100

My office wasn’t big enough for all of us to work in simultaneously so we switched to the dining room and spread paperwork everywhere. We were all either on the phone, on a laptop or busy reading through old articles.

Tank was a good tracker, hacker, whatever you wanted to call him. He found people for a living when he wasn’t active in our little team. Marlo could find an exact location if she had an idea of where to look. So far we hadn’t found much, not even a picture of this supposed Carlson Hall.

Elios was talking to people from all over asking questions about the missing children, since I had also agreed to take that assignment on. We were working double time and when Megan came home from work she’d sit and help us sort through stuff.

We’d been at it for three days when Lucas’s frame loomed in the doorway of the dining room and everyone just stared at him as he folded his arms across his chest and gave me a look that I knew all too well. It was his ‘what the fuck are you up to’ look.

“Dad,” I said as I stood up.

“What are you doing, Ryder?” he asked me as his eyes roamed over the table.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him.

“I brought you the files you so desperately wanted,” he said as my eyes glanced at the think folder in his hands.

“Thanks,” I said as I walked towards him.

“What the fuck are you up to?” he asked me in a low voice.

“This is my team Dad, that’s Tank, Elio and Marlo,” I said as I introduced them.

“Good afternoon Mr. Grey, a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance,” Elio said as he walked up to Lucas and shook his hand.

“A strong Sire is what I sense and I can see just as fierce,” Marlo said as she bowed her head at him.

“Little Ryder’s Daddy!” Tank said loudly and crushed Lucas against his chest in a hug and kissed both of his cheeks.

“What the fuck!” Lucas said loudly as he glared at Tank after being put down, wiping his cheeks.

“Tank’s uhm very affectionate,” I said rubbing the back of my neck.

“Can we talk in private?” Lucas asked me as he eyed Tank. He was humming to himself as he continued tapping away on his laptop.

“Sure,” I said and I followed him through to my office.

We sat down on the couch and Lucas turned his body to face me. I could see worry in his eyes and a hint of irritation. I was always the stubborn child, Chase was more flexible and eager to please our father where I just didn’t give a fuck what anyone thought and did my own thing.

“What are you doing, Ryder?” he asked me.

“Wentworth asked for my help,” I said to him and his eyes blazed.

“Bastard,” he said angrily.

“Kids are being kidnapped from all over, so far more than a hundred, rogue dragons and wolves and then they sell them to vampires as food bags,” I said to him.

“He has a whole unit of operatives, why you?” he asked me.

“I don’t know Dad, I’m working on this with my own people, people I trust with my life,” I said to him.

“And that doesn’t include us?” he asked me.

“I’m busy with some other stuff too, things you can’t be involved in,” I said and looked away.

“Because it’s unauthorized?” he asked. My dad was no idiot and I was well aware of that fact.

“Dad, what do you want from me?” I asked him.

“The truth for once! The last time you were involved in a unit assignment I had to pick up your broken body and watch your heart give in!” he yelled at me.

“You want me to tell you that I tortured a man to death yesterday! That I finally got a name linked to Felix’s murder!” I yelled back and he looked at me.

“I wondered if you were involved in that man’s death,” he said and shook his head.

“Carlson McIntyre Hall,” I said to him.

“What?” he asked me with a frown.

“That’s the name Joe gave me, I was the target and Felix was just in the way, that’s why I want the McIntyre files,” I said to him and rubbed a hand over my face.

“Let’s go back downstairs to your friends and I’ll tell you what I know, I doubt those files will be of any help to you,” Lucas said as he stood up and made his way to the door.

I followed him downstairs and he took my seat at the head of the table and everyone looked at him in surprise. I sat down next to Elio and Lucas looked at the papers in front of him, things we’d been working on and possible locations of where the children might be kept.

“Before Joseph McIntyre died he told me that his son, Carson, wasn’t his only heir. We could never find any evidence of another child born to him, but if that child was registered without Joseph on the birth certificate it might make sense why we never found him. As for who the mother could be, I have no idea,” Lucas said.

“That doesn’t really help,” I said as I looked at him.

“These missing children, you should get a map, pin their kidnapping locations and then the intel you’ve received from Wentworth, see if there are any similarities to where the rogue groups are moving and an influx of vampires in a certain area after these kidnappings,” he said as he focused back onto the papers in front of him.

“I think we should focus more on Springfield, where Sire Albert’s lair is located. He came to see me, wanted to pay me to take Basil and his coven out,” I said.

“You think he’s involved?” Elio asked me.

“Why else would he be nervous about a coven moving into his territory, a coven that’s made no move, no threats at all, he was nervous as hell when he came to see me and he wasn’t happy when I rejected his offer,” I said.

“The three Elders I killed had properties on their names, the one we went to was empty but being renovated. After I killed them we never checked on the place again but that might be something you want to check out as well,” Lucas said.

“Where?” I asked him.

“Just outside Broadview, huge ass place, it might actually be perfect for a McIntyre heir to use it as a base of operations,” he said.

“Didn’t you kill him in his own house in Aurora?” I asked him.

“Yes I did and since then we’ve had the house demolished,” Lucas said as I remembered the story.

“Tank, see what you can find on that address in Broadview, any aerial shots, any movements, in that file are pictures of Joseph and Carson McIntyre, with any luck the bastard looks like them,” I said.

“Already on it, little Ryder,” he said with a smile and Lucas looked amused.

“Elio, reach out to the covens and ask about banished members, they might be making up these rogue groups, fish out who would be buying children as blood bags and mention the name Carlson Hall,” I said.

“Why would you reveal the one name we have?” Elio asked.

“We’ll be monitoring their activity, Tank can set up phone traces, if one or more of them are involved in the buying they’ll contact Carlson with the news that people are asking questions. Carlson’s main objective is to kill me, and I doubt he’s changed his mind,” I said.

“Why you and not Chase?” Lucas looked at me.

“I was the bigger threat as a hunter but I think his plan was to kill Chase after he killed me,” I said to him.

“Makes sense,” Marlo said as she closed her eyes.

“You should go see Sire Albert,” Elio said suddenly.

“Yes,” Marlo mused and opened her eyes, “I can prepare a tracing spell that you can leave in his office.”

“Okay, let’s gather everything we can find before we drop in on these people and put our plans in place, once we start dropping names we should be ready to go at any minute,” I said.

“If I may, little Ryder, I think I should set up a permanent view on these people we are aware of, the address in Broadview, the Sire in Springfield, their phones, emails and whatever aerial views I can get and maintain,” Tank said.

“Yes, I’ll speak to some vampires that I know that are more on the lone side of things, ones that don’t belong to covens and work mainly with the underground and black market forces. I’ve never been too involved with my own coven so it won’t be too hard to believe that I might do something illegal,” Elio said.

“I can blanket you with an aura of being rogue, Elio, we can create the illusion that you’ve been banished and now need a new source of income since your brother’s disowned you, with your reputation as being ruthless, it won’t be too difficult to make it believable,” Marlo said with a twinkle in her eye.

“I’ll call Basil to spread the news of your banishment,” I said and I caught Lucas’s eye as he watched me with intrigue.

“I’m assuming the Elders don’t know about any of this,” he said as he stood up.

“The children is an assignment from the Elite Unit,” I said to him.

“And Felix?” he asked me.

“Felix is personal for all of us,” I said as everyone looked up.

“You’re a Sire now, Ryder, you have responsibilities not only to Megan but to hundreds of people under your care,” he said to me.

“I’m aware of that Dad and that’s why we don’t intend on being caught,” I said to him and Tank laughed.

“Mr. Grey, with all due respect, I understand your frustration with a son like Ryder but we’ve been doing this for a long time, we’ve worked together as a team many times, we’ve never been caught. There’s never even been a finger pointed in our direction,” Elio said with a smile.

“Piss off, Elio,” I said with a laugh.

“I trust my son, Elio, but I also know the severity of the punishment if he’s caught. I’ve been where he is now, maybe not to this extent but I created the original hunter team. I know the urge of revenge, the cost of revenge and the price I paid for it, I’ve been through my fair share of Elder punishments,” Lucas said.

“Yes I sense the fierceness of your dragon, Sire, although I can assure you that none of us will die or be caught, I’ve seen the outcome of our task and I’ve never been wrong,” Marlo said as Lucas looked at her.

“That’s true Dad, we never go in unless Marlo gives us the go ahead, she was born with foresight and we’ve always been successful following her advice on when to go, when to leave and when to attack,” I said.

“Then I’ll go with you,” Lucas said.

“No, if you do your son will die,” Marlo said as her eyes shone pure white.