Page 39

Carter

They were almost to the cliff when something started to bother Carter the moment Mila was out of sight.

Even though he promised to watch over Em, a sense of urgency made him turn and walk back.

After only a few strides, he broke into a run.

When he saw the van, he knew it was the reason he was running.

He got to the parking lot just as the doors were being shut on Bec’s angry face. Then the van kicked up a cloud of dust and debris as it drove out of the dirt parking lot.

“Mila! Bec!” he screamed, chasing after the van.

He was working on instinct and by the time the van reached the paved road, it was far enough ahead that he wouldn’t keep up even if he shifted to his wolf form.

A small sports bike had to maneuver quickly to avoid being hit by the van. The rider pulled over and flipped up the visor of his helmet.

“Did you see that?” the guy said. “That fucking van almost hit me. Did you get the plates?”

Breathing hard, Carter grabbed the back of the bikers jacket with one hand and a handlebar of the bike with the other.

“I’m sorry,” he said, then pulled the guy off the bike and hopped on.

The biker screeched with anger and scrambled to his feet, but Carter had already toed the bike into gear and skidded off after the van.

It was illegal to ride without a helmet in California, so he could only hope he didn’t cross paths with a cop. Getting involved in a chase with the police wasn’t going to help him rescue Mila!

The 600cc bike was the perfect vehicle to catch up with the van in heavy, Sunday afternoon San Diego traffic. Within a few miles, he was only one car behind the van.

His first instinct was to attack the van when it was stopped at a light, but what if they had a gun on Mila and Bec? He didn’t know why they’d kidnapped the two women, but he couldn’t risk that they’d be willing to execute them at the slightest provocation.

He also couldn’t risk a car wreck. Mila’s family showed up before Mila and Gio could exchange souls. Without a piece of Gio’s soul, Mila was as easy to kill as the average human.

The phone in his back pocket kept ringing and vibrating. He was probably getting a ton of calls and texts from everyone he’d left behind. He didn’t care. His only focus was getting Mila back.

He kept a few cars between him and the van. When the van got on the 5 Freeway going south, he considered that they might be taking her over the border into Mexico. That would make it much harder for him to follow.

Thankfully they merged onto the 905 heading into Otay Mesa. When they got off the freeway, he wasn’t surprised to find them driving through an industrial area with no traffic to hide in. Carter was forced to stay far behind to keep from being noticed.

He turned a corner but didn’t see the van.

He almost panicked, then shut the bike off and listened.

Without the bike running, he was able to hear the distinct sound of the van’s poorly running engine.

Starting the bike back up, he hurried in that direction and caught sight of the van turning on an unmarked road into an airport.

Pulling over again, he watched the van roll up to a hangar, wait for the massive front door to roll up, then drive in. While the door was open, he saw a lot of men inside and thought there might even be a truck with some kind of big gun in the back.

These weren’t ordinary kidnappers, they were some kind of armed militia. What did they want with Mila and Bec? It made no sense.

Abandoning the motorcycle, he made his way around the perimeter of the airport until he could approach the building from behind. There were a few planes parked at the airport, but he couldn’t see anyone moving around. The place felt deserted.

When he got close, he stopped, looking for any hidden cameras. He spotted several small ones mounted high on the building's exterior.

Damn it, he wouldn't be able to sneak any closer.

He couldn’t smell anything but humans in the area. They weren’t a rival wolf pack trying to take territory or a sliver of naga shifters. That made it all seem so much worse because he and Gio could reason with a slither or pack, but humans?

Remaining half hidden by a small embankment, he pulled out his phone. There were dozens of text messages and missed calls from Mila’s siblings, but he ignored them all and called Gio.

“Where are you?” Gio answered, his voice full of anxiety. “I’m at the restaurant with everyone, but they say you ran off, and Bec and Mila are missing. What happened?”

Carter quickly told Gio everything. Gio remained quiet, but Carter could hear a lot of voices in the background as he explained.

“Wait there,” Gio ordered after Carter finished. Gio’s phone beeped, telling Carter there was another call coming in. “Mila is calling me. I’ll call you back.”

He hung up before Carter could say anything. Before he even had a chance to debate trying to get into the hangar, Gio was calling him back.

“Gio?” Carter asked, feeling deep fear blossoming. He was too far away to feel Gio through their soul bond, but he instinctively knew there was more bad news.

“They asked for money,” Gio said, his voice flat and emotionless.

Carter didn’t understand. “Money?”

“They said I needed to come alone and bring money,” Gio explained. “They know I’m a vampire.”

It only took Carter a second to understand. “Tooth-pullers.”

“That’s what I think also. Why else would they send me their location, which is the same place your phone is saying you’re located?”

Fear for all of them made it hard for Carter to think straight. “There are cameras all over the perimeter, and they’re heavily armed inside. What are we going to do?”

“Give them what they want,” Gio said. “Me and a bag of money.

Mila

“Shouldn’t I have a gun?” Brad asked. “Come on, Dave. I should have a gun too. I’m in as much danger.”

“No,” Dave said. “You’d end up shooting one of us by accident. When things get going, stay out of our way. You can help with clean-up after it’s over.”

Mila could see Brad wasn’t happy with that answer, but Dave’s frown said the conversation was done.

With Brad over by the front of the hangar trying to talk someone into giving him a weapon, there was no one close enough to hear them talking. Mila wiggled back until she was close enough to Bec to whisper.

“We need to do something,” she said, keeping her eyes on the men. “Gio and Carter are going to walk into a trap and get slaughtered.”

“Yeah, especially since these guys are crazy enough to think they’re vampires or something,” Bec agreed. “That’s an M2 machine gun mounted on the back of the truck over there. That thing fires .50 BMG rounds!”

Mila stopped watching the men long enough to roll her eyes at Bec. “That tells me nothing.”

“That kind of round goes through brick walls and engine blocks,” Bec explained. “It’s overkill for a couple of men coming to the rescue. This group is certifiable!"

Worry for Carter and Gio made Mila’s breath catch. “What can we do?”

“I think one of the guys is going to try and drag me into the office soon,” Bec said, nodding her head at one of the men checking something on a laptop. “He keeps looking at me.”

“I won’t let him,” Mila promised.

Bec met her gaze, mouth set in a grim line. “You will let him. It’ll be him and me. I’ll have a chance.”

Mila didn’t like this plan. It hinged on Bec being able to subdue a man bigger than her while her hands were restrained.

Suddenly Dave was in front of them. They both went silent and watched him. He was holding Mila’s purse. He crouched down in front of her and dumped the contents of her purse on the floor. Pulling her phone from the mess, he held it up.

“Passcode?”

“Please don’t—”

He casually slapped her, cutting off her plea. “Passcode,” he repeated. “Say anything else, and I’ll punch instead of slap.”

Mila’s cheek throbbed, and she could taste blood in her mouth. “1747.”

Dave tapped her screen. “What’s the contact name for the vampire?”

Mila ignored Bec’s derisive snort at Dave’s question. “Gio.”

Dave scrolled through her contacts, then hit Gio’s name. His image popped up as the phone rang. Dave put the phone on speaker.

“Who is this?” Gio demanded. His words told Mila everyone knew she and Bec had been taken. It didn’t make her any less afraid for Gio and Carter.

“Don’t you recognize your pet human’s number?” Dave asked.

“I want to talk to Mila,” Gio demanded.

Dave gave her a warning look before speaking again. “I have demands.”

“Let me speak to Mila, then you can list your demands,” Gio responded. Mila could hear the fear and worry in his voice.

“Tell him you’re alive,” Dave said.

“Don’t come near here!” Mila screamed into the phone. “It’s a trap. They’re tooth—”

Dave’s punch knocked her back. She lay dazed and then the pain hit, making her moan. Her face felt like it was on fire. Blood filled her mouth from the tooth he’d loosened, and her jaw didn’t feel right. She opened and closed it slowly, afraid he might’ve broken something.

“I warned you,” he said in the same tone he might use to tell someone not to drink some spoiled milk.

“You’re a dead man,” Gio screamed into the phone.

“If that’s true, then why should I bother keeping Mila and this other bitch alive?” Dave taunted. “I’ve got her parents here too. I could end them all in only a few seconds. Would you like to threaten me again?”

There was a moment of silence. “What do you want?”

“Money,” Dave said. He named a figure that Mila had only heard in movies and the news. “You have until midnight to get here with the cash, or I start cutting parts off Mila. I’ll be nice and start with her left hand. I’ll even use a tourniquet so she doesn’t bleed out right away.”

Mila had no doubt Dave would carry through with his threat.

“I’ll be there with the money,” Gio promised.

“Only you and the wolf,” Dave said. “If I see anyone else, they all die.”

“You get me, not Carter,” Gio said.

“No, I want both of you to deliver the money,” Dave said, annoyed for the first time.