Saber

 

It was getting dark, the sky turning those blazing colors until it looked like the whole world was on fire. A pretty evening for an early dinner date. And the woman sitting across for me was picture perfect on top of it. She had blonde hair that gently curled down to her waist and pretty blue eyes. It helped that she was dressed in a tight black dress that stopped mid-thigh and wore heels that almost made her as tall as I was.

 

Almost.

 

Her plump red lips were curved upwards into a sultry smile as she watched me from across the table almost hungrily, like she was a strong, slinky predator and I was her prey. She couldn’t possibly know that I was immune to her charms. We were sitting outdoors at a little café that did great burgers, but also had all those crazy Californian options, too—vegetarian, vegan, organic, the whole nine yards. I liked the place for the burgers and the fries, but also because it was casual, but still sold alcoholic drinks.

 

“I’m glad you called,” the woman across from me, whose name was Dani something, said in a sultry tone.

 

“Me, too,” I told her, thought it was hardly for any reason she’d appreciate.

 

Earlier that day, I’d found her number buried in my pants’ pocket. It was kind of a miracle that it hadn’t been washed and I blamed that mostly on the fact that I’d spent the last day lounging around mostly naked with Renee.

 

At first when I found the slip of paper, I was fully prepared to throw it in the trash and never think of it again. But before I did, something occurred to me. This was the only person I knew up to this point who had actually seen Thomas York in person, seen his face. That made her the only eye witness to Renee’s stalker.

 

“I had kind of figured you were already seeing someone,” the woman continued, playing with the little umbrella in her drink. She’d gotten something fruity tasting that masked the two or three alcohols in it and I doubted she’d be able to have many more of them before she was completely tossed. Under normal circumstances, that would be fine with me, but tonight I needed this woman sober.

 

“Why’s that?” I asked, trying to think of a good way to segue into talking about Renee’s stalker.

 

She lifted a single, delicate shoulder. “You just didn’t seem all that interested. Most guys would have tried to get into my panties right then and there. But not you.”

 

I shrugged. “Maybe I wanted to take things slow.”

 

She laughed at me then, shaking her head a little so that her hair fanned about her shoulders and breasts. I had a feeling the tits were fake, though they looked lovely on her. “Slow? You don’t really look like you take things slow.” She lowered her eyes at me, letting her gaze drag across my body deliberately so that I knew she was checking me out.

 

I did my best not to sigh. “Alright. Then maybe I was worried that you weren’t going to be in town very long. After all, you were staying at a hotel.”

 

She thought about that for a moment before nodding her head. “That’s very true. But I was only staying there while they fumigated my apartment,” she explained.

 

“I see. Just long enough to meet a crazy stranger?” I prompted.

 

She laughed again. “You mean you?”

 

I smiled lazily at her. “No, not me. I’m not crazy, am I? I was talking about that man who hit on you at the hotel restaurant. You know, the redhead?”

 

For a moment, she just blinked, and I had this impression that she wasn’t very smart. That maybe she’d spent her entire life getting by on only her looks. Then she said, “Oh, him. Yeah, he was definitely creepy.”

 

“Have you seen him since?” I inquired. “I mean, has he given you any trouble since then?”

 

She thought about it, twirling a strand of blonde hair around her index finger as she did so. It made me wonder if her hair was naturally blonde like Renee’s or if she dyed it to look that way. Given my assumption about her breasts, I was willing to bet the latter of the two.

 

Not that it matters, I thought to myself, waiting for her to figure out whether or not she’d seen Renee’s stalker. I’m not looking for a replacement.

 

Though that would be the smart thing. Thanks to my harsh words to Renee, there was little to no chance for the two of us. In fact, there was no chance, because even if I could convince her that I’d said those things only for her own good, there was no reason to even try.

 

Ryder’s words still lingered with me, their weight crushing.

 

Renee deserved better. I would never be good enough for someone like her and I knew it. Moving on would be the best thing I could do and maybe a fake facsimile like this big-titted, would-be starlet was exactly what I should be aiming for.

 

Except that I didn’t want a facsimile. I wanted the real deal and I was worried now that nothing else would do.

 

I refocused my attentions to Dani, though I decided quickly that there would never be something real between us. She smiled as she answered me, tilting her head to the side so that her hair revealed one side and her cleavage. “No, I really haven’t seen him again. He was so weird the first time around that I’m grateful, but not surprised.”

 

“No? Why not.”

 

She shrugged. “Well, we probably don’t show up in the same circles, you know? After all, my career’s about to take off any day now—I’ve got this great part in this TV miniseries, it’s going to put me on the map.” She beamed at me and I hummed appreciatively, encouraging, but trying to keep her on track.

 

“He doesn’t seem the type to hang out with up and coming starlets?”

 

She giggled at the compliment, smiling broadly at me. “No, not really. He was an accountant or something. I mean, what am I going to do with an accountant? Definitely dodged a bullet there.”

 

I agreed, then excused myself. An accountant named Thomas York. I was about to dial Ryder to tell him the new lead I’d just gotten, but after being told that I was forbidden from seeing Renee and that I was no longer a Fallen Soul, it seemed like a mistake. Instead, I tried Morgan, who I knew would talk to me regardless of what Ryder thought of me.

 

“’Lo?”

 

“Morgan, it’s me, Saber.”

 

“Saber, you’re a hot topic these days! Sleeping with the boss’s daughter, not really your finest moment.”

 

I gritted my teeth, then took a steadying breath to calm myself. I wasn’t about to get into a fight with one of the few guys who might actually be able to help me. “Yeah, well, there’s plenty of other trouble going on, so don’t worry your pretty little head about me.”

 

The man laughed. “Yeah, yeah, alright. Whatcha need?”

 

“I need info on a guy—”

 

Before I could even finish, Morgan sighed and said, “Let me guess. Thomas York.”

 

Of course he would know what was going on, I admonished myself. Ryder would have called him first.

 

“Yes. He’s an accountant in Orange County.”

 

“Wait, I didn’t know he was an accountant. How come nobody ever gives me the whole story?” he whined, but I could hear typing in the background, telling me that he was already adding this new tidbit to his stockpile of information.

 

“That’s because no one else knows. I only just found out.”

 

“Hm,” was all Morgan said for a while. “Look, this’ll take a while. There are a lot of accounting firms here. This is California after all. Let me call you back when I’ve got something solid.”

 

I agreed, then hung up the phone. I went back to our table, my date looking a little peeved that I’d popped out on her so abruptly. If she’s peeved about that, she’s going to love this, I thought as I stood beside her.

 

“Sorry to say this, Dani, but I’ve got to cut our date short. Emergency.”

 

“What?” she demanded, blinking in surprise. “But I thought things were going really well.”

 

I sighed and decided that the wisest decision was to be honest with her. No point in leading the poor thing on when it was pretty clear that I had no intention of meeting with her ever again. “You seem like a really good girl, Dani, but I’m not feeling it. I don’t think we’re the right kind of match. You understand.”

 

Standing quickly, she looked at me indignantly, like I’d just shot her dog. “You’re a bastard,” she said, and slapped me across the face.

 

I wasn’t having much luck in that particular department lately and my cheek was sore as hell, but I didn’t care. This date had served its purpose; I was one step closer to Thomas York.

 

***

 

I went home to wait for a call and do some research of my own. I wanted to figure out where this Thomas guy was so that I could wring his neck, or at the very least call the cops on him. Right, because that’s definitely what I’m going to do.

 

Regardless of what would happen afterwards, figuring out where he lived was one giant step towards getting him away from Renee, and that was my main goal, regardless of Ryder’s orders or how much Renee hated me.

 

I searched the internet for the better part of an hour, going over what little information I had. I started with the name Thomas York, doing a basic search for the name. Of course there was an ungodly number of hits, but I managed to narrow it down by location and then by job. I found a professional profile that showed a picture of a smiling redheaded man with freckles and otherwise pale skin. He looked…normal. Like someone you would just pass on the street without giving a second glance and I almost thought it couldn’t be him.

 

But the more I stared at him, the more I decided it was. Because stalkers were the sort of people who could blend in easily. The ones who got lost in crowds and were so forgettable that you didn’t even realize they were there.

 

And this guy definitely fit the description.

 

I was going to call Morgan and let him know what I was looking at, but figured it was more a waste of time than anything. Morgan was better at this crap than I would ever be, so if I found this after only a little bit of searching online, I could be sure that Morgan was way ahead of me. Still, in case he wasn’t, I reached for my phone.

 

A second later it rang in my hand.

 

I glanced down to see that the caller ID read that it was Darren. I answered it immediately, demanding, “Darren? What happened, what’s wrong? Is Renee alright?”

 

Darren sounded groggy on the other end, almost drunk as he slurred his words in an attempt to explain. “Renee’s…she’s gone. Like…I don’t know. Gone, gone. And…and I think someone put something in my drink…”

 

I cursed. If Renee was gone, then there was only one place she could be. With Thomas. I couldn’t say exactly how I knew other than gut instinct, but that was enough. Because Darren was drugged and Renee was missing. That was too big of a coincidence to assume anything other than that she’d been taken by him.

 

I had to get to her.

 

“Get ahold of Ryder. Now. Tell him what happened.” I hung up the phone before Darren got a chance to respond, but I knew he’d do as he was told, no matter how much trouble it was going to get him in.

 

I’d worry about that later. Right now, Renee was the only thing I was worried about.

 

I called Morgan and demanded an update.

 

“Alright, alright, don’t get your panties in a twist,” he said irritably, a little frazzled. “I’ve got two addresses for the bastard, but I’ll tell you right now, they’re in opposite directions. There’s an office, too, so I don’t know which one you want.”

 

“Give me all three addresses,” I told him without preamble. He listed them off and I copied them down quickly, then told him to rally the other Fallen Souls. I told him very briefly what was going on because we didn’t have time to waste. We had to save Renee before it was too late.

 

Grabbing my jacket, I slipped it on as I contemplated the three addresses listed on my notepad. One was for his office, and I decided that was the least likely place to take her given the circumstances. There would be too many people there, though as I glanced down at my watch I quickly decided that the office was likely closed already, which would make it empty. Still, an office building would have some sort of security. Maybe only cameras as opposed to security guards, but either would be effective in detouring someone, wouldn’t it? Even if they recognized him, they would see Renee, too. And they’d realize who she was and that she definitely didn’t belong with some boring accountant like Thomas York.

 

That’s what the other woman thought, too, I remembered.

 

Looking at the list, I glanced over the other two addresses. They were residences. One was a condo or apartment. Frowning, I debated the two.

 

If I went crazy and kidnapped someone, where would I take them?

 

“A house,” I muttered to the empty room. An apartment would have too many neighbors and likely the walls were thin enough that taking someone and holding them against their will would be a dangerous gamble. But a house…there were a lot more rooms in a house and they were all likely to have walls a lot thicker than an apartment.

 

Yes, it was a gamble and there was a chance that I was wrong, but I couldn’t do nothing, and this was all we had to work with.

 

I only prayed that I was right and that Renee was being held in that house.