting us in the keep."

"I'm coming with you," Kyra said.

The dungeon wasn't a place she should see right now. They had prisoners there that the Avengers had brought from the raids on the pedophile rings—more guinea pigs for Ell-rom to test his strange ability on.

"Your sisters need you right now," he said, knowing it was an argument she couldn't refute.

Kyra's shoulders sagged, but she nodded. "Okay. But you call me the moment you know something."

"I will," Max promised.

The guard began stirring again as they pulled into the keep's parking garage.

"Should I?" Theo asked, raising his fist.

"No," Max decided. "He'll need to be conscious soon anyway. Just watch him. If he starts to thrash about, hit him again."

When they reached the lowest level where the clan's vehicles were parked, Jackson waited for the gate to slide open and then eased the van as close to the entrance as he could get.

Max leaned over to kiss Kyra's cheek. "Jackson will take you all back to the village. Get some rest and try to relax." He swept his gaze over the worried faces of her sisters. "It's over. No one knows you are here."

Once he and Theo disembarked with the prisoner between them, the van pulled out, made a K-turn, and left through the gate to start its ascent back to street level.

"Do we put him in a cell or an interrogation room?" Theo asked.

"Interrogation room three is vacant, and it has a cot we can put him down on."