The Darkest Kiss (26 page)

“They sound like they were a bunch of charmers.” And if
that
was a sample of their stunts, then it wasn’t hard to imagine them slipping into more testing—and more dangerous tasks. “Who’s this Harvey you mentioned?”

“He was the gang’s leader. A real tough nut, with a mean streak a mile wide. He definitely
didn’t
have a heart of gold.”

“What happened to him?”

“He was found in the bush not far from where Aron Young was last seen. He’d been dead a few days by the time his body was discovered and the animals had gotten to him. His guts had been eaten away.”

A chill ran through me. Bhutas fed on the intestines of the dead, and it seemed a little too coincidental that the man in charge of the gang just happened to be found that way. So why didn’t he kill Denny back then? Or Ivan? Or even Cherry Barnes? Why wait until now?

“What did the coroner say?”

“There was a large contusion on the side of his head, but there was no indication of a struggle or other injuries. The coroner said he probably slipped and smacked his head open, and died as a result of blood loss and exposure.”

And I was betting the blood loss had more to do with his guts being munched on than any head wound. “Time of death?”

“Ten o’clock, give or take an hour.”

Bhutas could walk in daylight, so it definitely
wasn’t
beyond the realm of possibility that Young was behind Harvey’s death. “How soon after Harvey’s death did Young’s parents move out of town?”

“You’re not thinking they were involved, are you?”

“No. Just curious.”

He paused, and in the background a kettle whistled. “It wouldn’t have been more than a week or so afterward that their house went up for sale. We did question them, by the way, before we got the coroner’s report. They both had watertight alibis for the day of his death.”

Of that I had no doubt. It was their son who wouldn’t have, I bet.

So were they responsible for stopping Young’s rampage before he could even fully begin it? Was he the reason behind their sudden decision to move? “Where exactly was Harvey’s body found? We may need to go up there and have a look at the area.”

“We didn’t miss anything.” His voice had sharpened slightly.

“I’m not saying you did, Mr. Mayberry. We just have new evidence about Young’s disappearance, and it may help us understand it better if we see the area.”

“Oh,” he said, sounding mollified. “He was found in Historical Park, near where the gang used to meet. It was a clearing surrounded by granite outcrops and black cypress, which made it something of a natural amphitheater.”

“You can’t give me anything more direct than that?”

“Well, it was past the old powder magazine building, down near Spring Creek. You’ll know it when you see it.”

Great. We could be wandering around for hours. Which we didn’t have. “There’s nothing else you can tell us about the case? Any odd tidbit that might not have made the report but instinct said might be related?”

He hesitated. “Well, there were two kids I swear were witnesses—”

Witnesses.
Puzzle pieces suddenly began clicking into place. “Not Jake Cowden and Ivan Lang?”

“The very ones. Like the wolf cubs, they tended to be loners, but they often used to sneak off and spy on the gangs. Cowden used to e-mail me photographs every now and again, which were often quite helpful when we were investigating minor incidents.”

“Did he e-mail you anything about Young?”

“No, but he reported his camera missing the next day, and he was sporting quite a shiner. Ivan looked pretty messed up, too.”

“But they never talked?”

“Refused to. Cowden started drinking not long after that, though.”

“What about Cherry Barnes?”

He snorted. “That one was more trouble than she was worth.”

“In what way?”

“She was Harvey’s girlfriend, and a real tease. Harvey was always getting into fights because of her.”

And she’d grown up to become a wannabe Trollop. Oddly appropriate. “Thanks for your help, Mr. Mayberry.”

He grunted. “If you do find out what happened to Young, I’d appreciate a call.”

“Will do, Mr. Mayberry.” I hung up.

“Anything?” Rhoan asked.

“Maybe.” I shoved my phone back into my pocket and repeated what Mayberry had told me. “I think it’s highly likely Young will be going back to the scene of his death, rather than where he used to live.”

“He’ll probably think it’ll be safer,” Quinn commented. “After all, he knows the Directorate is onto him, and he also knows you can trace his home addresses. But finding the location of his death more than twenty years after the event is a different matter.”

“I still don’t understand why he’s doing all this now,” Rhoan said. “Why didn’t he finish the lot of them when he finished off Harvey?”

“I suspect because his parents discovered what he was doing and stopped him. They had him locked up for years, remember.”

“Being locked up in a room filled with silver wouldn’t exactly enhance his sanity prospects, either,” Quinn commented.

“No.” I glanced at the clock again. “We need to be up there before dawn so we can have a chance of killing the bastard. How fast does this baby go?”

“Let’s find out, shall we?” Quinn said, pressing the accelerator firmly. The car took off with a throaty roar.

“This isn’t a sports car,” Rhoan said dryly, “so just watch the shudder when you climb over one twenty. It’ll do your arms in.”

“One twenty won’t get us into Beechworth before dawn, will it?” I asked.

“No.”

“Then don’t worry about the shudder and just get this rust trap moving.”

Quinn glanced at me, amusement touching his lips and glinting in his dark eyes. My hormones did a happy little dance, but I shoved them back down and told them to behave. Now was not the time.

“Your wish is my command.”

Rhoan snorted. “The day either of us believe that is the day we fall over dead.”

“Who asked the peanut gallery for an opinion?”

“No one,” Rhoan snapped. “So shut up and drive, my friend.”

For a change, Quinn did exactly as he was told.

Maybe there was hope for him yet.

R
ed fingers of light were beginning to scrape across the sky by the time Quinn stopped the car beside the old stone walls that surrounded Beechworth’s powder magazine building.

I climbed out of the car and sniffed the air, my nostrils flaring as I sampled the aromas within. The predawn air held a chill that felt like ice, but underneath it ran scents of eucalyptus, earth, and the freshness of water.

And underneath all
that
was the hint of fear.

Fear that was thick and strong, and coming from more than one source.

People were alive out there. Hopefully, Liander was still one of them. I grabbed my phone and dialed the Directorate, asking the cow to call in ambulances and any medical help she could find close by.

“I can hear heartbeats,” Quinn said softly, as he came around the front of the car. “They’re a ways off, so it makes it hard to define just how many.”

“But there’s definitely more than one,” Rhoan said, closing the car door softly. “And that’s good news for those of us needing some right now.”

I squeezed his arm lightly. “How are we going to attack this?” I glanced at Quinn. “And how are we going to kill something that’s not only invisible, but all but invincible in the daylight?”

Quinn glanced at the red-flagged sky. “We have a good half-hour before the sun actually rises. We need to attack him before then, or we’ll be forced to wait until the following night.”

“Waiting is
not
in my plans at this particular moment in time,” Rhoan said, voice flat. “So do we attack as one, or as individuals?”

“Together,” I said. “I’ve seen him fight. He’s fast and he’s strong, regardless of the fact he’s been locked away for years.”

“Insanity often gives people an edge.” Quinn glanced at Rhoan. “I’ll find and protect Liander and the other hostages. I’ll leave the killing to you two. You’re here officially. I’m not.”

And Jack could sometimes get cranky about involving civilians in cases—unless, of course, he did it himself. I looked at my brother. “Don’t suppose you’ve got an arsenal in the trunk?”

He grimaced. “No. I removed the guns and locked them up before I took the car to the car wash.”

Obeying the rules, as usual. Whereas I would never have even washed the car, let alone obeyed Jack’s safety rules about where to store weapons when not on duty. Which would undoubtedly get me in trouble one day, but on
this
day, it would have been a boon.

“So you’ve no weapons at all?”

“I’ve some stakes.”

I glanced at Quinn. “Will they work?”

“If you stake him while he’s visible, they will.”

“Then stakes it is,” Rhoan said.

He walked to the trunk and fetched them, then handed two to me and flexed his shoulders. “Let’s go.”

His gray eyes had become cold and dead. The eyes of the hunter. The eyes of the killer.

I glanced at Quinn. He gave me a smile that was a nice mix of confidence and desire, then turned and melted into the semidarkness. I switched to infrared and watched him run toward the tree line, then turned and followed my brother.

While I couldn’t hear heartbeats like he and Quinn, I was still a wolf, and the scents of sweat and blood and fear that rode the air were unmistakable. And they were getting stronger.

As the granite outcrops began to grow more numerous, and the eucalyptus gave way to black cypress, Rhoan paused, pointing to the right then holding up five fingers. I nodded, but wondered if Young would actually give us that much time. He was a vampire after all, and he could hear heartbeats as well as either Rhoan or Quinn. No matter how caught up he was in his whole revenge scenario, he’d realize eventually that we were here.

I made my way through the trees and the shadows, stepping carefully but quickly, keeping low where possible. It was tempting to shift to wolf shape, because she was quieter and far more deadly in the forest. But if Young happened to see me and attack, my wolf would be at a distinct disadvantage. Teeth against fist and feet—especially when they had the speed of a vampire behind them—was never a good thing.

The blood and fear scents were growing stronger, and with them came the sound of voices. One of them I recognized. Liander.

He was
alive
. I briefly closed my eyes and said a silent thank-you to fate.

And yet the knowledge didn’t ease my tension one little bit. Because there was another voice riding the wind besides Liander’s, and
that
one didn’t sound particularly calm
or
sane. I eased up on the speed and, using a rock as cover, peeked out into the clearing.

Liander and another man were tied by their wrists to a huge branch that overhung the clearing. Both men had been stripped naked, and their feet hung several inches off the ground. It had to hurt to be suspended like that, but there was little evidence of pain on Liander’s somewhat-battered features. His body was littered with bruises, evidence of the fight he’d put up and the pain Rhoan had felt, but the thin man hanging beside him was almost unmarked, except for his wrists. Though I suspected the bloody condition of those were not through anything Young had done, but rather his desperate writhing to escape.

I had no idea where the other captives were. They certainly weren’t in the clearing, but then, the van Young had driven up in was nowhere in sight, either. Maybe he was keeping everyone else tucked away to play with another day. Quinn would find them, and keep them safe. I doubted if even a bhuta would have much hope against someone who had spent two hundred years as a vampire assassin.

I couldn’t see Young, but I had no doubt his was the other voice I’d heard. Part of me wanted to rush out there right now, to grab Young and pummel him senseless for what he’d done to Liander and the other man. But there were still two minutes of Rhoan’s five to go, and I had no doubt my brother would pummel
me
if I didn’t do exactly what he asked. Besides, not only was he the senior guardian here, he had a whole lot more at stake. I silently blew out a breath and settled in to wait.

And I was betting the two minutes would seem like an eternity.

I’ve found the van and the other people who were kidnapped,
Quinn said.

I hesitated, fearing the worst, then asked,
Are they all alive?

Yes. Beaten and bloody, but alive. I won’t move the van because Young will hear it, but you can be sure he won’t get near these people again.

That was
one
vow I had total faith in.
Thanks.