by D McEntire
Kern nodded then stood, and the manner in which he'd jerked his head at the newbies told Tank the Watcher intended he, along with the WITs intended to tag along. "We'll go with you."
Standing motionless, Tank stared at Kern a few moments, unable to decide if he wanted to do this alone. Finally his inner voice conceded it would be best if he didn't go alone in case something did go down at Sonya's place. With a nod of approval, he led the way to the garage and to his SUV.
After the last seatbelt clicked, Tank started the engine, pressed the remote clipped on the visor to open the garage door, then drove out onto the street.
The closer Tank got to Sonya's house, the worse the knots in his stomach became. He felt himself wound tighter than a drum and ready to explode at any moment.
When Sonya's place came into view, Tank pulled into an open parking space and quickly got out, not bothering to wait for the others or even to relay what he had planned.
A few lights illuminated the inside. As he stood in front of the house, Tank knew he had to proceed with caution. Leaving the Cell in a hurry and in such a high state of anxiety, he'd failed to come up with a plan of action to implement once they'd arrived. He had no idea what to do next. Should he walk up to the door and ring the bell? What would he say when she answered? "Hi. You don't know me, but I've dreamed of you." Man, did that sound like a lame pick-up line, he thought with a shake of his head in disgust.
Tank let out a long, hard breath as Kern approached and stood at his side.
"Want me to go around back and check things out? See where Sonya is within the house while you take the front? Looks like the lights are on in both the living room and the kitchen, but the upstairs is dark."
Tank nodded, knowing he certainly couldn't come up with any other ideas at the moment. "Yeah. Sounds good." He turned to Eric and Nathan. "You two stay here. This shouldn't take long. I just want make sure everything is...secure."
Without another word or glance at the other Watchers, Tank proceeded forward and reached for calm.
Sonya's home had a small, covered porch and only four stairs leading up to it. Being careful to keep his body low, Tank peered through the window beside the front door. Though Sonya was blind and wouldn't see him, that didn't mean there wasn't someone else in the house who could.
A cat's howling meow caught his attention, and he angled his head. An overfed black and white cat sat on the floor staring intently at the door. The feline's cries were not only loud, they were annoying. Tank wondered why Sonya didn't come into the room and do something about it. Perhaps the cat wanted to go outside for the night.
Tank remained where he was for several minutes, but didn't see the slightest movement or shadow inside the house to indicate anyone was inside.
"T," Kern called through the comlink.
"Go ahead."
"There's no one in the kitchen or in the back of the house. Want me to climb to the second floor?"
Perhaps Sonya was asleep and had forgotten she'd turned on the lights. "Proceed."
A few moments later Kern buzzed the comlink again.
"Nothing, T. The windows are all locked tight. There's no one on this floor."
The uneasy feeling that had brought Tank here ramped several notches instead of easing. Not knowing what else to do, he tried the handle of the door, surprised to find it wasn't locked.
"Roger that, K. Front door's unlocked. I'm going in."
Tank opened the door slowly, expecting the cat to bolt outside as soon as it saw the opportunity, but it didn't. When he stepped inside, the cat blinked up at him and continued the howl. Never having had one himself, or any other pet for that matter, Tank didn't know what to make of the feline's unusual behavior.
"Hey, fella," Tank crooned softly, trying to calm the cat who seemed to be as wound up as he felt at the moment. "Where's Sonya?"
Tank could have smacked himself for talking to the cat as if it would answer, as if it would rise on its hind legs and point out Sonya's location.
Shaking his head at himself, thinking he'd obviously lost his senses, Tank walked down the hallway to the kitchen. When he reached the doorway, he stopped and braced himself against the wall.
Holding his breath, he listened. Nothing. Peering around the corner, he found Kern was right. The room was empty.
Tank stepped into the kitchen and stood for a moment. He was in Sonya's house. It amazed him he could feel her. This was her home, where she lived and spent her nights. He wanted to walk every inch of the house to learn more about her, but he didn't dare. This was definitely not the time, not that he'd go around snooping through another person's private space in the first place.
The cat padded into the kitchen with something in its mouth. That something fell at his feet with a thud. Tank realized the oversized feline had carried in one of Sonya's shoes.
Staring up at him, the cat twitched its tail as if proud of itself.
Tank bent and retrieved the cat's prize. Sonya's shoe in his hand brought to his mind the picture of her on stage in the school's auditorium last night, foot tapping to the rhythm of the music as she swayed over the keys of the piano.
The lights were on, but no one was home. His mind worked to make sense of his findings.
Noticing the empty food dish on the floor by the refrigerator, Tank figured hunger to be the reason for the cat's earlier loud cries. But, from the look of its hefty size, it could use the skipping of a meal or two, he mused.
Turning in a small circle, he wondered where Sonya kept the cat food. As if reading his thoughts, the cat pawed at a nearby cabinet door.
Tank chuckled when he opened the cabinet and saw a large bag and several cans of cat food. "I'll be damned."
Shaking his head in disbelief, Tank removed a can, pulled the tab to open it, and plopped the food into the cat's bowl. "Is that what you're crying about?"
The cat ignored him and quickly attacked the bowl of food with vigor. Tank turned and saw the trash can sitting by the back door. Carrying the can to the garbage can, he tried to ignore the heavy laden fish odor emanating from it.
Opening the trashcan's lid, he tossed it inside and let the lid fall close once more. Just as he moved to step away, a whiff of something far worse than the fishy cat food caught his nostrils.
Lifting the trash can lid once more, he leaned in and sniffed, but discovered its contents, though definitely not that of fresh flowers, not to be the cause of the foul odor.
Tank closed the lid tight on the trashcan. He turned and noticed a small pan sitting on the counter that had not caught his attention earlier.
Approaching the counter, he picked up the handle and immediately discovered the source of the smell. Inside sat thick, curdled milk. Carrying the pan to the faucet, he wrinkled his nose in disgust while turning the water on hot to wash the soured milk down the sink.
Why would she leave a pan of milk on the kitchen counter? Eyeing the two mugs on the counter filled with cocoa powder and a spoon lying beside them, Tank couldn't dismiss the plausibility she just plain forgot about it. But, where is she?
A soft knock at the back door drew Tank away from his worried thoughts. Kern's face appeared on the other side of the glass. Turning the lock, Tank opened the door and stepped aside as the warrior entered.
A small scraping noise caught his attention. He crouched to peer under the kitchen table to find the cat lying on its back, batting at pair of black sunglasses until a hard swing sent them skittering across the floor. They smacked into the front of the stove with a sharp ping.
Snatching up the frames, unease in his gut managed to ramp higher. Either she had more than one pair, dropped this one and had been unable to find it, or hadn't left it on purpose. The latter possibility nagged at him.
"I saw her wearing these at the concert, and on television, which means she most likely wore them out in public. So, I don't know why these are here, and she isn't. I don't have a good feeling about this. A pan of milk had been left on the counter and had soured.
There are also two mugs of cocoa there as well where she'd started to fix hot chocolate but didn't finish for some reason."
As he finished the sentence and his mind replayed the fact two mugs sat on the counter instead of one, he immediately inhaled the air in the kitchen once more.
Tank's senses caught something that had obviously been blocked by the smell of soured milk. Men's cologne. The thought of a male in Sonya's kitchen had him clenching the glasses tighter.
Why hadn't he noticed the cologne when he'd first entered the house? Though he recalled how Sonya's strange feline had immediately drawn attention and there was the possibility the man could have entered the home through the kitchen door instead of the front door, he continued to berate himself for missing such an important clue.
Out of his peripheral vision Tank noticed Kern lift his nose and sniff.
"Yeah, I smell him," Tank said before Kern could comment.
Kern moved to the far side of the table, then crouched on the floor beside one of the chairs. "Tank."
Tank heard the dire tone in Kern's voice. Immediately, he skirted the table to see what his brother had found.
Red spots dotted the floor. Tank's heart slammed in his chest. He closed his eyes briefly and inhaled. Blood.
Tank muttered a curse. Once again, he'd missed something important.
Front door unlocked, glasses on the floor, unfinished hot chocolate for two, the presence of a male in her house, lights on but no one home and drops of blood on the kitchen floor beside the table could be explained as her leaving the house in a hurry. "Perhaps she'd cut herself." Tank heard the words leave his mouth, but inside he didn't believe them.
"I'll head upstairs and check things out from the inside this time," Kern said. "I may have missed something."
After Kern left, Tank returned to the living room and took in the entire room. He focused every sense he possessed to make sure he didn't falter a third time.
Though he did catch the man's cologne once again, nothing seemed out of place. But, his instincts insisted something was definitely wrong.
Making a final visual sweep, Tank noticed a long, wool coat on a coat rack standing beside the front door.
"Nothing up there indicating a problem," Kern said coming down the stairs.
Tank heard Kern speak, but seeing her coat stole his thoughts away from acknowledging the statement. The weather outside was downright frigid, yet Sonya's coat remained in the house. Her purse lay beside it on a small table.
Making a beeline for the coat, he grasped it in both hands. With each discovery, his insides churned out of worry. But, as with the situation with the dreams, he didn't know what to do.
Tank brought the material to his nose and inhaled deeply, not caring Kern stood in the room. A slight jingle made him pause. Reaching into one of the pockets, he found a set of keys. Opening the front door wider, he inserted one into the lock. The lock turned. These were Sonya's house keys, he thought grimly.
Yes, something was definitely wrong. Too many signs had all the indications of abandonment. Even if she'd cut herself and whoever had been here with her had taken her to the hospital, he doubted she'd have left without a coat or her purse.
Tank growled low in his throat. It was all becoming clear. In the dreams she'd been in trouble. Some male had her, was harming her, and she'd called out to him for help. Rage boiled inside, forcing his fangs to extend amid a venomous hiss.
"Okay, am I missing something here?"
Tank noticed the warrior move to the other side of the room as if putting distance between them, but he couldn't control the beast inside's restlessness.
"Someone has her. That's the reason for the dreams. The one I had this morning was worse than all the others..." Letting his voice trail off, he began frantically searching the room.
"What are you looking for?"
"Something to help find out who this male is. He has her. She was in bad shape in my last dream. There's not much time. I have to find her, now!"
The phone in the kitchen rang just as Robyn finished moving her plastic, colored game piece on the board game she, Rosa and Marie played. She hopped out of her chair to answer it.
"Sorry, Robyn," Marie laughed, "I just landed on your man, and you have to return home."
"Gee, thanks," Robyn with feigned disappointment as she grabbed the phone from the kitchen counter. "Hello?"
"Hey, babe."
Trigg's warm, sexy voice sent shivers through her body.
"Hey," she returned, intentionally drenching it in a sensual tone. The low growl she heard on the other end of the line made her chuckle. As always, they were on the same wavelength, she mused.
"Get a room, you two," she heard Vane yell in the background.
Expletives muffled from where Trigg had obviously covered the phone with his hand had her laughing harder.
"We finished early in Bardstown. The bloodsuckers didn't put up much of a fight. We're on our way back. Is Tank around or has he taken the twits out already?"
"Oh, stop it," Robyn teased. "Yeah, he's out with them and Kern. Tank was really out of sorts this evening. He'd had another dream about Sonya, but this one seemed to disturb him more than the others, so he went to her house to check things out."
"We'll head over there and catch up with them. Do you know the address?"
"No, I don't know where she lives. Tank didn't say."
"Robyn, I can call Kern on his cell to get the address and directions. Hold on," Marie said while scooting her chair away from the table. Robyn waited while her friend sprinted up the stairs to her room, then returned with a cell phone held to her ear.
"Hey, sweetheart. Trigg's on the line with Robyn and says he and Vane are heading back. Seems they got finished earlier than planned. He wants to know where Sonya lives so they can catch up with y'all."
Robyn repeated the address Marie called out to Trigg, but the sudden change of expression on Marie's face stopped her.
"What's wrong?"
"Kern says to let Trigg and Vane know there may be a problem. Tank's pretty primed right now because Sonya's not there. Tank thinks something's happened to her."
Robyn returned her focus to her conversation with Trigg, and while she finished passing on the information Kern had relayed to Marie, she watched Marie snap her phone closed and place it on the kitchen table.
"I love you," Robyn told Trigg. She seriously did love the man. More than she ever thought possible. She listened to him practically purr on the other end on the line before the call disconnected.
Seeing Rosa staring wide-eyed at her, Robyn laid out what she knew of the situation. "Trigg and Vane are on their way to meet up with them. I'm sure between the three of them they can get Tank calmed down and figure out what's going on. Oh yeah, I heard Vane yell in the background to tell you he's hungry."
Rosa snorted. "Yeah, I know. He's already sent me some rather hot vibes while you two were on the phone making goo-goo noises to your guys."
Knowing there was nothing they could do about the situation, Robyn decided to return to the game. "So, who's turn is it?"
"Vane and Trigg are on their way back. I gave this address to Marie and she said they were going to meet us here. Perhaps we could..."
Tank had barely gotten his mind shifted from worry over Sonya not being here to the information Kern relayed when Nathan burst through the door.
"Tank, uh, Commander."
Tank turned to scowl at him. "I thought I gave orders for you and Eric to wait at the SUV?"
"Yes, sir, but we spotted a couple of Rogues down the street. They turned about a block from here. Two human females with them, but they looked pretty out of it. The Rogues were practically dragging them along."
"What do you want to do, brother? I could take Nathan and Eric and check it out. We can't let them finish off the humans," Kern asked.
Tank blew out a long breath and raked a hand over his short, military styled hair. He had worked himself into a tirade, but didn't know for
sure something had actually happened to Sonya. There was still the possibility she'd been injured and had simply rushed out without her coat and purse. He knew he couldn't ignore the situation with the Rogues and their victims. Especially if he was wrong about why Sonya wasn't at home.
"There's nothing else we can do here. We'll return after we take care of the Rogues." The idea of Sonya being injured compounded all his worries. Tank struggled for calm and sent up a silent prayer that when they did return, he'd find Sonya safe and sound in her bed.
They filed out the door and piled into the SUV. Nathan pointed out the street the Rogues had taken as Tank drove down the block.
The road wound up a hill. Tank knew immediately where the Rogues were headed--the old sanatorium. Since he'd been in the city during the time the hospital operated, he knew its history well. It sat alone at the top of the hill. No doubt a frequent haunt of Rogues, but this wasn't his territory. He had enough to deal with downtown.
"Should I contact the Cell responsible for this part of the city?" Kern asked reaching for his phone.
Tank shook his head. "No, we can handle it. If they think we're stepping on their toes, they'll just have to get over it. We happen to be in the area and are following up on an observation. If we find there are more Rogues than we can take down, then we'll call it in."
Recalling Kern saying Vane and Trigg were meeting up with them at Sonya's house, Tank pointed to Kern's pocket.
"Better call Vane or Trigg and let them know where we're headed."
Tank slowed the SUV to a stop at a rusty gate and noticed a lock dangled from a thick chain. Lifting his gaze, he took in the large building looming in the background, engulfed in shadows as if waiting for them.
Opening the driver's side door, he got out. While the SUV's headlights shown on the gate and the lock holding it tightly closed, he grasped the thick metal chain in both hands and yanked. The little effort it took to snap the chain in half didn't surprise him. He let it fall to the ground.
After pushing open the gates and ignoring the squeak of the rusty hinges, he returned to the SUV where he drove through then waited while Kern closed them so nothing looked out of the ordinary.