The car finally stopped. Lou heard the door slam as Kathy exited the vehicle. She assumed they were back at the diner now as they’d already made one stop, likely at the apartment. Kathy hadn’t been gone long but Lou had done her best to draw attention to the car by kicking and yelling through the gag. It hadn’t done any good.
Now they were probably in the alley behind the King’s Plate. Kathy must have the memory stick by now. Would they check it to verify the contents? And if they did, would they realize the data was useless? Various scenarios raced through her mind. She could tell them the information had been replaced but she knew where the real stuff was; it would give her something to bargain with.
But what if they didn’t check the memory stick? Should she tell them when they came to get her? Or was that if they came to get her? Perhaps she’d be left in the stuffy trunk until she died of heat and dehydration. The thought sent her into a panic and she was about to start kicking at the side of the car again when Jeff spoke from somewhere nearby.
“Did you find it?”
“No, damn it.”
Lou listened intently, hoping they would say something that would give her a hint as to what was going on and how she might possibly save herself.
“What happened?”
“The building superintendent wouldn’t let me in.”
Lou sent silent thanks to Jimmy. His moment of vigilance might have spared her for a few more hours.
“Fuck.” Jeff must have leaned against the car for his voice sounded like it was right over her head when the trunk dipped suddenly. “If we can’t get past the security, all of this was for nothing.”
“You think I don’t know that? This is our chance to gain the upper hand, to make them listen to us. If they don’t, we bring them down.”
Lou tried to make sense of what they were saying. This didn’t sound like industrial espionage, or at least not the kind she’d imagined. Didn’t that usually involve stealing the plans for the latest gadget or marketing campaign?
The car’s suspension creaked as the trunk righted. It was probably Jeff removing his weight from the car as he stood. “Maybe we can get another copy of the codes?”
Kathy snorted. “Don’t be an idiot. Do you know how much we paid out already? And it’s not like the director’s just going to hand over another copy for free!” The soft skittering of loose bits of stone combined with the ebb and flow of her voice indicated she was pacing. “Okay, let’s assume they’re on their own with no back up. I don’t think the bear has—”
Jeff interrupted her. “Be careful what you say, we have company here, remember?” There was a thumping sound as Jeff patted the metal surface over her head.
“Does it matter what she hears? It’s not like she’ll be walking away from this.”
“I suppose not. Though a missing person report could draw attention we don’t need.”
Lou silently cheered for Jeff. She’d always liked him.
Kathy gave a derisive snort. “So we make it look like she had an accident.”
“Hmm... She was drinking a lot tonight. Maybe she wandered off and fell in the river.”
Lou frowned. Or maybe Jeff wasn’t so great after all.
“We can decide later,” Kathy spoke again. “Right now we’re going to use her as leverage to get those codes back, tell her roommate and boyfriend we’ll trade her for the USB.”
“Except they’ll want to see her first as proof she’s still alive. And it increases the chances of us being seen.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
“And then we’ll have to get rid of them.”
“Right. We can’t leave potential witnesses.”
“But the bodies—”
“We’ll dump them all in the river. What’s the matter with you? Feeling squeamish?”
“No, but it’s getting complicated. The more people involved, the greater the chance something will go wrong.”
“Suck it up, coyote. You knew there were risks. Besides, we’ll be long gone before anyone finds them.”
Coyote? That was a weird nickname.
“Okay, fox. But in the meantime, what do you want me to do with her? We can’t leave her in the trunk; someone might come by and hear her moving about.”
Had he called Kathy foxy? She hadn’t even known they were a couple!
“Shove her in the utility room for safe keeping. The cleaning crew is done with the diner for the night and the sound of the bowling alley will drown out any noise she makes. Just be quick about it. We need to contact the others, make sure everyone is in place. With any luck, we’ll get the codes to them before the end of the night.”
Armand ran up the stairs to Lucy’s apartment, cursing himself for letting her out of his sight. He’d known she was in danger and yet he’d let his guard down. If something happened to her, he’d never forgive himself. Why hadn’t he learned his lesson? The first time she’d come to Chicago, she’d been injured. Now it was happening all over again.
He rounded one of the landings and pounded up the next set of stairs. While there could be other explanations for Lucy’s disappearance, his gut was telling him the USB would be the key to getting her back, the only bargaining chip the kidnapper would care about. Of course, they’d need to figure out who the kidnapper was. All he knew was the individual had been at the restaurant earlier in the day.
Roxi knew more than she was saying about this, he was sure of it. The problem was deciding how far to trust her. Lucy might be her friend but Roxi also appeared to put her own self-interest first. Or maybe it was a façade. The woman was even more confusing than most of her kind.
“What’s the hurry, young fella?”
He slowed his pace, seeing Jimmy, the building’s superintendent, standing at the top of the stairs.
“Lucy—”
Jimmy didn’t let him speak. “Same as I told the woman who was looking for her; she ain’t home.”
About to brush past the man, Armand paused. “A woman was looking for Lucy?”
“Yep. She was just here. Wanted to see Lou. That girl is getting right popular.”
“Um, yes. Yes, she is.” His thoughts raced. It was too much of a coincidence that someone else would come looking for Lucy right now. The woman had to be connected to Lucy’s disappearance. “Who was this woman?”
“No idea.” He shrugged. “Short, reddish hair. Pointy features. Seemed nice at first then got an attitude when she didn’t get her own way. I put her in her place though. Told her no hanging around the building.”
Damn, not much to go on. “Did you see her leave? Which direction she went?”
“Nope. Heard her though. Old car, pretty beat up.” He rattled off the plate number.
Armand could have hugged the man. A plate number was a solid lead. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yep. It was parked right outside my place. Kids making out in the back from the way it was bouncing about.”
Kids making out? That didn’t make sense. Maybe this wasn’t a lead after all. Unless… Lucy might have been in the car, tied up and trying to escape. It was a long shot but it was all he had to go on.
His bear grumbled in frustration. If we had been a few minutes earlier, we might have been able to save her.
He agreed, but now wasn’t the time for playing ‘what if’.
“Jimmy, can you give me the plate number again, I want to write it down.” He pulled out his phone to make a note. “I think it might have something to do with the person who broke in earlier this week.”
“Really? Then sure! I haven’t been on a case in years.” Jimmy’s level of alertness suddenly spiked, the befuddled look leaving his eyes as he rattled off the plate number again. “But don’t get too excited, only the police or the DMV can trace that.”
“Oh.” He narrowed his eyes, considering possible work-arounds. No doubt Ryne would be able to find a way—
“I can do it for you, though.” Jimmy rocked back on his heels looking pleased with himself. “I still got a few connections downtown…or I did last time I checked.”
“Thank you, I’d greatly appreciate it.” That would be faster than going through Ryne.
“You’re not doing anything illegal, are you?” Jimmy cocked his head.
“No. Not at all. We just want to check if the owner of the car is who we think it is.”
“And then you’ll tell the cops?”
“If they are indeed guilty of something, the proper authorities will be informed.” That was close enough to the truth.
Satisfied, Jimmy gave a mock salute and shuffled down the stairs. “Hot damn, this evening might not be so boring after all. Just like the old days...”
Armand watched the super for a moment before continuing on to Lucy’s apartment and then her bedroom to find the USB drive. Standing in the doorway, he let her scent wrap itself around him, noting the still rumpled bed, her robe thrown over the back of a chair, her hairbrush on the dresser and…the USB. He picked it up, weighing it in his palm before pulling out an almost identical one from a hidden pocket on the inside of his belt. He’d purchased the twin and used it to store the original files Daniel had sent him, believing it was important to have an ace up his sleeve. While he hoped not to need it, he’d trade Lucy’s life for the real data and deal with the fallout afterwards.
He shoved the USB with the bogus data in his pocket, then once again stored the real one in its hiding spot before heading downstairs to check on Jimmy’s progress.
The older gentleman was just hanging up the phone as Roxi came running into the building. She skidded to a halt upon seeing him lounging in Jimmy’s doorway.
“Oh hey, Armand. Jimmy.” She shot a look between the two men. “What are you up to?”
“Jimmy’s been helping me find the person we suspect of breaking into Lucy’s apartment. Once we confirm the identity, we’ll contact the authorities.” He gave her a hard stare.
“Oh. Right.” She nodded. “Yep, that’s our plan.”
“And here you go.” Jimmy handed over the piece of paper he’d been writing on. “The car belongs to a Jeff Tinley. Here’s his address.”
“Jeff?” Roxi’s brows shot upward and then she clamped her lips tightly shut.
Armand knew how she must feel. Lucy had spoken fondly of the man.
“Yep,” Jimmy nodded. “Though the woman that was here didn’t look like a Jeff to me. Mind you, these days who knows? People name their kids anything. The other day, I heard on the news—”
“Well, thank you for the information,” Armand interrupted the man, not having time to listen to a dissertation on the state of modern society.
“Yeah, thanks Jimmy.” Roxi gave him a smile. “I owe you one. Next time I get a tip on a horse, I’ll be sure to let you know.”
“You’re a good girl, Roxi.” Jimmy gave her a wink and then headed back into his apartment.
Armand pressed a finger to his lips and nodded towards the stairs. They could exchange information in Lucy’s apartment. Jimmy appeared harmless but at this point he wasn’t about to trust anyone, not when Lucy’s life might be on the line.
As soon as they were both in the apartment, Roxi slammed the door shut.
“Jeff the chef, I can’t believe it! When Lucy described him, he sounded nothing like a shifter!”
“Not all of us fit the stereotypical image.” Armand pointed out.
“And what about this woman Jimmy mentioned?”
Armand relayed the story.
Roxi pursed her lips. “It could be someone Lulu works with—I don’t really know what they look like—or maybe Jeff has a partner in crime who isn’t even connected with the diner.”
“Today was the first time I noticed the scent of shifters at the diner. Jeff and his accomplice must be using that mask you were talking about.” He paused as he recalled something. “I was sneezing at the diner. And in the alley, I was having the same reaction. Perhaps I’m allergic to a compound in the mask.”
“Could be.” She went into the kitchen and rummaged about the cupboards as she spoke. “According to my source, the scent mask is lilac infused—”
“Lilac?” He nodded as he paced the small apartment. “It produces an allergic reaction in me.”
“Really? Well, the lilac infused scent mask was a prototype that was stolen years ago. It’s available on the black market now.” There was a box of cereal at the back and she snagged it. All of this excitement was making her hungry. She dug out a handful of cereal and popped it into her mouth before continuing. “The most recent version of scent masking technology has no discernible odour, but the new formula is kept under heavy security.”
“Interesting.” He stopped by the window and peered outside. “However, it doesn’t tell us how to get around the masking effects in order for me to track Lucy.”
“I guess we’ll have to drive around the city and wait for you to start sneezing and then we’ll find the bad guys.”
Armand turned to look at her, not even the hint of a smile on his face. “I’m not in the mood for jokes.”
“Sorry, just trying to lighten the atmosphere.” She shrugged. “Anyway, according to my source, there’s no antidote for the scent mask. You have to wait for it to wear off. After a couple of hours, it dissipates, and the original scent can be detected again albeit diluted due to the lapse in time. If we head back to the Pasta Palace and wait around a while, you might be able to pick up the scent eventually.”
“That means at least an hour of inaction, if not more.” He turned to look out the window again, his hands gripping the frame so tightly she was surprised it didn’t crack. “We have this Jeff’s address, we could go to his house, though it’s doubtful he would take Lucy there. Someplace neutral is more likely, but where?”
“Unless he thinks we don’t know it’s him. Really, if Jimmy hadn’t run those plates, I’d never have suspected the guy.”
“True.” His cell phone vibrated, and he took it out to glance at the message. “I might have more information. I will be right back.” He walked to the back of the apartment.
Using the opportunity to her advantage, she got some milk to wash down the cereal while debating how much she needed to tell Armand. She was all for saving Lulu but throwing around information that wasn’t needed would just make things murky, right?
Or maybe not.
The thing was, after living together for so long, she really liked Lulu. And it wasn’t Lulu’s fault she’d gotten entangled in this. Wrong place, wrong time and all that stuff.
She took another mouthful of cereal and munched thoughtfully. When she’d left home, sick of trying to meet her family’s expectations of fitting into the witching world, she’d declared she was only going to look out for number one. Not that she purposely screwed people over, it was just that her own interests came first.
But Lulu accepted her as she was.
And Lulu had never tried to change her. Well, except for some nagging about being a slob and that was okay. She was a slob.
Yeah, Lulu was a good friend, one of the few people she could depend on. Lulu trusted her and that had to count for something, right?
Armand returned, his face troubled. “My friend found some information but not much. It seems Kathy Crevan and Jeffrey Tinley are both red-flagged in the Lycan Link database though he’s not sure why.”
“I’m pretty sure I know the answer to that.”
Armand raised his brows in query.
About to explain, the phone rang. “Just a sec.” She pressed talk prepared to hang up if it was a telemarketer. “Hello?”
“We have her. You know what we want. Meet us in the alley behind the diner in an hour if you don’t want her…damaged.”
“What? Which diner? There’s lot of them in a city this size.” She tried to stall for time while signalling to Armand it was the person who’d nabbed Lulu.
“Don’t be stupid.” The line went dead before she could say anything.
She stared at the phone before slowly looking up at Armand. “That was…”
“I heard.” A low rumble escaped him, and she watched in shock as the air around him began to shimmer and a bear formed right in front of her!
Lou sat on the floor, struggling to free herself. So far, she’d managed to get the bag off her head. It had been a neat trick, even if she did say so herself. With her knees bent in front of her, she’d rested her head against them. Then, with a bit of work and good luck, she’d caught some of the material between her knee caps. After a lot more effort and a seriously kinked neck, she’d shimmied free.
Why Kathy and Jeff had even bothered with the bag made no sense. Even if she hadn’t seen them, she could have identified them by their voices. They must watch too many crime thrillers on TV. Or maybe it was a sign they weren’t very clever. If so, it was a factor that could play in her favour. She considered the point as she breathed in the heavenly cool air. The sack had been stifling.
After a few recuperative breaths, she’d set to work again, using the same technique to get rid of the gag.
Her mouth felt disgusting and she didn’t even want to think of where that rag might have come from.
“I’d kill for a toothbrush or some mouthwash.”
Of course, no one answered which might have been a good thing since she spent the next few minutes trying to work up enough saliva so she could spit the little bits of thread and lint from her mouth. It definitely wasn’t something you wanted others to witness.
Now with two victories to her name, she was trying to free her hands. It was proving to be a more formidable task than the previous ones. All she’d managed to accomplish was to make the skin on her wrists raw.
“Damn, I wish I could see better!”
Her broken glasses had miraculously remained on her face but even squinting though the one remaining lens, she couldn’t really make out much in the darkened room. She knew where she was; inside the utility room at the King’s Plate where the mops, buckets and cleaning supplies were kept. Unfortunately, none of those items were of any help.
What she needed was a knife or something that could cut through the ties that bound her wrists and ankles. She leaned her head back against the wall and considered her options.
The unmistakable sound of Bowlerama next door filled the room. There was a positive to being beside a bowling alley when you were kidnapped. If she managed to free herself, there were people nearby to help. The downside was that the noise ruined any chance of her cries for help being heard.
“Damn you, Jeff Tinley!” The words echoed around her in the room. “I hope you chop off your finger next time you try one of those fancy chef tricks you’re always showing me!”
She shook her head. He’d completely fooled her into thinking he was a nice guy. Never in a million years would she have suspected he could be involved in anything shady like this.
This proves our judgement with regards to men still sucks, despite trying to turn our life around, the voice in her head pointed out.
“Yeah…” She hoped that didn’t include Armand.
He’s different.
She rolled her eyes thinking of all the times she told herself ‘this one is different’ only to find out she’d been wrong.
The voice in her head made no reply, a fact that wasn’t comforting at all.
She leaned her head against the wall again. Armand must be searching for her by now, but would he think to look here? Not likely. After all, she’d been doing her best to convince him her co-workers weren’t involved. Jeff had certainly put on a good act, and Kathy…that was also a shocker.
The woman seemed so normal, talking about her kids. She’d even had pictures of them on her phone. She must have copied them off the internet to create a fake identity. Or maybe not. Maybe stealing industrial secrets was how she was planning on funding the kids’ college educations!
But what had Kathy been rambling about? Make who listen? Bring who down? It didn’t sound like the conversation had been about the latest electronic gadget. And it also didn’t seem like her own chances of getting out of this were very good. She could identify them, and even if Kathy hadn’t made it obvious, she’d watched enough crime drama to realize if you could point out your kidnappers, it was time to start ordering your tombstone.
That would be the second tombstone. How funny was that? One in Stump River, one in Chicago… Her inner voice tried to find some humour in the situation.
“Yep, some women collected diamonds or salt and pepper shakers, but not me. I have to be different!” She gave a dark laugh that threatened to turn into a sob.
No crying. We survived last time and we will again. There has to be something we can do.
Taking a deep breath, she tried yelling. “Help! Hello? Anyone? Can anybody hear me?”
The sound of loud rock music and crashing pins continued.
“Yep, that was as pointless as I thought it would be.” She took a deep breath and then began to wiggle around so she could brace herself against the wall and try to get to her feet. “Oh good heavens, I need to start working out.”
Finally standing, she caught her breath while reviewing the contents of the room as she remembered it; two mops and buckets in the corner, a metal shelving unit along the one wall with bottles of cleaning products, a stack of cloths for wiping down tables—
A memory flashed through her mind; reaching for a cleaning cloth, catching her arm on the edge of the metal shelf…blood… That was it!
She carefully slid along the wall, only able to take the tiniest shuffling steps and not wanting to risk falling. When she encountered the edge of the shelf, she turned her back to it and raised her arms until she felt the rough metal corner.
“Thank you, Mr. Henderson, for not maintaining your property!”
Moving her arms up and down, she sawed away. Her efforts weren’t without incident, but a few nicks were a small price to pay for the feeling of freedom when the tie finally gave way.
Her arms dropped to her side, shoulders aching and hands numb. She leaned her head back against the shelves giving herself a minute to savour the success while wiggling her fingers to regain feeling. Having no idea how long it would be before someone returned, she set about freeing her legs and then checked the door to see if it was locked.
Interestingly enough, it wasn’t.
Either the kidnappers were incompetent, or they think we are!
Whatever the case, she cracked the door open and peered out. The diner was empty.
This was too easy.
She’d like to think she was an amazingly capable woman, the next superhero even, but she knew she wasn’t.
A trap?
Perhaps. But why? What would be the point? She stepped into the small hallway beside the kitchen. Did she go left towards the front door or right and out into the alley?
A sound coming from the rear door had her freezing in place, watching as the handle moved one way and then the other. Oh damn, Jeff and Kathy were back!
She sprinted towards the front door, the sound of splintering wood and screeching metal behind her spurring her on to greater speed. If the front door was locked, she’d grab a chair and break the window to get out. A few cuts were preferable to what was waiting for her if she was caught.
Grabbing the door handle, she gave it a mighty tug and, quite surprisingly it flew open. She burst through the opening and stumbled out onto the sidewalk.
As great escapes went, it had an anti-climactic ending. Not that she expected triumphant music or anything, but no one seemed to notice her. Instead, cars continued to zoom past. Pedestrians walked by. One slowed and gave her a wary look.
“Hi, I know this sounds weird—” She stopped mid-sentence, her euphoria at having escaped sucked from her faster than a vacuum could suck up a sock.
Jeff and Kathy were only half a block away and headed towards her!