“You are more trouble than you’re worth,” the guy said as she spun and slipped out of his grip again. He snatched at the gun but she stepped backward out of his reach.
Unfortunately, her heel slipped off the edge of the sidewalk. The guy took advantage of her momentary lapse of concentration and grabbed her. She kicked, squirmed, tried to bite him. He managed to get his arm around her neck to limit her struggles. She noticed the other guy was shoving Mindy into the van, so she lifted the gun still in her hand and aimed for the biggest target, his chest. When she pulled the trigger, the other guy flew backward and lay still. Mindy dropped halfway out of the van. She didn’t try to free herself, so they must have drugged her or knocked her out.
Fear zipped through Olivia a moment before the guy holding her cursed and covered her mouth with a cloth. Despite his tight hold on her, she struggled to get free as the world around her started to fade and then went black.
* * *
For a couple of days after the bombing, Campbell’s team got their new headquarters up and running. Though they all wanted to take Salmeri apart chunk by chunk, they knew they had to go in with a solid plan that would ensure they were getting the right guy and he didn’t go free this time. So at night they ferried computers, cabling, office furniture and a new collection of weapons into the mansion. During the day, they set everything up and used the new supply of holy water Chloe had delivered to Ray to bless their shiny new handcuffs.
“What’s the plan?” Kaja asked as she sat on the edge of Campbell’s desk.
He looked up from where he’d been coordinating with Team 2’s leader, Matt Calloway, on a combined visit to one Nicky Salmeri. In the midst of setting up the new base of operations, Campbell had been beating the bushes extra hard, too. Turned out that Nicky was part owner of that new club where Campbell and Colin had convinced Charlie Benson to be a little more forthcoming with his intel. Universal Donor—Campbell still hated that name.
A Souled vampire witnessed the abduction of the teenage boy through his building’s video security feed. He’d recognized the driver of the van as one of the bouncers from Universal Donor. That’d been the one break they’d needed. But they couldn’t go in stakes raised without planning this down to the tiniest detail.
“Team 2 will be holding down the exterior, making sure no one leaves. We will go in and spread out. Word is Nicky likes to hang at the club early in the evening, so we’ll set up a perimeter and only go in after we see him.”
“When is this going down? Because I want to make short work of this creep and get the humans back where they belong.”
“Have some heavy-duty shopping to do?” Len asked as he strolled by to his desk.
Kaja gestured at the ratty jeans and Yankees T-shirt he was wearing. “You ought to think about doing some of your own.”
Campbell just smiled. It was good to see his team members showing signs of normalcy. After Billy’s funeral and the burning of his body, they’d all walked around in a daze until Colin pointed out that Billy was probably rolling his eyes at them. That had led to stories about Billy and even a bit of unexpected laughter.
“Tonight,” he said in answer to Kaja’s question.
Kaja laced her fingers together and bent them backward to crack her knuckles. She was ready to kick some Soulless vampire ass.
In contrast, Sophia was sitting on a dark brown leather couch reading one of her science journals. She might not work in a hospital or treat humans anymore, but she liked to keep up with medical science. As he looked closer, he noticed a tight look on her face.
“What’s wrong, Sophia?” Campbell asked.
She glanced up at him, but part of her was still far away for a few seconds until she fully reengaged with the world around her. “Maybe nothing.”
“That doesn’t sound too convincing.”
“It’s just a story about a couple of scientists who’ve gone missing.”
“Please tell me they’re not from here,” Colin said.
“No. One, a geneticist, is from Duke University. The other works for the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.” Sophia looked up with an expression of concern. “She’s a phlebotomist.”
“A fla-what?” Len asked.
“Phlebotomist. A doctor of the blood.”
“Could be a coincidence,” Campbell said. “Can’t imagine that scientists’ blood tastes any better than anyone else’s.”
“I know. It’s just...something feels off,” Sophia said.
Campbell didn’t much like it either, but the truth was those two scientists could have slipped up and been killed by vampires. They also could have been taken by abductors of their own kind for a purpose that had nothing to do with vampires. Heck, they could have just flown the coop.
Whatever had happened, it wasn’t his responsibility. He and his team had enough to worry about in their own backyard. As he finalized the details of the raid on the club, he tried to focus on the fact that he was just doing his job. But the reality was that this was personal. He needed to put an end to these kidnappings so Olivia would be safe, so he could stop worrying about her.
At least stop worrying about this particular threat. The damage he’d caused in her life was another worry altogether. When he took care of Salmeri’s operation, he was going to do what he could to ensure her customers came back or she at least got some new ones.
His cell rang. After glancing at the caller ID, he answered. “Hey, Chloe.”
“They’ve got Olivia and Mindy,” she said, frantic and out of breath.
White-hot fear shot through him as he sat up straighter and nearly crushed the phone in his grip. “What?”
“Witnesses in the neighborhood said the kidnappers were in the process of taking Mindy when Olivia showed up at her place. She managed to shoot one of them, but they took her.”
Campbell’s world spun off its axis. “The guy she shot, is he alive?”
“Yeah. At least he was when they hauled him away in the ambulance.”
“Travis, find out where they took a gunshot victim today. Get me his name and everything about him, now,” Campbell said, punctuating his words with jabbing gestures.
“What’s going on?” Colin asked.
“Kidnappers took Olivia and Mindy.” He couldn’t believe he was saying those words.
“Campbell, what can I do?” Chloe asked.
“Stay with your brother until we take care of this.” He hung up and stared at the door he couldn’t yet exit. He’d burned for her once, but that had been only moments and had nearly done him in. As much as it killed him, he had no choice but to wait.
“The NYPD?” Sophia asked.
“They won’t be able to go wherever the humans are stashed,” Len said.
Campbell roared and cursed the sun.
“We’ll get them,” Colin said. “We stick to the plan, and we’ll save them all.”
Somewhere beneath the fear and rage, Campbell knew Colin was right. It didn’t make the wait any less agonizing.
“Gunshot victim is a Troy Giani. Has a rap sheet of petty stuff,” Travis said. “Looks as if he’s picking up his game.”
“And got a slug for his trouble,” Len said.
“Yeah, right in the chest,” Travis said as he pointed to the report on his computer screen.
That Olivia had not gone without one hell of a fight made him proud of her but also afraid she’d be punished more than the other abductees, and before he could get to her. He paced the library. He had to save her. He had to.
* * *
When Olivia woke, the first thing she noticed was how parched her throat felt. Next came the throbbing pain in her wrists. She blinked her eyes several times to try to push away the fogginess in her brain. Gradually, memories slipped into place from wherever they’d been floating. Going to Mindy’s. The spilled groceries. The movers who weren’t movers at all. Shooting the guy who had Mindy. Then something being pressed over her mouth.