105
At six am I hit the road to Springfield and turned the music up loudly to block out Abeloth’s mutterings about killing Kurt Greer. I drove past the motel where Megan had checked in last night and her car was still in the parking lot. I wanted to pull into the parking lot and talk some sense into her but I had shit to do first.
Marlo had given me an amulet like object that I had to leave in Albert’s office for her spell to take effect and Tank had given me a bug to place there as well so we could listen in on any conversations he had after I left.
I didn’t take all my weapons just the knives on my arms and one gun in a shoulder holster. This wasn’t an attack, merely a fishing expedition to see how deep this thing ran. We wanted to make sure there was a connection before we hit the house in Broadview.
“Hello,” I answered the phone as the radio went silent and the phone connected to the Bluetooth of the truck.
“Hey,” Megan said.
“How are you?” I asked her for lack of anything better to say.
“I’m okay, are you?” she asked me.
“I didn’t sleep,” I said.
“Can we get together tonight and talk?” she asked me.
“Of course, just say when and where and I’ll be there,” I said to her.
“The diner at eight,” she said.
“I’ll see you tonight,” I said.
“Okay, Ryder…”
“Yes?”
“Tonight’s important,” she said.
“I’ll be there,” I said to her.
“Okay,” she said and ended the call.
I turned the radio down and thoughts of what Megan would say to me that night kept running through my mind as I drove the next hour in silence. I crossed Albert’s territory line and Abeloth stirred inside of me.
“I don’t like the feel of this place,” he said in my mind.
“Neither do I,” I answered him.
“Evil lurks here, let’s just kill him,” he said and attempted to grin at me.
“Don’t do that, you freak me out,” I said as he laughed at me.
“Just do what you have to do so we can leave and go get Megan naked,” he said.
“I doubt getting naked is on the cards tonight,” I said.
“Try not to be yourself, be more like me and throw her over your shoulder and rip her clothes off,” he said.
“Right Abeloth, that’ll just make her go weak at the knees,” I said as I chuckled.
“Secretly all women want men to take charge and dominate them,” he said.
“I’m not taking any more relationship advice from you,” I said to him.
“Don’t be an idiot, you know you want to do it,” he said and I blocked out his laughter as I pulled up to a large grandiose house.
I stepped out of the truck and saw the three vampires lurking in the surrounding trees but I pretended not to notice them. It was interesting as to why he would have vampires here and want me to kill Basil’s coven. I tucked that thought away for later as the front door opened.
“Sire Ryder! I thought that was you,” Albert said as he walked down the steps smiling at me.
“Morning Sire Albert, I hope I’m not intruding,” I said to him as we shook hands.
“No, not at all, I hope you have some good news for me,” he said.
“Let’s talk somewhere private,” I said and he nodded eagerly.
I followed him into the house and took in what had to be hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of art and furniture around the open plan area. The house reeked of wealth and grandeur but for me it was a disgusting display of fraud and greed and blood.
“Please sit, can I get you anything to drink?” he asked.
“Coffee please,” I said to him.
He picked up the telephone and ordered two coffees for us and I took the chair in front of his desk. Everything was brand new, modern and I could see that he spent a lot of money on this room too. I made myself more comfortable as the door opened and I took that opportunity to place the bug under his desk as he stood up to take the tray from the woman.
“Thank you,” I said with a smile as the woman closed the door behind her quickly.
“I hope you have some good news for me,” he started the conversation.
“I managed to get an appointment with the coven master, Basil, and I went to see him a while ago,” I said and took a sip from the coffee.
“He wasn’t very forthcoming about why he was settling down in this area and I couldn’t exactly tell him that he wasn’t welcome here. I’ve been following them for a week now and there really is nothing, they’re a normal coven just going about their business, I don’t think you have anything to fear from them,” I said.
“That’s good to know, but you could’ve said all that to me over the phone,” Albert said.
“True, but there is another thing I’d like to discuss with you,” I said and leaned forward a bit on the table to make it seem like it was of great importance.
“I’m at your service,” he said to me and also leaned forward as I took the little bag out of my pocket and scattered the contents on the rug.
“What I’m about to tell you has to stay between the two of us, it’s a very delicate matter,” I said to him.
“Of course,” he said looking seriously at me.
“I had a call from my former leader at the Elite Unit, he handed me a file about missing children possibly being sold to vampires as food bags,” I said and watched his face.
“You took this case?” he asked me.
“Yes, I managed to track down their base of operations in Fowler and shut it down, I rescued five children and took one man captive for information. He was quite willing to start talking once he realized what I was and the fear of death was greater than his fear of his boss,” I said with a smirk.
“Wow, how did you find them?” he asked me trying to look intrigued and shocked at the same time.
“It wasn’t that hard, the man gave me a name, apparently he’s the leader of this whole sick debacle,” I said to him.
“Who is it?” he asked me.
“He just said Carlson, you don’t happen to know anyone named Carlson in our circles do you?” I asked him.
“Is he a Sire?” Albert asked me.
“I don’t think so, I think he’s some low born dragonkin with ideas of being something he can never achieve. Doing what he does now he thinks he’s gaining power over the rest of us but I think he’s just some low life scumbag,” I said.
“Why would dragonkin involve themselves to provide product for the vampires? It goes against everything we believe in,” Albert said with a frown.
“Greed,” I said.
“Greed?”
“Yes, money is power and we always crave more power. The mistake he made though was being noticed by the Elite Unit and now I’m involved, I’m pretty sure he’ll mess up soon and then I’ll be there,” I said to him.
“What do you need from me?” he asked.
“Just keep your eyes and ears open, if you hear anything, give me a call,” I said as I stood up.
“Of course, I hope you catch the son of a bitch,” he said as we shook hands again.
“Indeed I will, I never fail,” I said and walked out of his office.
I climbed back into my truck and drove away from his house slowly as I took my phone out and called Elio as soon as I was out of view of the house.
“Hey,” Elio answered.
“I’m pretty sure he’s on the phone to Carlson already,” I said.
“Yeah Tank just tapped the link and put a trace on it,” Elio said with a laugh.
“See you guys in about two hours,” I said and ended the call.
I put the radio on again and jumped stations until I found one to my liking. My window was open and I breathed in the fresh air as I took the back roads back to Princeton. I was pretty sure that Carlson McIntyre Hall was involved with both the children and Felix’s death and that’s why I dropped his name on the children case.
I took the turn off to another road as my tyre exploded and the truck rolled twice with the force of it. I was thrown around inside the cab of the truck and I hit my head hard against the windscreen as the car came to rest on its roof.
“Halfling!” Abeloth yelled.
“I’m okay, damnit I hit my head,” I said as I held my hand against the gash in my forehead.
I kicked open my door and half fell out of the truck and I lay on my back as I tried to get my bearings. I got back on my feet a few seconds later and leaned back inside the truck as I looked for my phone. I sensed the presence too late as I felt a sting in my neck and I looked at the tranquilizer dart in my hand as I felt the poison take effect and I slumped to the ground.
I was still conscious, I just couldn’t move my body at all. All my limbs felt heavy and even Abeloth was quiet in my mind. I silently cursed myself for thinking that Albert wasn’t capable of trying to take me out before I got back home.
“We have him Sir,” I heard a voice and I tried to turn my head but failed.
“He didn’t suspect a thing, hard to believe this is the hunter that everyone’s so afraid of,” he said.
“We’ll be transporting him at once,” he said.
“Hello there Ryder Grey,” the man said as his face came into view.
“Ready to take a little joyride?” he asked me as he looked into my eyes.
“Fuck you,” I said my voice sounding hoarse.
“Mr. Hall is looking forward to meeting you,” he said with a laugh.
“Fuck him too,” I said before my eyes closed involuntarily.
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