Chapter 13

Carwyn watched Brigid as she slept, mentally mapping the geography of his mate's face. Her pointed chin and pixie features would have been sweet if she were the smiling type. Her dark brown hair was cut short, sticking out at odd angles from sleeping. Pillow lines crossed her face, and a slight frown turned down the corners of her mouth.

She was a tiny, taciturn, avenging fairy godmother to the victims lucky enough to have her heart. Carwyn knew that Brigid would call the woman they'd found in the trailer the night before. She'd call and she'd follow up. She wouldn't just find the name of a shelter in her area, she'd track down a social worker or community member as stubborn as she was and give that person Renee's address and phone number.

Denying Brigid Connor's determination to help you wasn't really an option once she had you in her sights.

He brushed a hand over the crown of her head, smoothing back the cowlick that stuck out. She shifted, and her lips pushed forward into a pout. He resisted the urge to kiss her awake since she'd nearly collapsed in Grigor's living room that morning before dawn.

He could feel her amnis waking, the slow shimmer of vibration in her blood that enlivened her body and animated her features.

Brigid's eyes blinked awake and immediately found his. "Where are we?"

"Grigor's house in the King Range National Conservation area in Northern California. Katya's territory."

She closed her eyes, then opened them slowly. He could see her collecting the disparate pieces from her memory. "Did Jamie get Renee to her sister's?"

"I believe so. I heard him coming in around nine in the morning. He spoke to Bj?rn before he passed out, but he's awake again."

"The humans?"

"I'm not saying that Ross and Grigor buried them somewhere, but I'm not… not saying that either. I'm sure they have air."

"I'm sure they've pissed their pants as well." She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "They were taking the kidnapped humans somewhere, and from the amount of marijuana they had in that trailer, I'm going to guess it's a farm. Now that we know who the vampire is behind it, we need to—"

"Eat first." He shoved a bag of preserved blood in her face. "You're pushing yourself."

Brigid looked slightly sheepish, and Carwyn pulled the blood away.

"Or have you been hunting on your own?" The corner of his mouth turned up. She was adorable when she was guilty, and it didn't happen often. Other than swearing in front of her aunt, not much made Brigid Connor feel ashamed.

"Not hunting exactly, but I decided the men we took could spare some of their blood. Considering how much they've likely spilled."

"Fair point." He flipped the bagged blood in his fingers. "So none of this for you, eh?"

Brigid narrowed her eyes. "I keep seeing signs to ‘eat local.' So I did."

He chuckled and pulled her in for a fast kiss. "Very conscientious of you, wife. What was next on the agenda?"

"I want to question the men before we take them to Katya. That trip's going to eat up an entire night, which I don't want to do, but I think you and I should take the men back in the van and leave Natalie up here with Ross and Jamie if she's comfortable with that. They have a vehicle and they can drive into town, ask around, and maybe Natalie can meet with the police officer she was speaking about."

"No police up here," Carwyn said. "Too rural. It'll all be county sheriffs and deputies."

Brigid shook her head. "Feckin' American law enforcement. It's about as organized as my granny's yarn drawer."

"You don't have a granny."

"Details." She got out of bed and dug around in her backpack before she pulled off her shirt, yanking on another before Carwyn could even say a proper hello to her breasts.

So inconsiderate.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked. "I have a feeling this is going to be a very long night."

It took nearly half the night to return to the house in Shelter Cove with the four humans in tow, then another four hours driving the "fast route" to Katya's house along the Russian River.

Baojia had only been home with the kids two nights before the call from Natalie came that they'd found humans who were working with his old rival. He was pacing when they arrived.

By the time the men were standing in front of Katya and Baojia, they looked less like a criminal gang and more like the residents of a drunk tank after a holiday weekend.

"You killed three of them?" Katya asked.

"One shot Natalie, and I—we—picked out the birdshot, and two got in the way of Ross Mackenzie."

Katya examined the men like bugs on a microscope slide. "Understandable." She pointed at one. "You took a girl two weeks ago. Southern accent. Curly red hair."

The man went pale. "She's the one who said someone'd come looking for her."

Katya raised an eyebrow. "You should have listened to her."

Baojia was standing at Katya's shoulder with his arms behind his back. "Who do you work for?"

The men looked from one to the other, all but one shaking their heads.

"Hey." The man who didn't shake his head rolled his eyes. "Fuckheads, they're vamps like Ivan. You think they're going to take no for an answer?" The man looked directly at Baojia. "My name is Henry Cliff. I've worked for Ivan about three years."

"Did you know he was in this territory without the permission of the vampire in charge of the Pacific Northwest?"

"Dude, I didn't even know there was a vampire in charge of the Pacific Northwest. My brother and I were out of work, he offered us jobs, we took them. We figured he was weird, but whatever, you know? We didn't hurt anyone."

Katya's eyebrows shot up. "Kidnapping people isn't hurting them?"

"When we hand people over to Ivan, they're healthy. That's all I know."

Brigid definitely wanted to stab him. "What did Ivan want you to do? Did he mention the Lost Coast Trail specifically?" She glanced at Katya. "I hope you don't mind my asking."

"Of course not." She motioned toward the men. "Ask anything you like. I'll make sure they answer."

One of the men looked like he was ready to throw up.

"Ivan didn't mention the trail," the palest man said. "That was our idea 'cause… you know, most of the people on that trail are from away. Ivan just said we should grab hikers because they were pretty healthy, you know? They'd be good workers."

"He makes 'em work on his pot farm or something," Henry said. "He's not killing 'em. If he was killing 'em, he wouldn't care who we grabbed."

Katya was rubbing her temple. "I'm never going to hear the end of this."

Baojia glanced down. "You had no way of knowing. They spread out the abductions enough—"

"Two years my parents have been telling me there's a stranger in the area, and I brushed them off," Katya muttered. "You think my mother is ever going to let me forget that?" She glanced at Brigid. "You met Alice?"

"Yes. She seems… stern."

"She was an excellent stepmother and wonderful sire, but she has a very…" Katya took a deep breath. "…very long memory."

Henry was nodding. "I know what you mean. My old man—"

"Human, be quiet." Katya held up a hand, and two guards approached the four humans. "Alexander, will you—?"

"Wait!" Another one of the humans decided he knew how to talk. "We know more stuff. Like…" He looked at his fellow captives. "Like where Ivan…?"

The rise of his voice and his panicked eyes told Brigid that the men had no idea where Ivan took the kidnapped hikers. They did a job every couple of weeks. Ivan gave them money and marijuana to sell for cash.

The brilliance of his plan was the banality.

"Take them away." Katya waved her hand, and three more vampires appeared to take custody of the humans. "We need to get trackers in the area." She looked at Brigid and Carwyn. "I am in your debt for exposing this vampire trespassing in my territory."

"It was Natalie who caught the ID," Carwyn said. "We can't claim credit. She spotted Ivan as soon as she saw Bj?rn's sketches."

"Bj?rn." Katya smiled. "I tried and tried to sire him, but he wasn't having it. No desire for immortal life." She steepled her fingers and looked at the fire. "He would have made an excellent vampire when he was young."

Baojia moved to sit in the armchair adjacent to Katya when the humans had been taken from the room.

"What will you do with them?" Brigid asked.

"We have places to put them for now." Baojia looked at Katya.

She said, "I'll wait until Ivan is apprehended before I decide their fate."

"If one of the live ones is named Jerry," Brigid said quietly, "he's a sexual predator. Don't let him leave here alive."

Katya raised a single eyebrow. "Understood."

Baojia leaned forward. "I've already told Katya this, but you should know: I checked with my sister and called the Mexican cartel in Ensenada about Ivan. As of two and a half years ago, he's a rogue. This is the first anyone has heard of him popping up since the Mexicans kicked him out of their organization."

Katya muttered, "Likely story."

Baojia smiled a little. "Katya is convinced that Ernesto allowed Ivan to head into her territory to destabilize her so he could press north."

"He's been trying to get me out of California for centuries," Katya said. "He's such a snob."

"Is it because you're Russian?" Brigid asked. "I know the Spanish—"

"It's not that I'm Russian, it's that I'm young." She kicked her feet up on the coffee table. "Ernesto has always been very big on immortals paying their dues, so to speak. I started with a very strong takeover of a vampire he'd once been friendly with; then I secured San Francisco and pushed north. I did not stop. I did not negotiate. Ernesto thought I was an upstart; I think he was jealous of my drive."

Brigid glanced at Baojia, who was nodding.

"He thinks Katya's a kid," the water vampire said. "He doesn't even make a secret of it."

"He's a shortsighted old man. Think about how he treated Baojia." Katya turned to her lieutenant. "He kept you on security detail in San Diego for years when he should have been giving you more responsibility, not less." Katya shook her head. "He's a fool."

"I do think Paula is telling the truth though," Baojia said. "I know her pretty well and we videoconferenced." He looked at Brigid. "She's not that good a liar, and she's sure Ernesto has no idea Ivan is up here. Though she admitted that if he'd known, he still probably wouldn't have told Katya because the man's Russian."

"And Ernesto is an asshole," Katya muttered. "Like Ivan, actually. They'd make a good team. The Mexicans were smart to get rid of him, but I'm still not convinced about Ernesto."

Carwyn asked, "Are you sure Ensenada cut him loose? Their main business is narcotics; he's growing marijuana."

"The Ensenada cartel has actually been branching out a lot." Baojia looked at Brigid. "High-end tequila."

"Really?"

"Surprisingly good markup."

"I don't think we're looking to invest," Brigid said. "But I'll remember that."

"I knew Ivan when I was in San Diego," Baojia continued. "Drug networks are what he knows. They cut him off after he pissed off the wrong people too many times. I didn't get the details, but it was pretty clear that if he heads anywhere near their territory, his head is theirs."

Katya took a deep breath. "So I have a rogue in my territory undermining my people, taking humans, and violating human and vampire law." She turned to Baojia. "Take the people you need, head north, and deal with him. Hopefully by the time you get there, Natalie will have narrowed down the search area. Take care of it, Baojia. I don't want to hear Ivan's name again."

"Understood."

One of the servants approached with a tablet, heading for Katya. "Ma'am, there's a call for Baojia. I believe it's his wife."

Katya waved the secretary closer.

Baojia reached for the tablet in the thick vampire-proof case. "Natalie?"

"Are you with everyone?"

He set the tablet on the table, and Carwyn and Brigid crowded into the frame behind Baojia so Natalie could see them.

"What's going on?" Brigid said. "We're going to have to stay here tonight; we don't have enough time to get back before dawn. What did you find out?"

Natalie was sitting in a dimly lit room with Ross sitting beside her. "I was able to touch base with that deputy like I hoped. He's been working night patrols along the highway from Redway headed up to Eureka, so he knows the area we're talking about and he knew all about Summer and Daniel because the Uriarte family's security has been working with the sheriff's department."

"The men we took don't know much," Carwyn said. "But we're pretty certain that Ivan has an illegal farm up somewhere in the mountains. We have no idea where yet."

Natalie's face was grim. "We may have just gotten a real big clue. A couple of fishermen found Daniel Uriarte."

Brigid felt her stomach drop. "His body?"

Natalie shook her head. "He's alive. Barely. Hypothermia and he's very badly beaten, but he's alive. They have him in the hospital in Santa Rosa. Last I heard, he was in a medically induced coma."

"We'll go by tomorrow night," Baojia said. "See what we can find."

Brigid looked at Ross, whose face was a stoic void. "We're not giving up," she said. "We're not giving up on Summer. We're going to find your niece."