Luther's Return (Scanguards Vampires Book 10) (28 page)

Luther sprinted toward Isabelle, jumping over a low chain link fence that separated him from the young hybrid, when he heard a loud whooshing sound from above. He glanced up and saw a black helicopter swoop down onto the path, cutting him off from Roxanne and in effect creating a barrier between Isabelle and Forrester’s hiding place. The wind generated by the rotor blades made Luther sway for a moment, but he continued barreling toward Isabelle.

“Isabelle!” he called out to her, hoping she could hear him over the noise of the helicopter. “Don’t be afraid! I’m working for your father.”

He saw how she jerked her head in his direction, her body trembling. The sight reminded him of what he’d done to her mother twenty years earlier. With silver handcuffs he’d tied Delilah to a pole and gagged her, though he hadn’t blindfolded her. He’d rigged the podium where she and Nina were standing to blow up once a motion sensor was triggered.

Heart pounding, Luther stopped dead in his tracks. What if Forrester had had the same idea? What if he’d set motion sensors that would trigger the countdown to a bomb as soon as somebody got close enough to Isabelle? Forrester had used motion sensors to switch on the lights to guide him to this location, why not use them to blow up Isabelle the moment somebody approached her? Why else would he leave her out here, seemingly easy to reach, rather than keep her with him in the storehouse and only release her once he had what he wanted?

Shit!

“Stay calm, Isabelle!” he instructed her, shouting over the noise. “I’ll have to check your surroundings first.”

She appeared to nod though he couldn’t tell for sure. Maybe she was trembling and shivering too much, fear making her body shake. A twenty-year old girl, even a hybrid, had to be scared, standing in the middle of a commotion, which she couldn’t even see. The noise was deafening now. Luther glanced over his shoulder. Several dark figures had descended from the helicopter and were charging toward the storehouse. Others were coming from the rocks to the left of the building, from a path leading up from the water. He focused his eyes on them. Frogmen? As they came closer, Luther realized that they were wearing wetsuits and had swum to the island, most likely from a boat not too far from the shore. They were surrounding the building now.

Luther turned back to Isabelle. About twenty yards separated them. He scanned the ground with his eyes, carefully zooming in on every shadow and every rock or patch of unevenness he saw, making sure it wasn’t an electronic device. Slowly he crept closer.

“I’m almost there, honey,” he said, trying to reassure her. “Nod if you’re uninjured.”

She nodded instantly.

He sighed in relief and took another step closer, continuously scanning the ground. “Isabelle, did you hear him setting any charges around you?”

She hesitated, but then slowly shook her head.

Gunfire erupted behind him, making him swivel. Bullets seemed to be flying, and men shouted orders and instructions. But the helicopter blocked most of Luther’s view. Nevertheless he saw the Scanguards men storming the storehouse.

“Bomb!” somebody suddenly screamed above the noise.

“Fuck!” Luther cursed and charged toward Isabelle.

It was now or never. If there was a bomb, he didn’t have the luxury of scanning Isabelle’s surroundings for any motion detectors. He had to act.

From the corner of his eye, he saw flashes ignite the darkness, but he didn’t stop to look what it was.

“I’m here, Isabelle! I’ve got you!”

He reached her and pulled the gag from her mouth, then jumped behind her.

“Help me, please get me out of here!” she choked out.

Luther examined her ties. She was chained to the remnants of a fence, a metal post. The blisters on her wrists confirmed that the chain Forrester had used to tie her up was silver, the only metal that was toxic to a vampire, so toxic that no vampire could break a silver chain with his hands, no matter how thin.

“Stay still, I’m gonna break the chain, okay?” He searched the hovel of rubble behind her and found what he was looking for: a piece of metal rod slim enough to insert into one of the links of the heavy silver chain. As long as he didn’t have to touch the silver himself, the metal rod would do the work for him.

“Hold still, Isabelle,” he instructed her and slid the rod into position. He twisted it, and the link broke, separating the chain. Snatching the bow of her dress and wrapping his hand with it, he grabbed one end of the chain and unwound it from Isabelle’s wrists. Even through the fabric he felt the silver burn him, but he was able to untie her completely.

Isabelle pulled her arms forward. “Thank you!” She reached for her face, pulling her blindfold off. Her eyes fell on the helicopter and the firefight beyond it. “Oh my God!”

An explosion rocked the island. Instinctively, Luther threw himself over Isabelle, tumbling to the ground with her. He felt her breathe hard underneath him, but he knew she wasn’t hurt.

Listening for the sounds coming from the storehouse where Forrester had been hiding, Luther heard voices he recognized. He realized now why. The helicopter’s blades weren’t turning anymore. The pilot had switched off the engine. Suddenly it was quiet.

Blake’s voice drifted to him. “He’s dead. We got him.”

Relieved, Luther lifted himself off Isabelle and helped her up. “Blake, we’re here. I’ve got Isabelle. She’s fine.”

Several people came running toward them. Samson was the first to reach them. He only had eyes for his daughter.

“Daddy!” Isabelle cried out and threw herself into his arms. “You came!”

Samson pressed her to his chest and stroked her hair. “Of course, sweetheart.” Then he turned his head and looked at Luther. “Thank you, Luther. I owe you so much.”

Luther shook his head. “We’re even now.” With a nod at Isabelle, he walked toward the storehouse.

Blake met him halfway. “Good job.”

Luther motioned to the structure the explosion had originated from. “What happened there?”

“He blew himself up when we charged the building. Guess he didn’t want to be taken alive,” Blake replied and walked alongside him.

Luther shook his head. “I don’t get it. He put himself in a position he couldn’t escape from.”

“Maybe he wasn’t as smart as we assumed after all.”

Several men from Scanguards were already extinguishing the flames. Luther pointed at the storehouse. “Can’t have been a very large explosion.”

“Didn’t even blow out any of the walls,” Blake confirmed. “No collateral damage. None of us got hit.”

“In there?” Luther motioned to the door and entered upon Blake’s nod. He glanced around and noticed a spot close to a window where some debris pointed to an explosion. “Suicide vest?”

Blake came closer. “Kind of looks like it, doesn’t it?”

Though there were no remains of the vampire, there was other evidence: pieces of shiny metal, fabric, and wood. Even what looked like part of a radio or a speaker.

“You sure he was here and didn’t just blow up a doll?”

“Positive. We got a visual on him before we went in. It matched the photo we had of him. It was definitely Forrester. You can see for yourself when we get back to HQ. We got it all recorded on our personal cams and were feeding it back to Thomas. He confirmed via the comm system that he’s our guy. No doubt about it.”

“Hmm.” Luther rubbed his chin. Something was bothering him. “He didn’t make any attempt to harm Isabelle. Why didn’t he keep her with him in here until he knew he had Katie? Why tie her up out there, where we could get between him and Isabelle. He was practically giving up his bargaining chip before he even had a chance at getting Katie.”

“Blake,” a man said from the door. Luther recognized him as John. He was dressed in a wet suit, his hair wet.

Blake pivoted. “Yeah?”

“My team is ready to leave. Clean up outside is done. I radioed for the boat. It’s pulling up alongside the power plant. Are we good to take care of the inside now?”

Blake nodded. “Go ahead. I’ve seen everything I needed to see.”

John waved to somebody outside, while Blake stepped out. Luther followed him, tossing a last glance at the remains on the ground. A few links of a chain sparkled silver for an instant when the light from the helicopter fell onto it.

Blake was waiting outside for him. “You can ride back in the helicopter with us. I think Samson will want that.” He waved Roxanne closer. “Nice work, Roxanne. Are you okay with taking the small motorboat back? One of John’s team can ride with you.”

Roxanne nodded. “Sure. No problem.”

Luther stretched his hand out to her. “Thanks for everything, Roxanne.”

She smiled and shook his hand. “My pleasure.”

Blake patted him on the shoulder. “Let’s go back to HQ. My guys will finish the cleanup and make sure we don’t leave any evidence behind.”

By the time Luther got into the helicopter ahead of Blake, Samson and his daughter were already sitting in it. The pilot had switched on the engine and the rotor blades were turning, picking up speed.

Luther took the seat opposite Samson.

Blake slid in next to him, then gave the pilot a sign. “Back to HQ.”

It was too loud to talk in the chopper, and Luther was glad for it. He looked out through the window, looking back at the location Forrester had picked for the exchange. His forehead furrowed. It was an odd stage he’d set for himself. He’d basically set himself up for failure by choosing a spot he could neither defend nor escape from. It seemed like a suicide mission.

“Something bothering you?” Samson suddenly said from across the aisle.

Slowly Luther turned his face to him. “Lots of things. It was too easy.” He glanced at Isabelle, who pressed herself to her father, seeking comfort in his arms. “No offense, Isabelle, I know it must have been horrendous for you, but that—” He pointed down to the island. “—was a clusterfuck by Forrester. He had no way out. And no way to fight us. If I’d try to pull something like that off, I sure wouldn’t have chosen a place where I was totally exposed.”

“And as we all know, you’re speaking from experience.” Samson’s voice remained even, though his jaw seemed to tighten.

“Listen, Samson, I just want to make sure that what happened down there was real.” He turned to Blake. “You said you piped back the video feed to HQ?”

“We did.”

“With your permission, Samson, I’d like to have a look at that. I want to see Forrester with my own eyes. Peace of mind, you know.”

After a few seconds, Samson nodded. “Fine. Blake will debrief the team anyway. You can join them and see for yourself that it was Forrester.” He smiled at his daughter and pressed a kiss on the top of her head. “He won’t hurt you anymore, Isa.”

“I can’t wait to see Mom.”

“She already knows you’re safe. She can’t wait to hold you in her arms. She’s meeting us at headquarters.”

43

Luther followed Blake into the situation room, where they were greeted with cheers by Scanguards’ inner circle. Blake was instantly surrounded by several young hybrids, Gabriel, Amaury, and Zane as well as a few other vampires.

Several monitors graced one wall, replaying different parts of tonight’s rescue mission.

“Well done!” Thomas said, nodding at Luther.

Eddie walked up to Luther, slapping him on the shoulder. “It all went smoothly. Thanks for helping us.”

“Does Katie know yet?”

Eddie nodded. “We called her the moment we knew Forrester was dead and Isabelle safe. She’s very relieved.”

“Good.” He looked past Eddie. “Are those all the recordings you have from the mission?”

Thomas joined them. “Yes, why?”

“Can you show me the beginning? I want to see Forrester.”

Thomas raised an eyebrow, but motioned him to the console that controlled the monitors. Eddie followed them.

“Is there a problem?” Thomas asked quietly.

“I’m not sure. I just want to make sure it’s him. From where I was I couldn’t see him.”

Eddie nodded. “I know. We watched your movements via your camera.” He pointed to Luther’s jacket, reminding him that he was still wearing the hidden camera.

Thomas pressed a few buttons and pointed to one of the monitors. “I’ll feed everything we have that shows Forrester’s position into here.”

Luther lifted his head and examined the images on the screen. The action started when the helicopter touched down and somebody jumped from it, either Blake or Samson. Moments later the frogmen appeared from the other side and were caught in Blake’s camera angle. Then the shooting started. One camera zoomed in on the window. The light from the helicopter hit just right, suddenly illuminating a face. Forrester. Luther recognized him from the picture Thomas had distributed before the mission. There was no doubt.

Luther watched as Forrester opened his mouth as if to scream.

“When he started shooting, we had to act quickly,” he heard Blake say to his colleagues.

Luther spun around. “Are you sure Forrester shot at you?”

Blake nodded. “Yeah, we heard the shots. Wasn’t one of our guys. They had strict orders not to shoot until I gave the okay.”

“That’s impossible.” Luther pointed back to the monitor. “Where’s his gun?”

For a moment Blake said nothing.

“Did your guys remove Forrester’s gun before I walked into the building?” Luther asked.

“No. Nobody touched anything until after you and I left.”

“Then how could he have shot at you when there was no gun? The explosion wasn’t strong enough to pulverize his weapon. Hell, I saw parts of a radio and some metal bits. But nothing that looked like a gun.”

Blake ran a hand through his hair. “Fuck!”

Luther turned back to the monitor, staring at it again. He felt the other vampires in the room come closer, also looking at the monitor.

“Play it again from where we see Forrester’s face.”

Thomas followed his request and replayed the image.

“It looks like he’s screaming,” Eddie said next to him.

Luther looked over his shoulder at Blake. “Did you hear him scream?”

“No. Not a sound. And we were close enough. We would have heard him.”

“Thomas, can you zoom in on his mouth?”