With a glance at Serena, he asked, “Does your family need you at home tonight? Any chance you can stay here and help me with the kids? We’ll need lots of coffee and some snacks for McCall’s team, too.”
She nodded. “Of course. I already called my husband and told him I would stay until we found the girl. Don’t worry about the kids. I will take care of whatever they need, and I’m here until Quayk is back home safe. My husband has our children covered.”
Grant nodded. “Can you ask your husband not to mention this to anyone? I don’t want word to get back to my wife. We don’t want to alarm her until we know more, and we certainly don’t need any reporters out here.”
Selena nodded again. “I already told him to say nothing to anyone. His lips are sealed.”
“Thank you.” He turned and headed for his office where he could make his calls in private. As soon as he talked to McCall, he’d have to call Tim Thompson and tell him to make sure neither he nor Doug Patton mentioned Quayk’s disappearance to anyone else. If word got out a SpellMaker Witch was missing, it would turn the entire town into one huge media circus. It sure wouldn’t help in the search for his daughter.
Moments later, Grant came out of his office when he heard the buzzer that signaled someone was at the front gate. As he entered the family room, he saw Quyrk move toward the security panel. “Hit the buzzer and let them in. It’ll be McCall and his staff. Man, those guys can move. I wouldn’t have expected they could be here this damn fast.”
Grant poured himself another Gentleman Jack to steady his nerves. Then he headed for the front door and had his hand on the knob as the doorbell rang. He pulled the door open expecting to find Alex McCall, but was surprised to find Sullivan Firedrake and his son, Hollister, on the doorstep.
Shit.
Grant raised his brows and spoke, “Gentlemen. I’m afraid you’ve come at a rather bad time. I’m in the middle of some critical business.”
The last thing he needed was these two at his front door right now. He could only hope they hadn’t caught wind of Quayk’s disappearance.
Sullivan straightened to his full height and cleared his throat. “SpellMaker, I’ll come right to the point. We heard your daughter is missing and we want to know what the hell is going on.”
Grant’s heart sank like a suitcase full of rocks.
How the hell did they find out so fast?
“Well, Sullivan, I’m afraid you’ve been misinformed. Quayk went to Dallas with her mother for a few days.” He forced a smile, in hopes the men would buy the lie for now. He did not intend to share any personal information about his family with them or anyone else who wasn’t key to the search. “So if you’ll excuse me, I have business to attend to. Good evening.”
He tried to shut the door, but Sullivan quickly stuck his foot in the opening, which lit a fuse inside Grant.
Who the hell does this pompous ass think he is?
Grant pulled in a deep breath as he opened the door again. “Gentlemen, I’m afraid I must insist you come back another time.”
Sullivan’s brows pulled together as Hollister spoke this time. “Your daughter belongs to me, and if she is missing, I have the right to head the search.”
Grant noticed headlights turn off the highway, onto the ranch road.
McCall’s team.
He ground his teeth and took a partial step forward as he addressed Hollister. “Mr. ???, let’s be clear. Quayk is not yours. She is my daughter and, as such, is my responsibility. Whatever may concern her welfare at this time is a family affair and none of your business.”
Hollister pulled back a bit, but his father held his ground. “SpellMaker, I know you’ve called in Alex McCall to search for her. That’s probably his team arriving now. And if we are not included in the strategizing and planning of this effort, I will go straight to the newspaper office in town and word of this will be all over the county within ten minutes.”
Grant took a deep breath and willed himself not to punch the man. Who the hell could have told him about McCall?
Sullivan continued, “Now, all we want to do is make sure his search is carried out properly and be involved so we can stay abreast of progress. But if you refuse to allow us to be involved, then we will have no choice but to bring in outside resources to ensure our interests are protected.” He reached out and clapped his son on the back. “Hollister here is sick with worry over the disappearance of his fiancée.”
Grant didn’t miss the fact that neither man had used his daughter’s name. Hollister didn’t look worried at all, and both men talked about her as if she were a brood mare in their stables…a resource to be used and exploited, not a person to be protected. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if Quayk was right—maybe he had made a mistake. Could magic have failed somehow?
CHAPTER THREE
Grant was caught between a rock and a hard place. The last thing he needed was the media circus these two men threatened to bring down on him, but the next-to-the-last thing he needed was the Firedrakes. He opted for what he hoped would be the lesser of the two evils. “All right, you can stay. But I want your word—no media.”
Both men nodded, although Sullivan looked like a cat with a chicken bone.
Grant tamped down on the urge to wipe the smug grin off the man’s face. His promise not to call in the media would have to do for now.
Grant came out of the house, closed the door behind him, and met Alex McCall at the foot of the porch steps. As he extended his hand, Grant was struck by the size of the man. “McCall, thank you for coming so quickly.”
The young security expert had dark hair and wore a black felt cowboy hat, so it was hard to tell exactly how tall he was. But he was easily three or four inches taller than Grant, who was just over six feet tall himself. McCall was built like a mountain, but moved with an agility rarely found in a man that size.
McCall smiled and replied, “No problem. Happy to be able to help.” He turned and extended his hand toward the man who had exited the truck on the passenger side. “This is the head of my security team, Rance Wilder.”
Wilder stepped forward and shook hands with Grant, but only nodded.
Grant sensed someone deploy a calming spell, and assumed it was probably Wilder. He met the man’s gaze and the corners of Wilder’s mouth pulled up slightly to acknowledge it was him.
So, the man’s a witch. Okay, that’ll come in handy.
There weren’t many witches in the security business, and Grant had always wondered why. Jerry was a witch and had been the best security expert he’d ever encountered. Calming spells didn’t work on Grant because he was a SpellMaker Witch, but the simple fact that the head of McCall’s security team was a witch gave him tremendous comfort.
Grant addressed the men. “Gentlemen, as I said on the phone, my daughter Quayk is missing. No one has seen her since this morning. What do you need to know about her? Do you need a picture?”
McCall shook his head. “No, we have all that. Pulled it up before we left. I have two members of my team I would like to leave with your family. They will provide protection while they question them to see if there is anything else we can learn.” He turned his head and motioned toward a group of people standing next to his truck. “Garcia.”
A tall, slender woman with caramel skin, dark brown eyes, and long, black hair pulled back in a ponytail stepped forward. She wore black leggings, a black short-sleeve T-shirt, black boots, and had a gun belt strapped around her hips.
“This is Alice Garcia. She’ll be in charge of things here at the house.”
The woman smiled and nodded as she met Grant’s gaze fearlessly. “Hello. I’ll take good care of your family.”
Grant had no doubt she would. He could sense a comfort spell emanating from her also. He could tell from the flavor of the spell that she was an Empath, and he was grateful she would be able to sense his family’s needs and put them at ease.
McCall turned back toward his truck. “Slicer.”
A m
an dressed in dark pink from head to toe stepped forward, and it was clear from the way he moved, he was probably gay. The man was of mixed blood and could have been a Prince clone. But his most prominent features were his eyes—a light golden brown, with slightly horizontal, oval-shaped irises. Not at all what he’d expected. Grant turned toward McCall and raised one brow. “Slicer?”
One side of McCall’s mouth pulled up in a grin. “Yeah. This is Eric Rittenhouse. We call him Slicer because of his special talents.”
Grant stared at the man. “And what would those be?”
McCall chuckled. “He’s a cat shifter.”
Grant met McCall’s gaze. “Seriously?”
That explains the eyes.
McCall nodded. “And people like him. So they tell him shit.”
Holy hell, what a crew!
Grant smiled at Rittenhouse. “Okay, welcome aboard, Slicer. Take good care of my family.”
“Oh, you know I will, sir.” Slicer gave him a salute that was something straight out of a sitcom routine, and Grant had to resist the urge to laugh.
McCall turned back toward the group next to the truck. “Okay, the rest of you come on up.”
The group stepped forward and formed a line in front of Grant.
McCall introduced each of them individually. “This is Tracker—our field survival expert, and a lion shifter. He can track anything that walks, hops, runs, or slithers, and sometimes even things that fly with a little assistance.”
Alex pointed to a man carrying an automatic weapon. “Shooter here is our ordnance expert and a military-trained sniper. He a can hit a bird in flight at a mile every time with the naked eye. He’s a falcon shifter.”
The next man to step forward was dressed in black and fairly non-descript—someone you might see and never remember later. “This is Boxcar, and he’s a raccoon shifter. He can get in and out of anything, and don’t shoot dice with him if you want to keep your shirt.”
Alex motioned for a man in a well-worn white straw hat to step forward. “Cowboy here is my ranch foreman, and has a team of search and rescue experts that work with him.” Cowboy nodded and stepped back in line.
Grant asked, “Is he a shifter too?”
Alec shook his head. “No. He’s a psychic with strong telepathic abilities. That makes him good with animals, and he can communicate with his search and rescue team over long distances, even without these headsets.”
“And this is Meow.” Alex grinned as he introduced the last man. “He’s our main strategist, an expert in stealth recovery, and trained in human psychology and behavior. He can read you like a book, and has an astounding ability to imitate the sound of any animal. You hear a kitten outside the door, don’t go check.”
Grant met Alex’s gaze. “Shifter?”
Alex laughed. “No, Human. Just weird and twisted.”
Grant shook his head. “Well, this certainly is an interesting mix of team members.” He let a rumble of laughter flow through the group before continuing. “Welcome, and please know how much I appreciate your help. Just let me know whatever you need.”
McCall waved his hand and the team immediately went into action. Everyone but Garcia and Slicer hopped in vehicles and raced down the driveway.
Grant looked at McCall. “So, what now?”
McCall inclined his head toward Garcia and Slicer. “Now, let’s go introduce them to the family, and then you and I can go to your office and talk.”
As they turned toward the house, McCall pointed at the Firedrakes. “Mind telling me why they’re are here?”
Grant drew in a heavy breath. “Oh, sorry.” He shot the two men a hard look. “To be perfectly honest, Hollister here is my daughter’s fiancé, and he and his father think that gives them the right to threaten me with media exposure if they aren’t included in the search planning.”
Sullivan opened his mouth to say something, but McCall cut him off as he turned to Garcia. “You and Slicer keep these two out of trouble.”
Garcia nodded, and before either man could object, she and Slicer each had a man by the arm as they dragged them toward a vehicle that looked like an armored car.
Grant asked, “They won’t hurt them, will they?”
McCall smiled. “No. They’ll keep them out of harm’s way for now.”
When the two men were stuffed into the back of the vehicle, Garcia climbed in the front and started the engine, but left it running as she returned to the house with Slicer.
Grant narrowed his eyes. “Uh, those two are witches. How will you keep them in the truck?”
McCall met his gaze. “Simple. It’s lead-lined. No magic or communications in or out. They can’t get out, and the lead will disable any magic they try to perform. Easiest, least traumatic way to disable a witch.”
Grant pursed his lips. “You know we’ll have hell to pay when they get out of there.”
“Yeah, probably. But I’ve done a few favors for the Sheriff and he gives me some leeway. Besides, they threatened you with media exposure, which would have endangered your daughter’s life.”
Grant met the young man’s gaze. “I like the way you think.” In fact, he liked the young man a lot. “Come on in. Let’s get this show on the road.” He led the group up the steps and into the house.
When they entered the house, the family was right where he’d left them on the couches in the family room, and the maid still cried uncontrollably as Serena patted her on the back.
“These are my children.” He introduced each of them. “Quyll and Quypp are twins. They are a year younger than Quayk. And this is my son, Quyrk. He’s a year younger than the twins.” Then Grant indicated the two maids, “And this is our housekeeper, Selena, and the children’s maid, Emma.
Alex grinned as his gaze met Grant’s. “So, just curious about all the “Q” names. I’ve always wondered, but never heard an explanation.”
Grant shrugged. “SpellMaker tradition. All direct descendants are named in alphabetic groups. My wife and her sisters all have “P” names, our kids all have “Q” names, and their kids will all be given “R” names.”
When Alex’s brow furrowed, Grant added, “It’s just the way it’s always been done. Any time an ancestor tried to break tradition, magic found a way to fix it. So we finally gave up trying—magic has its reasons. We just have no idea what they are.”
Alex shook his head. “Magic can be a strange and fickle master at times.”
Grant’s gaze moved to his family as he motioned toward the group who had followed him in. “This is Alex McCall. He’s in charge of the search for Quayk, and these are his team members, Slicer and Garcia.”
Slicer tipped his head to the side and waved at the group, the ruffles on his shirt sleeve fluttering, as Garcia simply nodded.
As Grant had expected, the kids all stared at Slicer like he’d just stepped out of a clown car. Emma and Selena tried to look anywhere but at Slicer.
Alex addressed the group, “Okay, Slicer and Garcia will work with all of you to sort out what you know about Quayk or where she may have gone. Mr. SpellMaker and I will close ourselves in his office and strategize the search setup. Please remember this is for your sister’s safety, so even the smallest memory might help…anything.”
He turned toward Grant, who led him out the back door to his office on the other side of the backyard pool. The kids knew their father was accessible if he was in his office inside the house. But the office out back was warded by strong magic, and off-limits to them unless they were invited in—which was extremely rare, and usually meant someone was in trouble.
Grant made some hand motions and whispered an incantation to unlock the door and allow them to enter his formal office. Once inside, he restored the wards on the door to prevent entry or eavesdropping.
“Okay, this office is completely protected. No one can hear anything or sense any sort of magic inside.” He motioned around him. I’m not sure what kind of equipment you are used to, but I think you’ll find whatever y
ou need here. I have the latest in technology.”
Alex looked around and nodded. “Nice. But I won’t be here long. I’m going out to help search the woods. I’d appreciate it if you could stay here, though, and relay to me anything you find. What I need you to do is check bank accounts and credit cards for missing money or changes in spending patterns. You, no doubt, have all of the passwords and accesses required. My guys could get in, but we’d have to get a judge to issue a court order in the middle of the night.”
Grant sat at the computer and logged in. “What do you expect to find?”
“We need to know if there is any indication whether she ran on her own or was abducted. Any large withdrawals made today that might indicate she’s paid some sort of ransom, or pending charges that could indicate where she might be. She could be hiding out right here in SpellMaker, or she could be traveling across country.”
Grant entered his password and waited for the screen to resolve. The tension in his shoulders eased now that he had something he could do to help find his daughter—something his skills uniquely qualified him to do.
Alex folded his arms over his chest as he thought for a moment. “There’s something I have to know. Do you know of any other reason she might have run? Is there a secret man or a girlfriend, someone she might have run away with?”
Grant stared at him for a moment. “No. I’m sure she has friends at school, but she never brings anyone home. Her best friends are her sisters.”
Alex raised one brow. “And a man?”
Grant shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of.”
Alex didn’t respond right away.
Grant shrugged. “I guess dad might be the last one to know, but I honestly don’t believe there is anyone else. She isn’t happy about her engagement to Hollister Firedrake, but I don’t think it’s gone anywhere.” He raised one hand. “The twins might know more.”
Alex smiled. “Okay, I’ll have Slicer work on it and see what he can get. I think that about covers it.” He fished in his pocket, pulled out an earpiece, and handed it to Grant. “Here, wear this. It will allow you to safely share whatever you find with us, and keep abreast of what’s happening with the rest of the team.”
BodyGuard (Butterscotch Martini Shots Book 2) Page 29