Hounds of dawn, p.18
Hounds of Dawn, page 18
All she could manage was a garbled “Finn.”
Silence hung between them for a moment, but she could hear Greenlee demanding to know what was going on in the background. “Trust me, sister. This is what Herne does. You aren’t going to lose another child.”
“Greenlee?” she croaked. Somehow, Finn knew what she meant. She heard him pass the phone over, and Greenlee’s voice rang over her car’s speakers. “Devon. Honey. What’s happened?”
Devon had no more words left. Just ragged breaths that filled her car as she found a parking lot to pull into. She whipped the car around and pulled back into the road, going the other direction. She heard Finn’s distinctive voice in the background speaking quietly at first, then in a commanding higher voice as he moved away from the phone.
“I’m here, Dev. I’m going to stay on the line with you. I’m here. Finn is already doing his Finn thing. He is going to get our girl, Dev. Our girl is going to be OK. Keep it together.”
Greenlee kept talking to her as she navigated on autopilot through rush hour traffic. Her whole body quaked violently. Her mind wasn’t in the car. The only thing keeping her grounded was his voice. Her phone beeped and buzzed with other calls from friends and neighbors, but she didn’t answer them. She just focused on Greenlee. If she didn’t, her mind kept reverting to the day a decade ago when she came home with a car full of groceries to a decimated front door. Those groceries contained two pregnancy tests. Neither was ever used, but they both would have come back positive. Instead, her husband, Alexander, was dead on the living room floor in a puddle of blood. She could still see his bruised face and empty eyes. She could smell the blood. Her son, Gage, was gone. She had never seen him alive again. Standing in shock over her husband, someone had hit her from behind. That day and the four months following had shaped every breath she had taken since. And she couldn’t live through it again.
“Devon. Are you with me, Dev?” Her focus returned to Greenlee’s voice. Whatever he had said, he wanted a response.
“What?” she asked quietly. “Sorry.” Her hands still shook. She needed to pull over. She signaled and turned into the parking lot of a local comic book and used music store.
“Finn wants you to meet us at Lilac.” He referred to the location of the Herne offices. “Can you do that for me? Is your phone charged? I’m going to stay with you the whole way.”
“I can.” She nodded to herself. “You don’t have to. I’m OK.” She could still hear voices in the background. And road noise. Greenlee was in a car.
“I’m staying with you.”
The tears that had dried up as she drove threatened to spill over again. She needed to hold her baby in her arms. She needed to know she was safe. She needed one of Greenlee’s rib-cracking hugs. She was alone. Her voice warbled, “Blue?”
“Honey.” Greenlee paused. “Have you seen the news?” His voice was full of hesitation.
“No. No. No,” she said. More to the thought that something had happened to Blue than to his question about the news. Blue was her rock and best friend. Blue was her family. Blue would be able to get to Lexi anywhere. They had to find Blue. She was their best shot. She couldn’t do this without Blue. She didn’t want to.
“She was here with Finn. There was an explosion about an hour ago. People with guns. Of course, she was in the middle of it. He hasn’t seen her since.” Greenlee filled her in. He never did pull punches.
Devon took deep breaths. “Her phone?”
“Last location was dead center of the explosion. But that doesn’t mean anything.”
“Wait. Green. Are you with Finn? Why?” she asked rapid fire, finally putting those strange circumstances together. Nothing was making sense. And she wasn’t able to keep up.
“I was run off the road. Some assholes jumped me. Knocked me out. I woke up in a van in Five Points. Then Finn was there. They had green gas, Dev. It’s . . . ” He let his words hang as if saying it out loud left him stunned as well.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Devon screeched. They had taken Greenlee, too. They had gas. This was too much like what had happened before. She felt more panic rise. Too much panic. She wasn’t going to be able to hold it together. Were they targeting her? Was it because of her? Or her dad? Or Blue?
“It doesn’t matter what happened to me. Our girl is missing. I need to take care of you,” he answered without hesitation and with utter conviction.
“I swear Greenlee.” Devon waited a minute and gripped the steering wheel so hard that her fingers were going numb and turning white. “Green. Finn is going to find Lexi. Then I am going to kill them all. I’m going to kill them.”
“I’ll help you.”
“OK.” She knew he would. He always had. And she loved him for it.
“I’m here.”
“I know.” She placed her forehead against the steering wheel, closed her eyes, and cried.
25
Rhodes
Rhodes dropped the enormous load of bags he was hauling onto the hardwood entryway of the small castle he called home and let out a sigh. The realtor referred to it as an “executive” home. He was pretty sure that meant pretentious and disgustingly expensive. He shrugged his shoulders, dislodging two huge duffel bags to free his arms and hands so that he could turn off the beeping alarm. How he ended up carrying his bodyguard and personal assistant’s luggage, he had no idea. How did Harper have more gear than he did? She only wore tee shirts and blue jeans. He was the rock star, for God’s sake.
He glared at her as she walked in the door behind him without a word, carrying a sleeping Lady Lucille in her arms. Her feet dragged, and her shoulders slumped slightly. She had swapped out contacts for black-rimmed glasses before they left the arena to board a quick there and back flight for a television interview he had scheduled before agreeing to the last-minute Cahlad Conclave concert. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a bun that was starting to fall. The dog was lying on its back, head dangling backward over Harper’s crooked elbow, snoring audibly. Harper shot him a bird over her shoulder and continued further into the cavernous house toward the kitchen.
None of them got more than an hour or two of light napping despite the first-class seats. He was dead on his feet, and Harper was so grumpy he was afraid to talk to her. Even offering to carry her luggage and keeping her plied with coffee wasn’t helping. Kendra looked refreshed and rested, even though he knew she was running on less sleep than any of them and didn’t drink caffeine. She couldn’t be human.
She strolled into the house, her long legs covering the distance with half as much effort as Harper’s shorter frame. She reached down into the pile of luggage, retrieving her own, and continued walking, casually scanning the house as she went.
“I need a vacation. Somewhere warm. Do you own a bikini?” Rhodes muttered, punching in the code for the alarm and pushing his thumb to the fingerprint pad. The alarm system was over the top and expensive. It also came recommended by both Blue and the company she outsourced his security to.
“I can get one,” Kendra answered, checking her phone. Rhodes provided her with a suite in the East wing of the house so that she would have a place to rest on exceptionally long days like this one. Most days lately were exceptionally long days. “Rearm that for occupied Rhodes,” she instructed, typing a message into her phone.
Alone in the massive foyer, he looked down at the pile of luggage at his feet and blew out a breath. “You’re welcome, ladies. My pleasure.” He shuffled toward the kitchen, feet leaden and eyes bleary. He wanted a glass of juice, a Tylenol, and his bed. He hoped the housekeeper had restocked the fridge. She always forgot the juice. She was old and forgetful and couldn’t bend over to pick anything up off the ground. He ended up cleaning more than she did. Her cooking was atrocious, so he had Harper order a few precooked meals from a service that he could eat once he threw Nancy’s cooking out. The rest he cooked himself when he had time. But Nancy’s granddaughter had a heart condition, and she had full custody. The whole torrid and depressing story emerged one day when she cried rivers into the chocolate chip cookie dough she was making one afternoon. Rhodes threw the flat cookies out and offered her a full-time position with insurance that afternoon.
When he walked into the kitchen, Harper stood in front of the coffeemaker, still holding a sleeping Lady Lucille in her arm. The other hand clutched a bottle of red wine. She held the bottle up in front of the coffeemaker and turned her head sideways, trying to decide which she should drink. “Nancy forgot the O.J.”
“Wine counts as juice, right?” He shrugged and dug two wine glasses out, then pulled a bottle of painkiller from the kitchen’s designated junk drawer. He didn’t care how expensive a house was or how executive the kitchen was. It wasn’t home unless it had a junk drawer.
“Sure, it does.” Harper brought the bottle over to him, and they poured two huge glasses of red.
“Want some?” he asked, shaking the pill bottle and pouring twice the recommended dosage into his hand.
“Nah. Just going to have a second breakfast and go the hell to sleep for a few days.” Harper raised her wineglass in salute and took a long sip. Lady Lucille growled in her sleep at the jostling.
They remained in companionable silence while Harper finished her wine. Rhodes took a sniff and decided he couldn’t do it. He swallowed the Tylenol dry and gave his glass to her. She could have it. “Let me have Her Royal Highness. I’ll put her to bed.” He reached for the pug in Harper’s arms.
“This one is spoiled rotten. Did you know she won’t drink water out of the tap?” She stepped closer to transfer the dog to his arms and yelped when a flash of pale blue light scorched through the kitchen, followed by the boom of thunder. Harper recoiled instantly, pulling Lady Lucille into her chest.
A body flew out of the blue light directly between them. Harper stumbled backward and landed on her bottom with an indignant, “Oh shit. What the fuck?” The body caught Rhodes in the chest like a freight train, and he tumbled backward with a shout. He fell flat on his back and struggled to think fast enough to figure out what was happening.
A sob erupted from the person laying on him. It was high-pitched and watery. He raised his head, catching a glimpse of black hair and a purple sweatshirt. He heard a sniffle, then a wail. “Hey. Hey.” He placed his hands gently on the shoulders of what he realized was a child. He was more alarmed by the crying child than by how she had gotten here. He didn’t do tears.
Running footsteps echoed through the hall seconds before Kendra burst into the kitchen in a low stance, gun drawn and eyes fierce. She swept the room with both her gaze and her weapon advancing. Her nose twitched like a rabbit’s.
Harper sprang up from the floor. “What in the blazes?” Her eyes went from Rhodes to Kendra and back to Rhodes. “You can’t shoot a kid!” she barked at Kendra, running toward them and throwing her body between his bodyguard and whatever had dropped from the sky.
“Stand aside, Ms. Kilgarden,” Kendra said quietly.
Harper shot her a dirty look and gave her attention to their unexpected new visitor. She crouched down next to them and put a hand on the girl’s back. She looked at Rhodes with a muttered, “What the fuck?” before speaking to the child. “Sweetheart. Are you hurt?”
“N-N-N-N-O-O,” the child stuttered and sat up. She dug her elbow into his ribs, and he cursed. “I-I-I’m s-s-so sorry.”
“It’s OK, sweetheart. Let’s get you off the floor. What is your name?” Harper sat an indignant Lady Lucille on the floor and helped the child up. She led the girl to the kitchen island and glared at Kendra, who had not lowered her weapon. Kendra, a scowl marring her features, glanced around the room, checking for entry points and coming to the same conclusion that Rhodes had. This kid fell out of thin air. Second woman in a week to appear out of nowhere. He didn’t like it.
“Rhodes. Get her a Coke,” Harper ordered, sitting the girl down and gently pushing her hair out of her face.
He moved to the fridge, hoping Nancy stocked some sort of soda. She had. He pulled a Coke out of the door and gave it to the kid. She appeared to be somewhere around nine or ten. She had long black hair and brown eyes, red from crying. She glanced at him with fear and confusion. “Where am I? Who are you?” she asked all three of them, recoiling slightly into the chair.
“Kendra.” Rhodes shook his head. The kid might be a threat, but hell, if he was going to be a party to holding one at gunpoint. She holstered her weapon and walked around to get a good look at the situation. “I’m Rhodes.” He squatted in front of her next to Harper, trying to make himself less threatening. “What is your name?”
The girl’s eyes grew big as saucers. “Rhodes? Cade Rhodes? Like “Baby Blue”?” she said in disbelief. “O.M.G.,” she whispered and launched herself from the chair, running to the other side of the island. Her hand flew to a bracelet dangling from her left hand. Rhodes placed a hand on Kendra’s arm to keep her from doing anything drastic. ““Baby Blue”. Oh, my God. She didn’t. She did,” the girl said as she paced. “She is so cool.”
“Sweetie?” Harper tried again. She looked at Rhodes like he would know what to do about this. As far as he was concerned, this was exactly the kind of crazy he paid her very well to deal with. So, he just lifted his shoulders and shook his head.
“She told me to say Baby Blue and I would be safe. Ha! It worked!” The girl crowed and then frowned all at the same moment. “I need to call my mom.”
“Who told you to say Baby Blue, sweetheart? We still don’t know your name.” Harper spoke in a tone Rhodes suspected she would use on a cornered wild animal or a crazy person. She used it on him often enough.
“Tia Blue. She gave me this.” The girl waved a hand, sporting a charm bracelet. “And she told me if the world was ever ending to hold this charm real tight and say Baby Blue and I would be safe.” She glanced around, eying Kendra suspiciously, then flipped her gaze between Rhodes and Harper. “So, I’m safe. Right?”
“Blue?” Rhodes only managed to sputter a one-word response. His head was spinning. Blue had sent a child hurtling through God knows what to him for safety. She wouldn’t even return his calls. She wouldn’t let him help her. But she sent him this child to take care of. Why couldn’t she keep the kid safe herself? What on earth was happening? Whatever it was, was bad.
Harper quirked an eyebrow. “The world was ending?” she coaxed.
“There were these two guys. Really mean looking. In my house when I got home from school. I locked myself in a room, and they kicked in the door. Like just kicked it with their foot. And it flew open. They broke Tia Blue’s door. I was so scared. I think they were going to hurt me.” She rambled and slurped the Coke. “Look, lady, I really need to call my mom.”
“Tell us your name,” Kendra said in a dark voice from behind Rhodes. The girl’s eyes narrowed, and she stared at Kendra in defiance. But Kendra was scary, and the defiance quickly left her face.
“Lexi. Lexi O’Neal. And I need to call my mom. I really think Tia Blue might have actually saved my life. I’m going to miss soccer practice.”
Harper turned to Rhodes. She looked like she was trying to place a word or remember something.
“Lexi O’Neal?” Kendra hissed. She stepped closer and leaned down to get a better look. “What in the hell?”
“O’Neal.” Harper snapped her fingers. “Devon? Is Devon your mom?”
“Is Finn your uncle?” Kendra interjected, pulling her cell phone from her pocket.
Rhodes looked back and forth between the two. He was missing something. “Anybody care to explain?”
“Devon is Blue’s roommate. Margarita night,” Harper told him. “Get my phone.”
“And Finn Torrin is Devon’s brother-in-law,” Kendra filled in.
“Finn Torrin. Your boss?” Rhodes turned back to the kid who was gulping the Coke like she had just run a marathon through a desert. “Why do I have this kid?”
“Wow. You are kind of slow.” Lexi wiped the back of her mouth with her sleeve.
“Am I now?”
“Tia Blue sent me here because she thinks you can keep me safe when the world is ending. You must be a complete badass. Because Tia Blue, well, she is a badass. She doesn’t know I know. But I know things.” Lexi tilted her head to the side. “I can’t believe it is you. My Mom HATES you. Will you sing me that song? Can we listen to it? Tia Blue won’t let us play your songs in the house.” Lexi sat on a stool on the other side of the island and spun. “Or in the car.” She continued spinning. “She makes them veto it at restaurants, too. But I kind of like it. This Coke is great. Can I have another?”
Kid was right. He was slow. He turned to Kendra, who was already speaking softly on the phone to someone. Harper was frantically texting. “I can’t get Blue to answer. Devon’s is going straight to voice mail.”
“Lexi?” Kendra asked, walking forward and holding out her phone. Lexi stopped spinning long enough to take the phone. She held it to her ear.
“Uncle Finn? Yeah. I’m OK.” her voice broke, and she looked down at her lap. She shook from her shoulders to her toes as nervous energy coursed through her. “I’m OK,” she sobbed, as everything caught up with her. Harper wrapped Lexi in her arms, rubbing her back.
“We need to move. If they heard the activation words for the charm, they might put two and two together. I have a secure location,” he spoke quietly to Kendra.
The woman stared at him, hands on her hips, her eyes fierce and calculating. “Mr. Rhodes. I took this assignment as a favor to a friend with very little information. I do, however, know that you nor any of your business holdings own a property that could be deemed secure.”
They both turned as Lexi started crying to someone she called Tio G. “You are correct, Ms. Reyes. Neither Cade Rhodes nor his holdings own a secure location. Nor does he have a private pilot’s license or a private plane at a hangar at John C. Tune Airport. But I do.”
Kendra narrowed her eyes.
