Page 88 of Cooper’s Passion

“Way too easy,” Samson agreed. “First, we can’t find his white van anywhere in the city, nor him, for that matter, and suddenly we find his lair less than two hours after he abducted his latest victim?”

Cooper rubbed his neck. “He wanted us to find her.”

“That’s what I think too,” Amaury said. “He led us here. Why?”

“It doesn’t fit his pattern at all.” Cooper touched his earpiece again. “Nicholas, are we sure that this woman was abducted by our suspect?”

There was a crackling in the line, then Nicholas replied, “A hundred percent. On one of the traffic cams after he abducted the woman, you can clearly see his face. He didn’t even try to disguise it. In fact, it’s kind of odd, but now that I’m looking at it again, it looked as if he was purposely looking up at the traffic cam.”

“Thanks.” Cooper let out a grunt. “We gotta get back to HQ. He’s planning something else. And I’m not gonna let Anita or her father out of my sight.”

“Agreed,” Samson said and looked toward the street. “Ambulance is leaving. Let’s all get back now. We’ll regroup at HQ.”

While Haven, Amaury, Zane, and Samson headed in one direction, Cooper and Yvette headed into the opposite one to get to the car.

“There’s no way he can get into HQ,” Yvette said, clearly in an effort to reassure him.

“That’s what we always think. And then somebody manages to penetrate our defenses nevertheless. And I can’t allow that.”

He unlocked the car and jumped into the driver’s seat. Yvette got in on the passenger side and slammed the car door shut.

“She’s the one, isn’t she?” she asked with a sideways glance at him, just as he put the car in drive.

“Yes. She offered me her blood earlier tonight.” He smiled at her. “I’m a very lucky guy.”

“Then let’s make sure nothing happens to her.”

Yvette had barely finished her sentence, when there was a loud popping sound, while the car slowed down. Before Cooper could figure out what had gone wrong, smoke came out from under the hood, and penetrated the interior of the car.

“Fuck!”

He exchanged a quick glance with his mother.

“Out, now!” Cooper ordered, worried that the car might catch fire and they’d be trapped inside. He yanked his door open, and heard Yvette do the same on her side. The smoke around them temporarily impeded his vision.

“Mom, you okay?” he called out. “Where are you?”

“Here, honey,” she replied.

He followed her voice, and approached her, until he could finally see her again, just reaching the sidewalk. Yvette was already pulling her cellphone from her jacket pocket, when the muffled sound of a bullet whizzing past him made him gasp in horror.

Yvette was hit, and the impact slammed her back, making her fall backwards onto the sidewalk.

“Mom!”

In the same instance, he was yanked back, and the cold metal of a silver chain wrapped around his neck. His skin sizzled, and pain seared through him, almost paralyzing him for a moment.

“Mom, no!” Cooper tried to kick his elbows back, but his attacker was stronger, and he couldn’t free himself from the iron grip. When the attacker slammed him against the car, Cooper got a quick glance at him. It was the vampire they’d been looking for.

“Gotcha, pretty boy!” his attacker hissed. “Shame I’m not into guys, but you’ll do nicely as a bargaining chip.”

Two thoughts went through his mind in a flash. Would his mother survive the gunshot wound? Since the attacker was a vampire, he was certain that the bullet was silver, and the silver would spread inside her body, eating away her flesh, if it wasn’t removed in time. His second thought was of Anita. Would his friends at Scanguards be able to keep her safe?