Dante (Stone Society Book 3) (10 page)

She
cleaned the blood off her hands and face before changing into clean clothes.
Less than ten minutes later, Isabelle ran out the front door and got in the
cab. “Jefferson Park, please.”

Dane
parked and made his way between two houses that were heavily wooded. He looked
around before dashing to Isabelle’s back door. He turned the knob, but it was
locked. He peered in the window and knocked. Seeing no movement inside, he pulled
out his phone to call Isabelle, but saw the text she had sent. Dammit! As he
dialed her phone, he reached out with his shifter senses. He didn’t hear the
phone ringing inside or his sister moving about.
Fuck! Isabelle, what have
you done?
She would probably be pissed, but she left him no choice. Dane
ran back through the woods to his car as he dialed Kaya.

“Kaya,
Isabelle’s in trouble. It’s a long story, but I need you to call Rafael and
have him get in touch with Dante and meet me at the lab. We’re going to need
Julian on this. Yeah, it’s bad. Just get them all there. I’m calling Julian
now.” Dane called Julian to inform him he was going to have company.

Jasper
felt a small sense of pride when Kaya called and gave him lead on a case. A
burned body had been found by some runners who were training for a triathlon.
The path was mostly isolated, especially this late in the year. Jasper saw the
M.E.’s van when he pulled up. CSU was on site as well. Several patrolmen were
securing the area and speaking with the runners. Jasper made his way over to
begin his investigation. He felt the unease rolling off the couple as he neared
them.

Troy
Quinn, one of the officers, was openly ogling the female runner while the male
was giving his statement to Quinn’s partner. Usually, Jasper tried to steer
clear of the cop. Every time he was around Quinn, it left a bad taste in his
mouth. The man was always putting down his wife for one thing or another. He
openly flirted with every woman who came in the station. Jasper thought the guy
was a real douche. Quinn didn’t take his eyes off the woman’s legs when he
asked Jasper, “Where’s the Doc? We got the weirdo.”

Jasper
looked to where Troy was thumbing to see Trevor waiting for the go ahead from
CSU. Jasper grabbed Troy by the elbow and shuffled him away from the runners.
He didn’t hold back. “Dante is busy with another case. Trevor is not a weirdo,
and if I ever hear you speak of him that way again, you and I will have
trouble.”

“What
the fuck
, Jenkins?  You sweet on the geek?” Troy sneered at Jasper as he
jerked his arm from his grasp.

“He
happens to be my friend, Quinn, so that’s
what the fuck
.” Jasper didn’t
waste any more time with the juvenile of a man. He was there to take on his
first case, and his start was less than professional. When he looked over at
Trevor, the kid had an odd look on his face. Gods, he was so endearing,
and
he
had great taste in music. Jasper spent the next few minutes finishing up the
interview with the couple. When he was done with them, he headed to where
Trevor was now examining the body. Jasper squatted down next to him. Fuck! He
felt light-headed. The stench from the body was overwhelming. It wasn’t the
first charred body he had ever seen considering he’d spent over thirty years as
a firefighter.

“Hey,
Buddy. What do we have?” Jasper asked as Trevor went through the same motions
Dante would if he were there. When Trevor finally turned to answer, Jasper took
in the beautiful green eyes staring back at him.

 “We
have a mess. I will have to get him back to the morgue, and we’ll have to request
dental records for an I.D. There’s no usable tissue to test for DNA. By the
amount of decay visible, I’d say he’s been in the elements for approximately
two to three weeks. There are no burn marks on the ground, but CSU is checking
the area. My guess is he was torched somewhere else before being dumped here.”

“I’m
impressed. You sound just like Dante.” Jasper grinned at Trevor who had yet to
smile. When he just stared at Jasper, he asked the kid, “What’s wrong?”

“Do
you like video games?” Trevor blushed before the question left his lips. His
dimpled cheeks actually turned pink. How fucking cute.

“I
do. As a matter of fact, I have a brand new system I haven’t had time to check
out.” Jasper looked around the area to make sure all CSU personnel were out of
earshot. “Would you like to come over later and help me christen it?”

Trevor’s
cheeks pinked up even more. If Jasper had to guess, Trevor wasn’t gay, just
shy. He’d have to tread lightly with his new friend. He stood, and Trevor did
the same.

“I’d
like that very much. Let me finish up here, get the body back to the morgue,
and check in with Dante. I’ll need his input before we make the official
request for the records. I should be able to get loose by around eight. Is that
too late?”

“No,
that’s perfect. It’ll give me time to get home and take a shower.” Jasper
pulled a business card out of his wallet. “Here’s my cell. Call me when you’re
on your way, and I’ll text you the address.” When Trevor took the card, their
fingers touched for just the briefest of moments. Jasper felt a tingle.
Damn,
you need to get laid if the straight kid is cranking your motor.
He stepped
back and watched Trevor work with the CSU unit as fluidly as Dante would. The
young man would make a great M.E. one day.

Dante
injected the serum into the second inmate. He shouldn’t be doing this, Isabelle
should. She was the one who formulated the antidote. Dante was so proud of his
mate, and he wanted her here with him. What the fuck happened to make her run?
And with Abbott? The half-blood was her brother, but they weren’t close. At
least he didn’t think they were. Dante felt more than heard Gregor coming down
the hall. His mood was off.

“What’s
wrong?” he asked his brother as soon as he stepped in the room.

“How
much longer will you be?” Gregor’s face was pinched; his vitals were all over
the place.

“I’ll
ask you again, Brother, what’s wrong?” Dante stood and got in Gregor’s space.
He placed his hands on his brother’s shoulders. The tension was tangible. His
touch did no good to relieve the stress flowing through Gregor.

“Rafael
called. You are needed at the lab.” Gregor wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“Take
him back to his cell,” Dante told the guard who was assisting him. He stored
the rest of the antidote in the refrigerator and locked the door to the clinic.
He knew without further interrogation Gregor’s mood had everything to do with
Isabelle. If not, he would have told him what was going on. He didn’t hesitate,
didn’t wait on Gregor to ask any questions about the antidote. Fuck the inmate.
If Isabelle was in trouble, she came first. Whether she wanted to be his mate
or not, she was his intended, and he would never abandon her.

The
drive to the lab took forever. Dante hit every red light in the city. When he
finally pulled in the parking lot, he saw not only Julian’s Corvette, but also
Rafael’s Jag and two standard issue police vehicles. Kaya’s and probably
Dane’s, if he had to guess. If Dane was inside, hopefully Isabelle would be as
well.

He
found his assumption correct when Dane was the first person he saw, only
Isabelle was not present. The detective was pacing back and forth like a caged
animal. As soon as he saw Dante, his face paled. Rafael stepped between Dante
and Dane, putting his hands on Dante’s shoulders, much the same way Dante had
Gregor earlier, only Rafael didn’t have calming powers. Dante closed his eyes,
willing his body to calm. “Tell me.”

“Brother,
you need to sit down. This isn’t a quick story.” Rafael didn’t move his hands
until Dante looked him in the eye and nodded. Kaya was chewing on her
thumbnail, a nervous gesture Dante had seen more than once.

“Please,
somebody, tell me what the fuck is going on.” Dante looked at Dane when he
spoke. Considering Isabelle had called her brother, he more than likely was the
one who knew the story.

Dane
opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the door opening. Gregor and
Tessa hurried in. Gregor said, “You didn’t think I’d let you do this alone, did
you?” He cupped his brother’s face, pulling their foreheads together.

Dante
relaxed a fraction. When Gregor released him, he told Dane to proceed.

“This
goes against everything I believe, telling Isabelle’s story when she should be
the one telling you herself. However, she isn’t here, and I fear she is in
mortal danger.” Dane glanced at Julian whose back was to them as he focused on
his computer. Dante knew his cousin wasn’t missing a word as he worked.

 Dane
relayed the details as Isabelle had told them to him. “Dante, she didn’t call
you for help because she was afraid you wouldn’t want anything to do with
another man’s child, or her after you found out.”

Tessa
couldn’t contain herself. “I knew she had a kid! I asked her, point blank, and
she lied.” Gregor wrapped his arm around her shoulder, squeezing. She stopped
talking.

Dante
was shocked, to say the least. He had never considered his mate would already
have a child, but when he thought about it, it didn’t bother him. The child was
part of Isabelle. He would have to think more on it later, when mother and
child were both safe. “Let’s get to the part where you lost her,” Dante said to
Dane.

“Technically
I didn’t lose her. I had a plan; she just didn’t stick to it.”

Julian
turned briefly toward Dante and interjected, “Dane called me as soon as she
gave him the slip. A taxi picked her up and took her to Jefferson Park. Mason
and Lorenzo followed her there.”

Dante
didn’t have to ask to know Julian had hacked Isabelle’s phone. He didn’t care
what his cousin did, as long as they found his mate. Julian’s desk phone rang,
“Go ahead, Lorenzo. I have you on speaker.”

“We
have the taxi in sight; however, we cannot find another vehicle. Jules, there’s
a small drone in the area. At first I thought someone was flying an RC plane,
but it’s following the cab. I’m pretty sure that’s how they are tracking
Isabelle.”

Julian
switched to another computer, bringing up several monitors. The room was quiet
as he did his thing. “There, I have it. Sonofabitch, that’s some advanced
technology.” Nobody said a word as Julian furiously tapped away at his
keyboard. “I have a lock on the signal, now I just need to… There! The
transmission is scrambled. Rafe, I think it’s safe to bring Isabelle in.”

“Even
with the drone scrambled, whoever is pulling the strings will continue to
contact her. Then what?” Tessa asked, now pacing the floor. “If you bring Belle
in here, she’s going to fuckin’ freak! I know I would.”

Rafael
was still staring at the computer monitors when he spoke, “She may freak, but
we are her best bet at a positive outcome.”

“You
know that, and the rest of us know that, but this is her child. None of us know
what she is going through. I can’t even begin to imagine how she must feel
right now. I mean, not only is Connor missing, but so is Maria. And Rico, gods
poor Belle. She sure has been dealt some shitty hands when it comes to dealing
with family.” Tessa went to Gregor, and he wrapped her in his arms. Kaya was subconsciously
holding a protective hand over her stomach.

Julian
was now turned facing everyone. “Dante, she’s your mate. What do you want to
do?”

“Can
you transmit an anonymous text to Isabelle?” Dante needed to come up with a
plan, but first he wanted Isabelle in his sights.

“Yes,
what are you thinking?”

“Jefferson
Park isn’t far from the armory. Give her that address, and instruct her to get
out of the taxi and send him on his way. Tell her a car will be waiting for
her. Lorenzo, you and Mason head over there, and when she arrives, bring her
back here. Remember, she’s a shifter now, so she may put up a fight.”

“We’re
on it.” Lorenzo broke the connection. Julian turned back to the computer and
did as Dante asked.

Dane
rubbed his jaw. “We need a plan. Both Kaya and I have been involved in
kidnapping cases. The window of opportunity is a short one in best case
scenarios. I hate to say this, but I honestly hope the kidnappers turn out to
be the Sarantos family. They will want Connor unharmed.”

Dante
leaned his head back, looking at the ceiling. He agreed with Dane, but before
they could formulate a plan, they had to deal with Isabelle.