by Diane Darcy
“I hope so.”
Vince Ramsey stepped into the caravan.
Lena swallowed and glanced at the other door, considering making a run for it. “Are you looking for advice about your love life, your work, or your future?”
He smiled at her, a charming lift of his lips. “You don’t already know?”
She chuckled. “Let’s see if I can divine. I’d say you’d like to know about your future, wouldn’t you?”
“Wow! You are actually 100% correct.”
“Don’t sound so surprised. It is my job, after all.”
Since he hadn’t shut the door, she indicated the chair for him to sit down, and as he seated himself, she noticed a head poke up just inside the doorway.
It was Ethan Trask, no doubt coming to see if she had his fifty dollars. And darn it, she’d forgotten to get it from William.
No matter, she now had enough cash on her that she was able to pay the boy, and William could just pay her back later.
A moment later, Logan Duffy poked his head in and out so fast that she almost didn’t see him.
The boys would have to wait until she was done. Hopefully sooner, rather than later. But having them there made her feel safe.
She held out her hand, and Vince offered his own. Before she’d even taken it, she realized it was happening again. A faint glow lit up his fate line.
She stared at his hand for a long moment.
“What is it? My life line?”
“No, your fate line.” She didn’t tell him it was glowing, but she did find it interesting in another way. “It’s broken.”
His eyes lit with excitement. “Go on.” He gestured his hand toward her and she reluctantly took it.
His hand was very soft in comparison to William’s. She ran her finger down his palm several times wondering if she would get a flash of insight like she had with Carter regarding his car accident.
She was surprised when she actually did!
She saw him on the outside of a cage, and on the other side was a terrified girl.
She recognized her. It was Addison Stansberry, locked up and terrified.
Another flash showed this man sticking his arm in the cage, and on the other side was a creature that he seemed to be enticing to bite him.
She jerked her hand away, dropping his and her startled gaze met his sardonic one.
“You have Addison Stansberry in a cage.”
His eyes and smile widened. “My goodness, you are good, aren’t you?”
He laughed and, faster than thought, had a knife in his hand and was leaning across the table and pressing it against her sternum.
“Miss DeVille, I find myself in need of your particular talents.”
“You need a psychic? Maybe a psychiatrist would be a better fit.”
“Oh, you’re hilarious.”
She glanced at the doorway, hoping to see the boys ducking their heads in once again, but all she saw were thinning crowds walking around, and nobody was looking their way.
Even if they did, he had the knife flat to the table, and she doubted anyone would know anything was wrong.
She needed a new customer to come in or the boys, but that didn’t look very likely at the moment.
“Here’s what’s going to happen.” His expression was almost feral, joyful. “We are going to walk down the road, and around the corner to my car. If you scream out, I’m going to kill you. I want you to look at me, and tell me whether you think that’s true or not. What do you see in your own future, Ms. DeVille?”
She tried not to show fear. “Every girl knows that if you let a villain move you to another location, you’re dead anyway.”
“A villain? Well as I’m actually the hero of this story, you’ve no cause for concern. Anyway, as I’m hoping your boyfriend will pay us a visit, I want you kept safe and sound. You are going to be the bait that makes sure he arrives on time.”
She glared at him, feeling very protective of William.
“Don’t you see? It would definitely not be in my best interest to kill you when I have you where I want you.” He lifted one shoulder. “However, if you don’t fall in with my plans, then I’m not going to need you, and I won’t hesitate to hurt you.”
“Ah, there he is, the madman,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone.
“I’m not mad, my dear. And you will have a front row seat to see how very sane I am when the moment comes.”
“What about Addison? Have you hurt her?”
“No, I have not. Addison is the key to my plans, however. She will not be hurt in the slightest, and by this time tomorrow night I expect she’ll be back in the arms of her loving family.”
“You want her to bite you, don’t you? You think she’s a werewolf, and you think she can give you eternal life.”
He grinned. “No, not stupid at all.”
“Mr. Ramsey. You’ve got to see that this is insane.”
“Insane, or not, I’m doing it. If I’m wrong, then you can be the first one to gloat when that time comes. Just don’t expect me to hold back when you’re proven wrong.”
Vince looked out the caravan door, and then in a lightning fast move, he stood and pulled her forward, wrapped an arm around her, and placed the knife against her side once more.
“How about it? Shall we take a walk?”
Lena could feel her heart pounding hard in her chest, and pressed as she was against him, she wondered if he could feel it as well.
She lifted her chin, and hoped she looked unafraid. “Let’s.”
Chapter 17
William was talking with Sophia at the front desk, when he got a call on his phone from Berkeley.
“Excuse me. I need to take this call.”
“You do that, and you find that girl, William. Missing tourists are bad for business.”
Sophia swung away and William did as well, walking across the lobby to stand near the casino as he took the call. “What have ye got?”
“Nothing on the Stansberry girl yet, but I have an interesting phone call on the other line.”
“What is it?”
“A kid by the name of Ethan Trask claims ye owe him fifty dollars,” Berkeley’s amusement was apparent.
That rang a bell, and he remembered talking to Lena about it earlier. He’d forgotten to give her the money. “Have him come here, and he’ll be paid.”
“He hung up. Wait a minute, here’s Quinn.”
Quinn got on the line. “I’ve got a call from a kid saying he has some information about the kidnapping of Lena DeVille. He says this will cost more than fifty dollars.”
Lena had been kidnapped? How had he and his team missed that? He should have kept better watch over her. He tightened his hand into a fist.
“Transfer the call to me,” William instructed.
The phone rang once and then connected. “This is William Murray, head of security.”
“This is Ethan Trask.” The young man’s voice was excited and slightly breathless, as if he’d been running.
“I understand I owe ye some money, and ye have more information for me?” William said the words in a steady tone, but his heart was racing in his chest. Was Lena in danger? And if so, who did he have to kill to get her back?
“When me and Logan went out to get our fifty dollars from Lena, we saw Vince Ramsey take her out of that gypsy wagon, and it looked like he was holding a knife on her.”
“Where are ye now?”
“Uh-uh. If you want to know where she’s at, it’s going to cost you,” the boy said in a rush.
“How much?” William fingered the keys in his pocket. A growl sprang to his lips but he held himself in check. He couldn’t afford to scare the kid away. Lena’s safety was at stake.
“It’s going to cost you,” the boy said again, and then seemed to whisper to someone else. “It’s going to cost you a thousand dollars.”
“Done.”
“You promise?” The boy’s voice had risen in pitch.
“Ye have
my word. Now where is she?”
“We’re on 4th Street. By the Gold Spike. We can see them getting in a car right now. He’s making Lena drive, and he definitely has a knife on her.”
“Has he seen ye?”
“No,” there was an inhalation of breath, “I mean, I don’t know. Maybe he just did.”
William sent a quick text to his team, and was out the door and calling for his car a few seconds later. “Can ye follow them?”
“We brought a car, but it’s over in the parking garage.”
“Stay out of sight and follow on foot as long as ye can. I’ll stay on the line and ye let me know the direction they take.”
“Okay, okay. Should I call the police?”
“Absolutely not.”
William took the next car that pulled up to valet parking. The owner of the car protested and William grunted at the man before speeding away. Time was of the essence. He’d straighten things out later.
They weren’t that far away, and if he knew what direction Ramsey was heading, there was a chance he could intercept them.
“What kind of car was it?”
“I don’t know, some lame four door. Dark color, could’ve been gray, or something.”
“They just turned onto Stewart Avenue!” William could hear the boys pounding feet as they ran after the car.
A moment later, they were back on the phone. “They just turned right, past Main Street Station. We’ll keep running after them, but I don’t think we can catch them.”
William the clutched the steering wheel as he sped down the road.
A group of people walked out in front of him and William had to slam on the brakes. Several flipped him off and he nosed forward into the crowd, several smacked his car with their fists and yelled more abuse.
Once he got through the tangle of people, he sped down the road again.
He was searching the interiors of cars as he went, looking for a female driver with a passenger next to her. Nothing.
He turned down another road, and another, and was cursing himself for perhaps going down the wrong road.
He picked up the phone again. “Any sign of her?”
He could hear Ethan Trask’s heavy breathing. “No. We got to the end of the road, but we can’t see her anymore.”
“Thank ye for sticking with her. Call me back if ye find out anything.”
“Okay!”
William hung up the phone, and called Lena’s phone number, but it just went to voicemail.
He called Vince Ramsey next, and the same thing happened.
A strange hollowed out feeling spread through William’s chest. He banged his fist on the steering wheel and immediately got another call. A glance told him it was from Quinn.
“What do ye know?” William asked him.
“Nothing. We’re behind ye right now.”
“All right spread out, I’ll take Main Street, ye take First, and is that Alastair behind ye? Have him drive down Ogden.”
Ten minutes later, they met back where they’d started. Not a single sighting. It was like Lena and Ramsey had vanished. If he’d taken the Interstate, how were they going to find her?
William dialed his phone and left a message for Ramsey. “If anything happens to Lena, yer life is forfeit. I will kill ye in the worst possible way. Ye have my word on that.”
He sent the message, and then jumped out of his car to go and meet with his men.
“What do we do, boss?” Quinn asked.
“We call Ramsey.”
Chapter 18
Lena had been scanning traffic, half expecting William to just know she was in danger and show up to save the day. Unfortunately, that hadn’t happened, so she was on her own.
Once she hit the freeway, she had spent some time considering swerving into other cars or slamming on the brakes and throwing Vince forward. She finally settled on the decision that if he was taking her to the Stansberry girl, then she needed to go.
Knowing his crazy plan, she suspected Vince had been telling the truth about his intent not to hurt either one of them. He obviously wanted something from William, and if Vince harmed either one of them, William would eat him for lunch.
Thoughts of him being a werewolf flooded her mind. If Vince was right, that could be literal.
Ramsey’s phone buzzed. He glanced at it and laughed. “It looks like your boyfriend knows you’re missing. Some boys seemed to be watching us, but I didn’t figure they’d know who to call.”
He shrugged. “No matter. He won’t find us. I left your phone in the caravan so he can’t track you.”
“Yeah, thanks for leaving the caravan open, by the way. My phone will probably get stolen.”
Ramsey laughed. “That would help me out. Murray can follow the thief all around town! I’ll call your boyfriend when I’m good and ready.”
“You mean when you’re ready to be immortal? Gotcha.”
Vince laughed again. “Say what you will, but you’ll know the truth soon enough.”
They traveled down the road for a few more miles, and then Vince directed her to get off the highway.
“You want to tell me where we’re going?”
Ramsey shrugged. “Why not? A friend of mine owns some property. I’ve set up some cages in there, and there’s one with your name on it.”
Lena shuddered and considered once again attempting to crash the car.
“There, there, dear.” His tone was soothing, as if he spoke to an easily spooked animal. “Not to worry, I’ve promise not to hurt you, and I won’t. You are only here to lure William in when the time is right.”
“You’d better not have hurt that girl.”
“Don’t you worry, she’s just fine, and I suspect having you in the cage next to hers will only calm her down.”
Right. Because seeing another person in a cage is so soothing? “You’ve most likely traumatized her for life.”
“I can tell you this, I’ve made her as comfortable as possible. She is after all about to become my mother.”
“Eww!” and a wince, slipped out before Lena could think better of it. “I’m sure a teenage girl is going to enjoy having a forty-year-old man call her, Mom.”
Vince shot a glare in her direction. “I’m thirty-four. And I’m not planning to get any older.”
He directed her down a path that led under the highway, and toward a more commercial looking area, with storage sheds and such.
She was hopeful that in an area like this there might be somebody around, but she couldn’t see anyone. Not only that, but they’d bypassed most of civilization. Once they were further away from everything, he led her down another dirt road to a building set off by itself.
The situation couldn’t get much creepier.
Thinking of a scared teenage girl locked up in such a location had her burning with rage. “You’re such a jerk! I can’t imagine how traumatized Addison must be.”
“Addison is stronger than you think. I explained everything to her, so she knows I mean her no harm.”
“Yeah, right. I’m sure she felt very understanding.”
Lena parked in front of the dark building at the end of the dirt road, and Vince took the keys out of the ignition and slipped them into his pocket before getting out of the car. He left his door open and rounded the vehicle to open the driver’s door for her.
He grinned and held out his free hand. “I bet you thought you could lock me out of the car and drive away, didn’t you?”
She smiled sweetly at him. “It never crossed my mind.”
He laughed. Now he was the one to say, “Yeah, right.”
He shut her door and gave her a bit of a shove toward the small building. He pulled a ring with two keys out of his pocket and handed it to her. “If you’ll do the honors.” He gestured toward the padlock on the door.
She considered throwing the keys, but opened the door instead, wanting to see if Addison was really inside. When the door swung wide, he gave her a shove inside.
; At the far end of the building a light shone dimly. Suddenly a girl sprang into view, accompanied by the sound of chains rattling. “Hello?” called the girl.
Vince flipped on the light, illuminating the entire area, and the girl behind the bars let out a soft sob. “Oh my gosh! Are you William Murray’s girlfriend?”
The jury was still out on that, but she simply said, “I am.”
“Vince said he was going to get you, and he did.” The girl started to cry. “I’m so sorry. I was hoping he wouldn’t find you and his plan would fall apart.”
Lena did a quick study of the room. There were two cages right next to each other, and Addison was in one of them. Addison’s had chains running from the top of the cage, and then bolted into the cement on four sides. What was that about?
She noted there was light coming into the room, and she glanced up at the ceiling to see a skylight had been installed in the roof, and that she could see the moon overhead.
At least there was some light. She glanced over at Addison, to see the girl looking a little rough around the edges, her gaze now fixed on the moon.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Addison said, her gaze unwavering.
“Addison!” She said the girl’s name sharply, because the way she was looking at the moon, the longing in her expression, was freaking Lena out just a little bit.
The girl’s gaze jerked over to her. “Sorry about that.” The tension drained from Addison’s body, and she grabbed her pillow and held it over her head. So she could block the moon?
Lena decided not to ask. This was all too weird for her. She wasn’t going to ask about werewolves, wasn’t going to believe in it, and so she kept her mouth shut.
Vince gave her another shove, and she was seriously tempted to turn on him and take her chances against the knife.
Would that she had the powers everyone seemed to think she did.
“You’re sure you’re okay?” Lena asked the young girl.
Addison lifted the pillow and sat up to cling to the bars, looking pathetic, but she finally nodded her head. “He hasn’t hurt me or anything. But being locked in here is creepy, and there are spiders.”