Slade turned with a sigh.
“What did you see?” Miles asked, looking between the two men.
Sid warned Slade with his eyes to be careful what he said. “Not much, but she is fighting back.”
“What do you mean fighting back?” Miles tone took a protective fatherly tone.
“Vampires can read people’s minds, their thoughts,” Slade explained. “Sid saw only flashes that he couldn’t make out. This time I saw Caroline fighting against something. She was trying to tell me something.”
“Does this make any sense to you, Mom?” Miles looked to his mother.
“Yes, it does.” She glanced at Caroline. “It means she is strong, but whoever has her, has more power and is holding her back.”
“So this has nothing to do with the officer who broke her away from the girl she was reading?” Miles asked, wanting answers.
“No, but it’s something I’ve never seen before. Someone strong is holding her captive.” she answered, shaking her gray head looking more tired than she had a second ago. “I don’t know how to help her.”
Miles grabbed his mother’s hand offering comfort, but turned his attention to Sid. “Is there anything we can do?” Miles again looked between the two men. “Anything at all?”
“I’ve already texted Adam, but he hasn’t responded,” Sid told Slade before Slade could ask. “He may be able to break past whoever is blocking her. Adam is pretty powerful reading through blocks.”
“Okay, great.” Miles looked hopeful. “Where is he?”
“We don’t know, but I will find him and get him here.” Sid grabbed Miles’ shoulder. “Whatever it takes, I will get him here.”
“Thank you both,” Miles nodded before gently clasping his mother’s elbow. “You spend as much time as you need to here. I need to get Mother back. These trips are hard on her.”
The nurse brought the files to Slade who got busy flipping through them.
Sid nodded, smiling down at the older woman. “It was nice meeting you.”
“Take care of my Lana, young man,” she ordered with a pat on his arm.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, watching them leave.
As soon as they were gone, Slade looked up from the files, closing them. “She isn’t reliving anyone’s death,” Slade frowned. “Someone has her trapped in her own mind.”
“What?” Sid shook his head, not understanding any of this at all.
“Whoever has the block on her released it long enough for her to give a warning to Lana.” Slade ran his hand through his hair. “Whoever it is wants Lana in return for Caroline’s release. She wants to warn Lana not to read anyone else because he is waiting. Whoever it is tried to block that last part, but she’s a fighter. We need Adam to break the block completely.”
“Son of a bitch,” Sid cursed, as he looked over at the unblinking stare of Lana’s twin.
******
Lana stared at her reflection and grinned. “Hello, Linda Lovelace.” Her long dark hair was covered with a short blonde wig. She had made her blue eyes up to look smoky and sensual. Instead of a dress, she wore blue jeans with black-heeled boots and a low-cut blouse under a leather jacket.
“Who?” Jill walked into Lana’s bedroom, getting a good look at Lana. “Wow!” she laughed.
“It’s my undercover persona,” Lana laughed, glancing at Jill through the mirror. “And talk about wow…you look great.”
Jill’s hair had been colored, the blue tints washed away and cut into a stylish spikey cut. Her makeup was playful, but seductive. She drew the line at a dress because if it came down to it, she didn’t want to fight with her ass hanging out. She also wore jeans with boots, but with a shorter heel than Lana’s. Her red shirt was tight-fitting with long bat-winged sleeves. She looked ready for a night of dancing and fun.
“You really think so?” Jill looked down at herself with a frown.
“Definitely,” Lana nodded.
“Hey, is anyone home?” A female voice came from the front door.
“We’re in here, Susan,” Lana yelled, grabbing her bag, and headed out with Jill following.
“Well, hello Linda,” Susan grinned.
“Hello to you, Amy,” Lana teased back.
Jill just looked at them like they were crazy.
“Jill, this is Susan in her undercover persona, aka Amy.” Lana laughed at Jill’s confused expression.
“Well, since you confused the shit out of me, hopefully I won’t have to remember all of this tonight. Why don’t we get going?” Jill headed for the door when the doorbell rang.
“That’s probably Sid and Slade.” Lana walked to the door. “They said they’d meet us here to go over everything.”
Opening the door, Lana smiled when Sid glanced at her, before he took a step back looking at the house, then back at her.
“It’s me, Sid.” Lana rolled her eyes.
He glanced behind her at Susan. “Now, her I know.” He looked Lana up and down. “But you I’ve never met.”
“Come in. We’re just about ready.” Lana stepped back so they could walk in the door. Both men had to duck so as not to hit their heads.
Jill walked out of the bathroom just as Slade entered. Their eyes met and held before his slowly went from her eyes down her body and back up.
“Did you wire her?” Susan asked, giving a wave to Sid and a smile to Slade who was still staring at Jill.
“Damn, I forgot,” Lana frowned, going to the closet and pulling out a small suitcase. Grabbing what she needed out of it, she headed to Jill. “Pull up your shirt for a sec.”
Sid frowned. “Who’s running this show?”
“You, but we thought if she gets separated, at least we can still be in contact with her, plus we can hear the conversations,” she replied, pulling tape and running the wire up Jill’s flat stomach. “Reach down your shirt and grab the wire,” she instructed.
“We’re vampires, Lana.” Sid reminded her. “We can hear fine.”
“Well, Susan and I are human and can’t, and we will be closer to her than you guys.” Lana pulled Jill’s shirt down. “Go in the other room, Susan.” She tossed her a small earpiece.
“Why are you going to be closer to her?” Sid crossed his arms, his eyes on the way Lana’s ass filled out her jeans.
“How does that feel?” she asked Jill.
“Fine.” Jill nodded, her eyes staying on Lana and off Slade.
Susan walked out of the kitchen. “Heard her loud and clear.”
“Good.” Lana grabbed two more earpieces and handed them to Sid and Slade.
Slade looked at the earpiece before walking away without taking it. He walked up to Jill, putting his large hands around her waist and ran them around to her stomach and up under her breast.
“What are you doing?” Jill pushed his hands away.
“I can feel the wire.” Slade’s hands reached under her shirt, touching bare skin. Heat flared in his eyes. “I need to move this to the side where your arm can rest against the wire. If anyone touches you, they will know you’ve been wired.”
Jill nodded, her eyes pleading with Lana to save her. Lana shrugged with a wink. “Better safe than sorry.”
“Stop sucking in your stomach, Jill.” Slade un-taped the wire, moving it over. It caught on her breast under her bra.
“Sorry.” Jill reached inside her shirt, adjusting her boob, and wanted to die.
Once he was done, he stepped back, looking at her shirt. “Where’s the blue?”
She looked down at her shirt confused. “It’s red.”
His lips curved in a crooked grin. “Your hair.” His voice was low and deep. “Not your shirt.”
“Oh.” Her hand fluttered to her hair. “Thought I needed to look more…normal.”
“That was your normal.” Slade frowned, “Change it back after tonight.”
Lana’s eyes widened hearing their conversation. Glancing at Jill, she saw she was just as surprised as she watched Slade walk away.
“What are you doing?” Sid leaned against the closed door.
“Getting ready.” Lana crossed her arms like him.
“That’s not what I meant,” Sid shook his head. “We don’t want any suspicion directed toward Jill. It could blow everything.”
“Give me some credit, Sid.” Lana glared at him. “This is my job and I’m good at it. You need someone close to her while this is going on. Susan and I are good at what we do.”
Sid was quiet for a minute just staring at her. “Just be careful, Lana.”
“It’s Linda,” Lana’s smile flashed wide. “Linda Lovelace, and if you’re nice, Linda will give you a special treat.”
Sid laughed, pulling her to him. “I’d rather have Lana Fitzpatrick give me anything she damn well pleases.”
“What? You don’t like the blonde wig?” Lana teased, shaking her head making her hair bob.
“Oh, you look beautiful, but if I wanted a Linda, I’d go find a Linda. Lana seems to be more to my liking.” Sid kissed her hard. “Watch your ass, Lana, and stay safe.”
“You do the same, Warrior.” Lana realized she liked being worried over by this Warrior.
Chapter 21
Metropolis was packed to the max. Everyone had driven separately to avoid suspicion. Jill followed Susan’s car that carried both Lana and Susan. Slade followed on his bike and Sid brought up the rear. They went their separate ways as soon as they hit the parking lot, but Lana stayed close to Jill. One of the worries they had was Adam spotting and recognizing Lana, but the night he had seen Lana and Susan, he had been in a rage.
Sid and Slade parked and immediately split up. Duncan, Jared and Damon were already in place in different spots inside the dance club. Sid spotted Jill making her way in the door. She was to meet Adam inside. Lana and Susan were two people behind Jill. His trained eyes scanned the crowd just to make sure Adam wasn’t running late and was already inside the club. They all had to keep their minds closed so Adam couldn’t get a sense they were there. Pulling out his phone, he checked his texts. He had one from Jared saying they had Adam in their sights.
“Show time,” Sid said to himself as he made his way up to the door to pay. Walking in, he turned to the right, heading up the steps to the upper level that overlooked the dance floor. Making his way through tons of people, he ignored the inviting looks from the women, which was new. Even in operations like this, his eyes took in the candy being offered to him. Tonight, he couldn’t care less.
Finding a spot along the rail, Sid’s eyes scanned the crowd, pin pointing where everyone was. He finally found Lana and Susan standing a few feet away from Jill and Adam, who were standing by the bar. Adam kept looking around, and so far, he hadn’t detected any of them. Sid looked back to Lana, who was staring up at him. She looked away quickly doing the same thing he had done, locating where everyone was. He always had his eye out for his fellow Warriors, but this new worry over Lana was new to him and set him on edge. He had never feared anything before, but with Lana, he feared something happening to her, and that had his senses on high alert. Half an hour passed and still no one approached.
Adam put his phone to his ear, nodded as he talked then put his phone back in his pocket. He grabbed Jill’s hand, leading her out onto the dance floor. A popular song was playing, so the crowd doubled. As they began to dance, Lana and Susan set their untouched drinks on the bar and headed out, making sure to keep a small distance from Jill.
Sid’s eyes searched the crowd, but kept going back to Lana, who moved her body in perfect time with the music. Fuck, how the hell was he supposed to keep his mind on the job when she was down there moving that perfect body, making it jiggle and wiggle in all the right places? Glancing at Jared, who was stationed directly across from him, he narrowed his eyes at the bastard’s knowing grin. After scratching his cheek with his middle finger, Sid ignored him.
A man came up behind Lana, moving behind her like he was humping her ass. Sid saw red. Watching her dance away, the guy kept grinding toward her. By just watching her facial expression, he knew she didn’t want to make a scene, but the guy was pissing her off. Hell, pissing her off? His grip on the railing made indention marks. A couple standing next to him moved away after hearing him growl.
“Get a grip, Sinclair,” he ordered himself. Susan was having a hard time keeping guys off her, also.
Finally, there was movement toward Adam and Jill. An unfamiliar man made his way to Adam. Something exchanged hands, but Adam grabbed the man’s arm, holding on, and Sid knew he was reading him. The man pulled away, giving Adam a push before he turned to Jill with a friendly grin and began dancing with her. The music changed, as did the lighting. Strobe lights flashed making it hard to track Jill; she was on the move. Lana and Susan were slightly behind them, and that was when everything turned to shit. Sid leapt from the top level to the dance floor below.
******
Lana loved to dance, but hated dancing when she was undercover, since she couldn’t make a damn scene and punch the guy in the nuts who was grinding into her ass. It was messing up her focus. She could barely hear Jill and Adam’s conversation over the music and people, but what she did hear was Adam ordering her to follow through with whatever happened and he would make sure she was safe. Jill did great by not giving Adam any indication that there were seven others there watching her back.
Spotting a man making his way toward Adam, Lana watched closely, making sure it wasn’t just someone heading to the bar. When he stopped and discretely passed an envelope to Adam, the man turned, smiling at Jill, who smiled back and began dancing. Lana watched as Adam made his way off the dance floor, disappearing into the crowd. Her eyes made contact with Sid, who was watching the scene.
The music changed as the lights went dark followed by strobe lights. Motion was broken up by the lights, making it hard to see anything in real time. The man had finished whispering something to Jill, who nodded, took his hand and then headed off the dance floor opposite to where Adam disappeared. Lana danced, turning away from them as they came toward her and Susan’s way. As soon as they passed, she gave one nod at Susan. Before she could take one-step after Jill, a man stepped in her path, blocking her.
“Watch out!” Lana tried to get around him, but he stepped in her way again, grabbing her arm in a hard pinching grip.
“Come with me,” the man demanded, dragging her through the crowd.
“Get the hell off me.” Lana started to reach for her gun.
“Do you want to help your sister?” The man glared down at her.
That stopped Lana’s struggles. “What do you know of my sister?” she shouted over the crowd and music. She stopped Susan, who finally pushed through the crowd.
He looked around before looking down at her. “Come with me.”
“Go after Jill,” Lana told Susan, staring at the guy. She had to take a chance if this man could tell her anything about her sister. She didn’t know who he was, but he obviously knew her. “Go!”
Susan hesitated for a second longer before taking off and pushing through the crowd.
Lana let the man lead her off the dance floor. Turning, she looked up to find Sid, but he was gone. Dammit, she hoped she wasn’t making a big mistake. They headed toward the back of the club, stopping in front of one of the men’s bathrooms. A man stood outside the door, pushing it open.
Something stopped Lana from going in. She dug her heels, refusing to move forward. “Who are you?”
The man who held her made eye contact with the guy at the door. They both grabbed her, pushing her into the bathroom. “Here she is, now where’s our money?”
Lana glanced around. There were three men in the bathroom: two very large vampires and a shorter man who was facing a mirror over the sink. The short one had a long jacket with the hood pulled up. She had a bad feeli
ng she knew who he was, and when his voice echoed in the bathroom, she knew she was in deep shit.
“Lana, you’ve been keeping terrible company, but finally we find you alone.” The raspy voice was angry. “Your wig is hideous.”
“Shit. You’ve been following me?” Lana asked the obvious, while backing out of the bathroom, but was quickly stopped. “What do you want?”
“That’s a long list,” he replied, turning around and lifting the hood off his head. “But at the moment, this isn’t about what I want. My boss wants you and I’m about to deliver.”
“So this has nothing to do with my sister?” Lana wanted to kick her own ass so badly for deviating from the mission. She knew better, but her sister was her weakness.
“Oh, it has everything to do with your sister,” his voice cracked as he reached out toward her. “A life for a life.”
“Man, I just want my money.” The man who brought her into the restroom looked nervous. “I don’t want to be a part of this.”
“You already are, asshole.” Lana frowned at him, noticing for the first time he was human. Her eyes raked over him, then to her surroundings, wondering briefly where the hell Sid was. She had a feeling she was going to need him and soon.
“Shut up!” The man in the jacket screamed; his scarred face distorted in rage.
Everyone became deathly silent. The only sound was the noise from the music and crowd outside. “What do you know about my sister?” Lana hissed, her anger getting the best of her. She eyed the scarred man who Sid thought was Kenny. What Sid had told her about this man and what he did to Duncan’s mate made her itch to put a bullet between his eyes.
“Everything. I know everything about you and your sister.” His rage turned into a disfigured smile in the blink of an eye. “Come with me willingly and your sister will be released.”
Lana had no idea what in the hell he was talking about, but she didn’t trust him, that was for damn sure. She knew there was no way they would release her sister when her sister had the same gift as her. She may have made a stupid move, but she wasn’t stupid.
Sid (The Protectors Series) Book #4 Page 18