BK 3 - Chapter 20 - Connections
Saxon and the others followed Melanie and Cat's scent all around Rio. At first, they were going in circles, but they figured out that was what the kidnappers wanted. With the help of Mario, they were able to pick up the women's actual scent, and they followed it to a small house about a mile from town. At first, they stayed back to see if they saw anyone. It looked abandoned, but Melanie and Cat's scent was strong.
"I'm going to go to the door and knock. I'll pretend I'm lost." Saxon said, getting ready to walk to the house. Thatcher stopped him.
"No, let me and your mom go. They think you're dead, and the longer they believe that, the better it will be." Saxon nodded reluctantly. Everyone kept telling him what happened wasn't his fault, but that didn't stop him from feeling guilty. Janel handed Jade to him, not wanting to put her in danger if they had to fight.
Thatcher and Janel walked to the door of the house holding hands. When they knocked, no one answered. They knocked again but nothing. They listened to see if they could hear anything, but no sound came from inside. Thatcher waved to the others, and they all shifted back into humans and put on the clothes their animals had been carrying in their mouths.
"There's no sound coming from inside. I don't think they're here anymore, but I thought you might want to look around to see if we can find where they took them." Saxon and Trey both nodded before running to the door. After handing Jade back to his mom, Saxon stepped inside the small house. He could smell Melanie's scent so strong it felt like she was beside him.
He and Trey walked around, stopping when they came to what looked like a bedroom. Two chairs were sitting across from each other.
"This is where they held them. Cat should have been able to mindlink me, so they must have done something to her, affecting Saira and limiting her capabilities. Hopefully, she can mindlink Melanie with them being in the same proximity. That may be the only way they can escape." Trey spoke quietly. His heart felt like it was ripping in two, knowing his mate and daughter were so close, but they couldn't get to them in time.
"Where do we go from here? Do we continue trying to follow their scent?" Saxon asked at a loss. His mind didn't feel like it was working. All he could think about was what those men were doing to Melanie and Cat.
"Let's have Kitty call Wesley and see if he can help. Men like these aren't going to stick around long. They'll want to get out of here as quickly as possible because they know our entire family is here. Saxon, I know you're beating yourself up about this, but I need you to stop. Those men wanted our mates and would have done anything to get them. It doesn't matter who would have stayed back. The outcome would have been the same. So get your head together because we need to find our mates." Trey put his arm around Saxon's shoulders, giving him a quick hug. He wasn't much of a hugger, but the vampire looked like he was ready to fall apart.
"I'm good. I promise." Lisa and Alex chose that moment to run into the house. Saxon scooped them both up and held them tight. They may not be his and Melanie's children by birth, but they were a family by choice. Right now, he needed them as much as they needed him.
"Daddy, are we going to find mommy and grandma?" Alex asked quietly, burying his face in Saxon's neck.
"Yes, we're going to find them. Let's go talk to your aunt Kitty." They went outside where the others were waiting.
"Kitty, can you call Wesley and see if he can tell us anything about this house and if anyone has taken a sudden flight out of Rio. Cat and Melanie were definitely here, but they won't keep them close. They'll want to get them as far away from us as possible." Trey looked at everyone who was there. Kitty pulled out her phone to make the call. She put it on speaker so everyone could hear.
"Wesley, we found the house Cat and Melanie were taken to, but they're gone now. Can you look up the address and see if you have any information on who it belongs to? Also, can you see if there were any sudden flights leaving Rio? Trey thinks that they have left the country." Kitty gave him the address, and they heard him typing in the background.
"That house is owned by Vincent's family. Regarding flights, a private plane left a small airstrip just outside Rio about twenty minutes ago. That's the only flight I see that meets your timeline. There's no list of passengers, so they somehow cut through the red tape of providing a manifest." Wesley said with a sigh.
"Can you tell us who the plane belongs to and where it was going?" Trey asked anxiously. The thought of Cat and Melanie being taken to an unknown destination was killing him. He had to get them back.
"The plane belongs to a man by the name of Raul Sartini. I don't know anything about him offhand, but I'll do some digging. Their flight is landing in Venice." Wesley answered.
"That's where we're heading. Let us know if you find anything out about this Raul guy. Also, we believe this was a setup. Someone from the inside knew Cat and Melanie were going to be alone with Saxon. They had specific poisons that were able to affect both vampires and werelions. That's not easy to find. Only a few people knew we were here and about our plans. No one in our family would be in on this, so it has to be someone from your side, Wesley." Trey said.
"I agree. I'll start looking into that as well. There will be a plane ready for you when you get to Rio. Please be careful and keep me updated on what you find, and I'll do the same." After Wesley hung up, Trey looked at the shifters they had rescued.
"I know you've all been through hell and thrown into this situation with little explanation. You don't have to help us, but any of you that are willing to, we'll take you wherever you want to go when this is over. Do any of you want to stay in Rio?" Every one of them shook their head no. "Good, let's get to the airport."
They stripped out of their clothes and shifted. The cubs were put back on Atlas' back, and they all started running toward Rio. It didn't take them long. They shifted when they got close to where they could run into humans.
When they arrived at the airport, a man was waiting for them, taking them in the opposite direction of security. They were led straight out onto the tarmac and shown to a commercial plane. Wesley had told the airline there was an INTERPOL emergency, and the passengers needed to be taken to Venice immediately. They were ushered onto the plane, and as it was taxiing, Wesley called Kitty back.
"Wesley, we're getting ready to take off." She said into the phone while placing it on speaker. They were the only passengers onboard, so she didn't need to worry about others overhearing.
"I'm glad I caught you. I did some digging into Raul Sartini. He's the cousin of Luca Giordano. Apparently, there's been some chat on the dark web about paying back those who had caused his cousin to have a mental breakdown. It looks like Cat and Melanie aren't the only targets. They're targeting your whole family. Luca died a few months ago and talked about people that changed into lions on his deathbed. You need to watch out when you land. Raul Sartini is more lethal than Luca was. He knows how to make people disappear and keep his hands clean."
Everyone looked toward Kitty, who had turned white. All of this was happening because she pickpocketed someone over twenty years ago? She didn't believe it but was too shocked to speak.
"Wesley, that can't be all there is to this. They were too focused on Cat and Melanie because they're part caladrius." Saxon said into the phone.
"That's all I've found so far, but you're right; there has to be more to it. I'll keep checking and hopefully have more for you when you land."
After he hung up, the passengers on the plane were quiet. There were too many unanswered questions. Why were they focused on the caladrius connection if they wanted the lions? How was Vincent involved in this with the Italians? Who was feeding the kidnappers information? No one knew the answers yet, but they were determined to find out. All that mattered was getting Melanie and Cat back.
