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“So we have nothing. Maybe Luc will think of something we haven’t.”
“Luc is coming? How much longer till he shows?” I ask, feeling a sliver of relief. Luc might be a Knight, but he’s about as willing as we are. I know he hates that Linc effectively stepped into his shoes, but that’s the way the Knights work. Seats on the Conclave are almost always passed down from father to son, so when one brother vacated his seat, the eldest son of the eldest brother filled the vacancy. Not that I think Luc hates his relative freedom from the Conclave… just that Linc had to step up into the position.
“Yeah, he said a few hours.” He pauses and before I get the chance to ask him what he wants our next steps to be, he says, “I’ve got to go. I’ll call when Lucas arrives.”
He sounds fucked up, so I just say, “Laters,” and rack my brain for another option. There has to be something on this video.
“Honey, I’m home!” Mav’s voice echoes through the house. I poke my head around the security door and he’s grinning as he drags a body out of the foyer. Only that crazy bastard could smile while moving dead bodies. I’m thankful for it though. If he’s willing to take care of them, it means I don’t have to and I can focus on the task at hand without worrying that he’ll miss something. He might be a crazy sonofabitch but he’s not stupid. He’ll clean the house as well as any cleaning team would. Even if it’s just because this is V’s house.
“Fuck,” I utter, remembering that Smithy is going to be home at some point soon. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I pull up a message thread with him.
Me:
It’s not safe at the house, you should stay in the city. We’re handling it.
I should probably tell him that V is missing, but I’m not sure what there is that he can do to help, and I don’t want to be the reason the old guy’s heart gives out. V will kick my ass from here to fucking Taiwan if anything happens to him.
My phone rings and I groan at Smithy’s name on the screen.
This is going to go well.
Pasting a smile on my face, I answer the phone. “Smithy!”
“Don’t you Smithy me, Master Knight. What in the blue blazes have you boys gotten yourselves into now?”
Officially dressed down in the politest way, I let out a sigh. “Octavia’s been taken. We’re working on it.”
I wince at the shouting that comes through my phone, half of which I can’t even make out.
“Smithy! We’re handling it. We think her stalker is a Knight, which means he won’t kill her.”
“You better hope not,” he chastises. “I left her in your care. You all promised me she would be okay. I’m coming back.”
“There’s nothing you can do here. Luc is coming into town to help. If we’re forced to get the Conclave involved, I will let you know. But if you come back, it’s just going to put a target on your back, so I’d really prefer it if you stayed put.”
The image of him blustering at my words is crystal clear in my head. “You keep me updated, Master Knight. Because if any harm comes to her…”
“I know, I know.”
“Do not let me down.” His voice is more harsh than I’ve ever heard it. “More importantly, do not let her down.”
* * *
By the time Maverick arrives with Lincoln in tow, we’ve managed to photograph and take prints from each of the bodies, clear the house, and take the bodies to the crematorium.
Thank God for friends in weird places.
The house still looks like something out of a horror movie, but the smell isn’t quite so bad anymore. I send the pictures and prints to Smithy to forward to his friend with the feds to see if we can get a hit on any of them. They might be private hires, but if we know who they are, maybe that will help us. There’s no way these guys aren’t in the system somewhere.
My only worry is that if this guy is a Knight, then it’s likely he’s already wiped them from any database. He’s always three steps ahead of us, and I am sick of chasing our fucking tails trying to catch up.
I’m in a thundercloud of a mood by the time I finally step away from my laptop, but if my mood is foul, Lincoln’s is downright tempestuous.
“How is East?”
“In critical condition. They need blood, rare fucking blood. Luc is handling it,” he snaps at me, but I don’t hold it against him. Shit might be bad for us all right now, but he’s carrying more than we are. “What do we have on Octavia?”
“We need help with this.” I sigh, yet again. At least this might be the distraction he needs to bury himself in. “I know you don’t want to involve the Knights, but we need help from someone. Luc has connections, but he doesn’t have the pull that someone on the Conclave does.”
