Bishop's Flight, page 12
“Cleared.” The man opened the elevator with a different passcode. “Thank you for your patience. They’re expecting you in the head office.”
“What happened?” Brigid asked.
“Nothing to be concerned about, ma’am. Enjoy your time at the Del Marco.”
With another curt nod and a punched-in code, the elevator doors shut and the compartment began to move.
No sooner had the elevator begin to go up than Carwyn’s phone rang. “It’s Lee.” He answered. “What’s going on?”
“I’m in the panic room. Three cars showed up outside the house and set off my alarms. I’m locked in here until you tell me it’s safe.”
“You changed all the codes the night we moved in?”
“Already overridden, and I couldn’t find a master code in the system. I’m secure for now unless they have a vampire who can rip through metal doors.”
Carwyn could rip through metal doors, but he didn’t tell Lee. It took a very old earth vampire with an affinity for metallic matter to rip through steel, and he doubted they would send one after a computer programmer.
“We’re at the casino and there’s increased security. It’s likely Agnes and Rose’s people, but I’ll check and make sure when we get to their office.” The elevator doors opened and Bernard was waiting for them. “Lee, hang on.”
“I’ll wait.”
Carwyn put the phone on mute. “The cars at our house. Your people?”
Bernard nodded. “Increased security.”
“Understood.” He unmuted the phone. “Lee, they’re friendly.”
“Got it. Just wanted to make sure. I thought I recognized the guy who was walking to the front door.”
Bernard said, “Miguel was heading up the detail. If your assistant has any questions, he can ask Miguel.”
“Lee, the man you recognize is Lucas’s personal guard. We’ve worked with him. He might be a good resource as you’re going through the boy’s devices.”
“Oh, good call. I’ll let you go.”
“Call when you find anything useful.”
“Already making a list, boss.”
Carwyn hung up the phone and turned to Brigid. “Lee was in the panic room, so he followed protocol.”
He saw the worry in her eyes ease. “Good.”
“Miguel is at the house.” Carwyn turned to Bernard. “It’s good timing. Lee finally got past Lucas’s security in his computer this afternoon. I told him Miguel might be useful going through the device.”
“Good idea.” Bernard led them through the first set of locked double doors and down the carpeted hallway leading to Rose’s office. “I’m sure you noticed the increased security.”
“Someone tried to break in?”
“Uh… not exactly. We do have a bit of a situation though.”
Brigid asked, “What happened?”
“The Sokolovs—not Zasha, Oleg’s people—may be on the move against us?”
Carwyn frowned. “For God’s sake, why?”
“I spoke to Oleg early this week,” Brigid said. “From what I could tell, he had nothing to do with this. In fact, he was quick to praise Rose and Agnes’s leadership of the city. Said it made it easy to do business.”
Bernard grimaced. “He may be singing a different tune today.”
“Why?” Carwyn had a very bad feeling.
“Because last night, an hour before dawn, Rose ripped the head off one Sokolov soldier and nearly killed another.”
Carwyn froze. “And by ‘ripped the head off,’ you mean—”
“Not a metaphor,” Bernard said. “The roulette wheel will have to be completely replaced. I don’t think anyone will be able to bet after the image of an eyeball spinning around and landing on red 19.”
“Agnes is cross with me.” Rose’s lower lip trembled. “She screamed at me, Carwyn. She said that ‘my little temper tantrum’ might have cost Lucas his life.” Pink tears welled in her eyes. “Do you think she’s right? Is Lucas going to die because of me?”
“Rose.” He held her hand, ignoring the smatter of arterial spray that she’d missed on her neck. “We don’t know that.” She’d obviously taken a bath because she was in a feather-collared housecoat and a pair of slippers. Her hair was wet and slicked back into a smooth bun at the nape of her neck. “I know Agnes is upset—”
“I love her so much.” The pink tears fell. “She’s the best thing in my life, Carwyn, and I know… Honey, I make her put up with so much. My tantrums. My little whims. I don’t deserve her, and now I’ve gone and done this.”
Carwyn sighed. He knew Rose wasn’t the most stable of vampires, but he wouldn’t have expected this. “Has Agnes contacted Oleg?”
“She said she was going to reach out when she’d made sure all our properties and people are secure.” Rose pouted. “It’s not like it was unprovoked. Do you know what those animals were saying?”
“I didn’t hear anythin’ about them.”
Her fangs fell, and Carwyn was quick to squeeze her hand again. “Rose, don’t tell me if you’re going to get upset again.” He put a heavy warning in his voice.
Her fangs stayed down, but the fire in her eyes cooled. “They were calling him a pet. Joking with each other that they should buy me a puppy and name it after Lucas so I wouldn’t mind losing the human so much.” Rose blinked. “As if he was just another human. As if I hadn’t changed his sister’s diapers and dried his tears when he missed his mother and read him stories at bedtime.”
Carwyn wasn’t sure he wouldn’t have done the same thing in Rose’s place. “Those were cruel words. They shouldn’t have ever said that.”
“But now it might cost Lucas his life.” Rose’s lip trembled again and her tears kept coming. “How will I tell Anna? How can I live without him, Carwyn? We can’t lose him.”
He would speak to Oleg himself if he needed to. This was not an unprovoked attack by a fickle vampire ruler. This was a reaction to a direct insult to her clan in a moment when that clan was under threat.
“Brigid and I are doing everything we can to find him. Lee got into his computer tonight. We’re hoping that will give us more ideas about how—”
“Why isn’t he home already?” Rose screamed and sprang to her feet. “Where is my child?”
Agnes rushed over and grabbed her mate by the neck, closing a firm hand around Rose’s throat until her mate settled. “Rose, no.”
Rose twisted her neck and bared her teeth at Agnes, who lifted her lip and growled at Rose. In seconds, the blond vampire’s face crumpled in grief and she reached out for Agnes. “What do we do? What do we do, baby?”
Agnes’s eyes immediately softened, and she pulled Rose into her arms in a swift embrace. “We’re going to find him. I’ll take care of Oleg.”
Brigid had been speaking with Agnes and Bernard on the other side of the room, watching the dramatic burst of grief from Rose with a distanced eye.
“You can use this.” Brigid’s words fell like a stone in a quiet pool. “It’s all in how you frame it. Emphasize that Lucas is a human under your aegis. You take care of your people and won’t put up with insults against them or questions about your authority. No one can doubt that Rose is a lethal leader after this. You frame it as swift retribution for a committed wrong, not a loss of control.”
Carwyn raised an eyebrow. “And you say you’re not political.”
Agnes had her eyes on Brigid. “You know the Russian.”
“I do, and I am willing to act as an intermediary. This wasn’t unprovoked,” she said. “Oleg will be reasonable. He doesn’t suffer fools, and it sounds like both of these men were fools.”
“The more important question right now is how these two Sokolov soldiers knew about Lucas,” Carwyn said. “Brigid didn’t share anything with Oleg at their meeting the other night, so no one could have overheard gossip. We only know that Oleg was aware of Lucas’s kidnapping because Mika Arakas met with her privately. According to Mika, Oleg wasn’t keen to speak to Brigid because he didn’t want to upset the apple cart as they say. He doesn’t want you two out of power, so how did these two know about it?”
Agnes cocked her head. “I didn’t consider that Oleg wouldn’t have told his people.”
Brigid said, “I suspect if he didn’t bring it up at our meeting, he doesn’t want his people to know. If nothing else, he would have offered polite concern if it was public knowledge. It’s not. So two of his men knew about it.” She looked at Carwyn. “I’ll arrange a meeting with the Russian and Agnes.” She looked at Rose. “Do you want to be there?”
“Is it a good idea?”
Brigid walked to her. “Can you be cool? Aloof? Cold like an avenging angel dealing out punishment? If you can’t be, don’t come.”
“Avenging angel?” Rose smiled a little. “I can be that.”
Seventeen
For her second meeting at the Enclave, Brigid arrived first, her mate at her side. She had been careful to satiate her hunger with blood-wine at Agnes’s office so she wouldn’t appear ravenous to the Russian’s people.
Oleg arrived wearing a navy-blue suit and a chocolate-brown tie that set off the cool grey of his eyes and the smattering of silver in his full beard. Mika followed behind him.
The fire vampire sat across from Agnes and Rose in a private room at the Enclave, a large conference table between them. Brigid was sitting at the table next to Rose, and Carwyn was standing at the end of the room, keeping an eye on everything.
Agnes and Rose wore impassive expressions, and while Oleg’s jovial manner wasn’t in evidence, he didn’t look angry.
Irritated? Possibly.
Brigid was annoyed by the entire charade. Nothing about this was going to result in any additional information to help them find Lucas. This was a politically driven waste of time.
A vampire manager stood at the head of the table and greeted both parties. “Welcome to the Enclave, an exclusive membership-only property by Wallace Ventures. While you are here, please abide by the rules governing all of Mr. Wallace’s properties and refrain from violence.” The man nodded at Rose and Agnes, then at Oleg, and after that he left them alone.
“Before we begin,” Brigid said, “I want to note that I am acting as a neutral party in this meeting, but I feel honor-bound to inform you, Oleg, that this was not an unprovoked attack.”
The man’s face turned to stone. “The surviving soldier informed me that they were… joking. Obviously their humor struck a nerve.”
Rose stared at Oleg with unwavering focus. “Would you stand for a stranger in your own territory to call your child a pet?”
Oleg lifted an eyebrow. “I no longer have children.”
Agnes sat ramrod straight, her eyes never shifting as she looked at the Russian fire vampire. “While we do not apologize for defending our territory or those under our aegis, we do regret that this matter was settled without your input.”
Oleg cocked his head and sat back in his chair. “Input? How would that work?”
Agnes’s lips didn’t move, but Rose was quick to speak. “It wouldn’t, of course. Agnes is being polite. But you and I aren’t all that different, are we Oleg?” She leaned forward, and Oleg would have had to be truly dead to ignore the spill of cleavage from her dress.
Brigid was a happily married woman and even she was impressed.
“We protect what is ours,” Rose whispered. “Your men didn’t respect that.”
“And they paid the price.” Oleg kept his eyes on Rose. “How do you suggest we settle this?”
Agnes took over. “In the past, the more civilized of our kind settled disputes such as this with a simple transaction. What is your blood price for the one lost soldier and the damaged one?”
“Damaged?” Oleg looked amused again. “Your mate nearly ripped his head off.”
“He suggested a beagle.” Rose pursed her lips and stared at Oleg. “As a recompense for my child.”
Agnes continued, “The damaged vampire will heal in time. If you have no suggestion, I would offer one million for the dispatched individual and five hundred thousand for the other man’s inconvenience.”
“Ludicrous,” Oleg said. “The soldier was experienced. He was worth over five million in training alone.”
“Two million for both, and I would also offer that these two men were not speaking with… discretion.” Agnes nodded at Mika. “Your second met with Brigid Connor and informed her that you were keeping quiet about Lucas’s disappearance so we could conduct our investigation and set our city in order from the threat from your extended clan, yet these two vampires were joking about the matter openly and in our own casino. Were these your men or perhaps individuals in alliance with someone else?”
Brigid could see that the thought hadn’t occurred to Oleg.
He sat back in his chair, folded his hands in his lap, and considered the offer. Then he turned to Mika and murmured something in what Brigid guessed was Russian.
The two men exchanged a few quiet sentences, and then Oleg turned his attention back to Rose. “Miss Di Marco, as a father who has lost children, I deeply regret that my men’s words caused you pain.” He turned to Agnes. “As you set your city in order, it becomes evident that there might be some inconsistencies in my own ranks that could be seen to. I accept your offer of two million US dollars and look forward to working with you in the future. Perhaps on the new immortal development you and Rose are building next year.”
“We aren’t currently looking for investors, but an experienced collaborator might be a welcome consideration when these current distractions have been dealt with.”
“That is acceptable to me.” Oleg rose and buttoned his jacket. “Rose Di Marco, Agnes Wong, I will expect the blood price delivered in gold within the next forty-eight hours. Once that price has been paid, I will consider this matter settled.”
Agnes and Rose also came to their feet, and Agnes nodded. “Very well, Oleg Sokolov. I am satisfied that we have come to an agreement.” She turned to Brigid. “Brigid Connor, I thank you for your introduction tonight.”
She’d hardly done anything. “You’re most welcome. I’ll join my mate and meet you back at the casino.”
Agnes and Rose were shown the way out by the host, leaving Carwyn and Brigid with Mika and Oleg.
“Father.” Oleg nodded at Carwyn. “It’s never an unpleasant meeting when you are in attendance.”
“I’m flattered, but I’m not a priest anymore.” Carwyn put an arm around Brigid. “I’m a happily married man.”
“And a full measure of blessing to you both.” Oleg said something in Russian again. “I will never understand this Western insistence on priestly celibacy. In the East, we don’t expect our priests to offer wisdom when their balls are like shriveled apples.”
Brigid blinked. “What a poetic figure of speech.”
“Maybe it sounds better in Russian.” Oleg shrugged. “Either way, I got rid of two idiots and will have some gold in recompense.”
Carwyn frowned. “I thought the second man survived.”
“For now.” Oleg’s lip twisted, and Brigid got a glimpse of a thick, pure-white fang. “Agnes Wong was right. There was no reason for these two men to have known about their son’s situation or Zasha’s arrogance.” He glanced at Mika. “We will find out what he knows. If anything interesting happens to fall out of his mouth, Mika will call you.”
Brigid and Carwyn returned to their borrowed house to find Miguel and Lee nearly jumping up and down in front of the computers.
“There.” Miguel pointed to the screen. “I saw him texting that name too.”
“Texting?” Lee glanced at them. “Hey, boss. Hey, Carwyn.”
Carwyn murmured, “Well, good to finally have that confirmed.”
“Uh…” Miguel frowned. “Yeah, messaging. Whatever. On that Discord thing on his phone.”
Lee nodded and switched to another screen. “So this is another person he was likely chatting with.”
“Yes.” Miguel’s voice was nearly vibrating. “And you can get his phone number?”
Brigid and Carwyn kept their distance so they didn’t disturb the flow.
“Miguel, my friend, I will have this guy’s shoe size, social media handles, and kindergarten report card in a few minutes.” Lee typed with lightning-fast speed. “How many names does that make for the list?”
“Five confirmed with real names and IDs.”
“Cool.”
Brigid glanced at Carwyn and shook her head. “Care to fill us in?”
Miguel lifted a small notebook she’d seen sticking out of his jacket pocket the past few nights. “Lee’s found the kid’s online friends, and at least three of them were not who they were pretending to be online. I’m waiting for this last name; then I’m tracking these lowlifes down.”
“Lowlifes?” Carwyn asked.
“Most of the accounts belong to middle-aged men,” Lee said. “One woman. The majority of them don’t seem creepy; they just like acting immature online. But there are three who asked a lot of personal questions about Lucas. They could be working for Zasha.”
“And if they’re working for Zasha,” Brigid said, “they might have a clue where Lucas is being kept.” She patted Lee’s shoulder. “Good thinking.”
“They’re keeping the kid somewhere during the day,” Lee muttered, still typing. “Someone is going out to get newspapers and food and stuff for the kid to keep him happy. A hundred bucks says the errand runner is not Zasha Sokholov.”
“I won’t take that bet.” Brigid pointed to the third screen. “What’s the craic with this?”
“I have a program with pictures of the missing cars running over the downloaded footage that I’ve been able to access from traffic cams in the city. I’m getting a few hits, and as soon as I’m done with this, I’ll start going through them.” He turned to Miguel. “You ready for Wyvern24?”
“Hit me.”
