by Lynsay Sands
Right now he couldn’t even think of the woman without “little Thomas” perking up with interest. It was really rather disconcerting.
“I’m going to go get dressed,” he said brushing his fingers lightly down her back as he passed and smiling when she shivered in response. That was one good thing about all this; at least he wasn’t alone in his need. Inez wanted him just as badly, he knew. Thomas could smell her hunger for him in the pheromones pouring off her body every time he got near.
Thomas hurried from her room and into his own, passing through the door just as the phone began to ring. Turning to the bedside table, he snatched up the phone, saying a cheerful, “Yo?”
“Thomas?”
He stiffened at the urgency in Bastien’s voice. “Yes.”
“You have to get moving. You have to find Mother.”
Thomas felt his hand clench around the phone. “What’s happened?”
“We’ve been calling Mother on her cell phone,” Bastien said grimly. “None of us have been getting answers, but Etienne got the idea of trying during the daytime when she would be sleeping and couldn’t miss the call. He apparently checked the Internet last night and found out what time sunrise was in Amsterdam and then called fifteen minutes after that.”
Thomas waited, trepidation creeping up his back. He knew bad news was coming.
“The phone was answered this time,” Bastien said grimly. “But not by Mother. A man with a British accent answered. He cussed out Etienne for the constant calls we’ve all been making, told him to ‘bugger off’ and stop calling or he’d—I quote—‘Kill the bitch’ and then he hung up.”
Thomas sucked in a breath of combined rage and worry and then snatched up the knapsack he’d left lying on his bed and began dragging out fresh clothes one-handed. “I’m dressing right now. I’ll be on the street in three minutes. I’ll find her Bastien,” he vowed grimly.
Thomas didn’t wait for Bastien to say goodbye or hang up, but slapped the phone back in its cradle and snatched it back right away as he punched in Herb’s number.
“I’m heading out now,” he announced abruptly, not bothering with a greeting. “Can you check the coordinates again and get back to me if they’re different?”
The moment Herb agreed, Thomas said thanks and hung up.
“Inez!” he shouted as he whipped off his towel and dragged on a clean pair of jeans.
“Yes?”
He glanced up as she came rushing into the room, concern on her face.
“Are you ready?” Thomas asked, doing up his pants. “We have to move.”
“I’m ready,” Inez assured him, patting the purse hanging from her shoulder. “What’s happened?”
“Etienne got through on Aunt Marguerite’s phone,” he said as he grabbed the T-shirt he’d pulled out and tugged it on over his head. “Some guy answered and said if we didn’t stop calling he’d kill her. We have to find her before he does something to her.”
Inez nodded solemnly and he could feel her watching him as he pulled on a pair of socks and slipped his feet into a pair of casual Merrells.
“Do you think this man who answered Marguerite’s phone is the one who took control of me and wiped my memory?”
Thomas glanced sharply her way. Her voice had sounded vulnerable and she looked upset. He didn’t blame her. It would be very upsetting to know that someone had taken control of your mind and then wiped the memory of whatever had happened from your thoughts. Anything could have been done to her and she wouldn’t now know about it. Stepping in front of her, Thomas pulled her to his chest and rubbed her back soothingly.
“I don’t know,” he admitted softly and then said flatly, “But if he is, he’ll be sorry.”
Ten
“This is the spot.”
Inez looked slowly over the five or six restaurants in a row. Each had a grouping of tables and chairs outside. They were presently filled with people enjoying a late breakfast in the sunlight, or under the shade offered by the large umbrellas over each table.
Mouth thinning, she peered over the sea of faces, and then glanced up toward the sky where the sun shone brightly down, and finally to Thomas beside her. Worry drew her eyebrows together. He’d binged on six bags of blood before they’d left the hotel. He’d also pulled on a hat, sunglasses, and a long-sleeved shirt that was now buttoned all the way to the top to protect him as much as possible from the sun’s damaging rays, but she knew it wasn’t enough. He really shouldn’t be out here at all, but had refused to listen when she’d suggested going by herself.
Thomas’s refusal to even consider the suggestion had left her both upset and relieved. Inez was upset because she knew he really shouldn’t be out here, but relieved because after being controlled the night before, she feared it happening again and really didn’t want to go anywhere alone.
“I don’t see her,” Thomas said with frustration, and Inez turned her gaze back to the crowd, running her eyes more slowly over them, searching each table for Marguerite Argeneau.
“I don’t either,” she said at last. “But then if she’s being held against her will, they aren’t likely to take her out in public.”
“No,” Thomas muttered, his mouth tightening. “But whoever has her has her phone, and he shouldn’t be out here either.”
Inez glanced at him, eyebrows rising. “Why not?”
“He has to be immortal too,” he pointed out. “And most wouldn’t sit out in the sunlight like this.”
Inez opened her mouth to ask why it had to be an immortal, but then realized that with the whole mind-control thing, no mortal could keep an immortal where they didn’t want to be. That suggested that either Marguerite was dead, badly injured and without the strength necessary to take control of a mortal, or she was being held by an immortal who had a mortal working for him, and it was the mortal who had the phone and was seated here in the sun, eating a leisurely brunch. She was hoping it was the last option.
“The person with her phone could be anyone… If her phone is even still here,” she pointed out as his phone began to ring.
Thomas tugged the cell out of his pocket, flipped it open, listened, grunted an “okay,” and then slapped it closed.
“That was Herb. It’s still here,” he announced, slipping the phone back into his pocket.
Inez was silent, her eyes scanning the sea of faces, but she had no idea who she was looking for. “You’re going to have to call and see who answers the phone.”
“No,” Thomas said at once. “He threatened to kill Aunt Marguerite if we keep calling.”
“He can’t kill her if she isn’t here with him,” Inez pointed out reasonably. “And after you call and figure out who he is, you can read his mind to see where she is and we can go get her.”
“Not if he’s an immortal,” Thomas pointed out unhappily. “If he’s older than me, I won’t be able to read him.”
“But an immortal isn’t likely to be out here,” she argued.
“Not likely, no,” he agreed. “But not impossible. I’m here.”
“Yes, but—Never mind,” she interrupted herself. “We’ll call him and if he’s mortal, you read him and find out where she is. If he’s immortal and you can’t read him, we keep our distance and follow him back to wherever he’s staying.”
“What if he’s inside one of the restaurants instead of outside?” Thomas asked, his eyebrows threaded with worry.
Inez hesitated and then sighed. “We’ll have to take the chance.”
Thomas turned on her sharply, eyes flashing with anger.
“Surely if he was inside, the coordinates would have been on the next street over where the restaurant fronts are,” she pointed out quietly. “This is behind the buildings. And to safeguard things, I can call. My number won’t be on her phone. He won’t know it’s a family member. He might not blame her for it.” She let him think about that and then added, “It’s either that or we follow the phone around all day again and hope he goes somewhere where he’d be co
mpletely alone and we can figure out who he is, but I don’t think the chances of that are very good in a crowded city like Amsterdam.”
Thomas blew a weary breath out and then nodded once, grimly. “Make the call. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll think it’s a wrong number.”
Inez nodded solemnly and quickly punched in the number he rattled off, but didn’t press the button to start the call, instead she glanced at Thomas and said, “I think you should take one half of the restaurant tables and I should take the other half. If we positioned ourselves halfway along our portion of the restaurant seats, it would give us a better chance of hearing where the ring comes from when I call.”
Thomas nodded and abruptly turned away, only to immediately swing back. He gave her a quick, hard kiss and then growled, “Be careful.”
Inez smiled faintly as she watched him walk to the other end of the groupings of tables until he was at about the three-quarter point. She then moved herself to the quarter point and glanced down at her phone. The air was full of the sound of people talking and the clink of dishes, but there were no phones ringing at that moment. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the button to dial Marguerite’s number and then glanced up. A bare second later a phone began to ring, playing some sort of jazzy digital sound.
Eyes sharpening, Inez glanced quickly over the tables and was just skipping her gaze over one of the nearer tables when one of the young men seated there pulled something from his pocket. A cell phone. He peered at the caller ID, cursed and then muttered with disgust, “Stupid phone! It’s always ringing.”
“Why don’t you toss it or change the chip or something?” one of his buddies suggested.
The fellow with the phone shrugged. “Because until they shut it down it’s free calls for me, isn’t it?”
Inez snapped her phone closed and the ringing immediately stopped. She watched grimly as the young man slid the phone back in his pocket.
“He’s mortal,” Thomas growled as he joined her.
Inez nodded, but remained silent as he concentrated his gaze on the young man. Knowing he was reading him, she waited patiently, but bit her lip worriedly when she saw his expression turn down with displeasure. He didn’t like whatever he was learning. That couldn’t be good for Marguerite.
She glanced toward the table of men, eyes widening when she saw the one with the phone suddenly stand and murmur something to his friends and then head away from the table and toward them. Inez felt her alarm increase with every step he took toward them. It wasn’t the fact he approached so much as the fact that his face was oddly expressionless as he did. She suspected Thomas was controlling him.
“Thomas,” she hissed, afraid he intended to do something to the man right there in front of everyone. She’d seen him lose control in public the night before, and didn’t want to see it again. When he didn’t respond, she glanced nervously back to the young man, blinking as she realized he wasn’t approaching them at all, but walking past them.
“Grab us a table and order us both breakfast, please, Inez. I’ll be right back.”
“But——” She watched with concern as Thomas walked away around the corner after the mortal, then let her breath out on a sigh and turned to survey the busy tables. There were two available. One outside the nearest restaurant and one farther down by where Thomas had been standing when she’d placed the call. The farther one was in the shade, however, so Inez settled herself there. She took the seat that gave her the best view of the corner and then stared fixedly in that direction until a waitress appeared at her elbow, distracting her.
Inez took the menu offered, glanced over it quickly and ordered two full breakfasts and two cappuccinos and then returned to watching the corner as the woman left her alone. Thomas seemed to be gone a long time, but then that might have been just because she was worried. When she finally saw him coming back around the corner, he was alone and looked just as unhappy as he’d been when he left. He was also talking on his cell phone. To Bastien, no doubt, Inez thought as she watched him walk toward her.
Thomas finished his conversation and snapped his phone closed just as he reached the table.
“What happened?” she asked worriedly as he settled in the chair next to hers.
Thomas put his own phone away, even as he set a second one on the tabletop. “I got Marguerite’s phone back.”
Inez stared at it blankly and then glanced to Thomas to ask, “What about your aunt?”
“Good question,” he said wearily and then explained, “The mortal and a friend mugged Aunt Marguerite outside the Dorchester a couple days ago. Apparently, there were two cell phones in the purse, a sizeable bit of money, and credit cards. He took one phone, the buddy took the other, and they split the cash.”
“What about the credit cards?” Inez asked.
Thomas grimaced. “They’re just small-time thieves. They had no idea what to do with them. They tried to get their girlfriends to go out and run them up, but they’re obviously Canadian credit cards and both women are British, with British accents, and were afraid of getting caught. When they refused, the cards were tossed.
“Aunt Marguerite had about three thousand pounds in her purse,” he added dryly and cursed. “I’m forever warning her about carrying around large sums of money, but she just laughs and says, who could rob her? Well now she knows.”
“How did they rob her?” Inez asked. “Your people are supposed to be stronger and faster.”
Thomas shifted impatiently. “We’re stronger and faster, but even we can’t outrun motorcycles. He and the buddy apparently had a good thing going, riding along the street until they saw a woman who looked like she had money and appeared distracted. His buddy would steer the bike up onto the sidewalk, he’d hook his arm through the strap, and away they’d go.”
Inez stared at him wide-eyed.
“I gather they hurt one of the tourists they mugged, though,” Thomas went on. “She either got tangled up in, or wouldn’t let go of, the purse and got badly burned when they dragged her for a block or so before he had the sense to let go of it himself. A hurt tourist is a bad thing in London, a city where tourism is so lucrative. The police started hunting for them, so it seemed to him like a good idea to take the little windfall he’d got courtesy of Aunt Marguerite and split to Amsterdam for a while to mug tourists here.”
Inez sat back in her seat with dismay. “You mean we came here for——”
“Nothing,” he finished with a weary nod. “This whole trip to Amsterdam and playing hop-scotch across town tracking and chasing her cell phone has been a complete waste of time.”
Inez shook her head in slow dismay, but glanced to the side and sat back as the waitress appeared with their cappuccinos and breakfasts.
“Thank you,” she murmured, peering down at the breakfast before her. It looked and smelled delicious and despite her upset over what she’d just learned, Inez was positively starved. She hadn’t eaten since the airport the day before, which really wasn’t so long ago, but it felt like it was. A lot had happened in that time and between one thing and another, she’d used up a lot of energy since then as well.
Thomas closed his hand over hers and Inez glanced at him with surprise.
“Eat,” he murmured giving her hand a squeeze. “Bastien is arranging a flight back to London for us.”
Inez nodded and picked up her fork, relaxing a little when he picked up his own and dug in. Eating was also a sign of finding a lifemate, she recalled the delivery guy telling her, and Thomas was eating. He had also had a meal with her in the pub at the airport the day before; though, he’d only ordered breakfast for her when he’d arrived at the Dorchester—but, then, that had been an apology of sorts, she recalled and was amazed to realize this whole adventure had started little more than twenty-four hours ago. It felt like a lifetime had passed, Inez thought and then changed her mind. No, not really. It was strange, this day and a bit had passed quickly enough, but she felt like she’d known Thomas a lifetime.
&nb
sp; “I take it you like cats.”
Thomas glanced up from the black cat and two tabbies he was alternately petting, and smiled faintly. “I love them.”
Inez nodded with amusement and said, “And they seem to love you in return. We’ve picked up a new cat to trail us in each room.”
“Jealous?” Thomas asked with a grin.
Inez chuckled as he straightened and the three cats immediately began to twine around his legs, meowing plaintively at being abandoned. Shrugging mildly, she raised her gaze back to his face. Arching one eyebrow, she asked lightly, “Why would I care if you enjoy playing with pussy? I’ve only known you a day.”
Thomas’s eyes widened incredulously at the sally. When she then turned away and headed out of the room, he stepped carefully over the still-complaining cats and hurried after her. Thomas found Inez standing just inside the door of the next room, gaping up at the painted ceiling. Thomas didn’t even glance up. He’d been to the Kattenkabinet before and thought it was charming, that was why when he’d learned that Bastien hadn’t managed to book them on a flight until that evening, he’d suggested he and Inez tour around Amsterdam while they were here. He wanted to show her a bit of one of his favorite cities.
A night tour would have been better, of course. It wasn’t really in his best interests to stay out in the sun long, but Bastien had had enough blood delivered to the hotel to last for several days in the normal course of things. Thomas suspected he’d use up most of it in this one day and was now carrying a black collapsible cooler filled with several bags, enough to keep him going until they had to go back to the hotel to collect their things and head to the airport. They’d headed back to the hotel after their breakfast, stopping in a luggage shop on the way when Inez realized she had nothing in which to pack away all the things Bastien had ordered, purchased, and delivered to the hotel for her.