Thirst [All-American Vampires 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (17 page)

Claire watched as Gia’s hand began to move over the map, starting where Claire had indicated near Atlanta and spiraling out in ever-widening circles. The hand gradually began moving west and south until it had reached the very edge of Alabama. Gia quickly moved to another page in the atlas. Again, as Gia held her hand above the map, Claire saw her fingers move across Alabama and into southern Mississippi. Another flip of the page, and it turned north, moving past Jackson, faster and faster and across the border into Tennessee. “Your sister has certainly moved around a lot.” She turned to the map of Tennessee.

“Does that mean that she is still alive?” Claire couldn’t wait another moment to ask.

Gia looked surprised. “Why yes. I’m sorry. I should have told you. I guess it never occurred to me that you didn’t know. I’m an idiot. She is most definitely alive. The energy I’m picking up from her is very strong. Very powerful. Very much like her sister’s.” She smiled.

Claire closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of intense relief. She felt Hawk squeeze her hand. When she opened her eyes, she saw Gia looking at her in concern, but she just shook her head and blinked back the tears that had risen to her eyes.

“I’m fine. I just…I hoped she was still alive, but I could never be sure. Thank you.”

Gia smiled. “I understand. Now, let’s try Tennessee.”

* * * *

Hawk studied Claire’s face to make sure she was all right. She’d tried to hold on to her hope that her sister was alive for so long, and now that she knew for sure that Cassidy was okay, he knew that she was feeling very emotional. It was with a warm sense of pride in her strength of will that he watched her pull it together and return her focus to finding her sister.

When Gia turned the page in the atlas and began on Tennessee, her search quickly narrowed down to a small area. She looked up, and Hawk waited impatiently for her to speak. “She’s here. Somewhere.” The atlas held a map of Memphis, but it was still too wide an area for them to be able to search. He could tell that Gia and Claire were frustrated. Then Gia suggested, “Let’s try the computer. I know I can find a more detailed map of Memphis online.”

Gia crossed over to her desk, with Hawk and Claire following. Claire stood next to Gia’s shoulder with Hawk close beside her, the atlas in his hand. It didn’t take long for Gia to pull up the map she needed. “Hawk, give me the atlas and let me see exactly where I need to search.”

Hawk laid the atlas on the desk beside the computer, and he and Claire held hands again. Gia held the necklace up, and Claire once more placed her own hand over it. Then they watched over Gia’s shoulder as she concentrated on the area Hawk had shown her. Her finger moved across the computer screen in smaller and smaller circles until finally she stopped. She sat there for a moment with her eyes closed before opening them and shaking her head. “Here. This is where she is. I can’t pinpoint the house, but she’s somewhere in this neighborhood.”

Hawk looked at the screen. “Brentwood Hills. I’ve heard of it. It’s a very swanky area of Memphis. Homes in that neighborhood can cost anywhere from a million up. That makes sense. Anyone who could afford a personal bloodslave would have to have plenty of money.” He looked over at Claire, whose face was filled with anticipation. “We’re almost there, Claire. We’ll find her and bring her home.”

“Oh, Hawk. It seems so unreal. After all these months of searching, to finally be so close. I can’t believe it.” Her voice broke. “And Gia. I don’t know how I can ever repay you for what you’ve done. I have to admit that when Hawk first told me we were going to consult a witch, I thought he was crazy, but I know now how wrong I was.”

Gia grinned up at Hawk and then reached out a hand to Claire, who clasped it in her own. “Don’t worry about it. You’re not the first to doubt, and I’ll be honest and tell you that we lucked out. If you hadn’t had that necklace, well…I don’t know if I could have found her as fast. Or at all.”

Hawk spoke. “I’m going to call Kirby at my office and ask her to do a computer search for me. See if she can get names of all the homeowners in Brentwood. She’s a computer whiz.”

“I can do that, Hawk.” Claire wanted to help, he knew, but he thought his idea was best.

“I know you probably can, but I imagine it would take a while on this computer of Gia’s. We have access to a network that is much faster. Plus she knows her way around some sites that I probably shouldn’t even mention to you. I use her a lot to track down information for my agency.”

Claire agreed that he was probably right, though he knew it was difficult for her to take a backseat in the search, especially given her skills with computers.

He left the two women talking while he stepped into another room to make the call. When Kirby answered, Hawk quickly explained what he needed. Kirby assured him it would be no problem.

“Give me some time, and I can probably have that information for you. It shouldn’t take too long.”

“About how long do you figure?”

“Shouldn’t be any more than an hour or so. Maybe even less.”

“I knew I could count on you.”

She laughed. “That’s what they all say. Is this part of that case you’re working on for Quinn? The Landry woman.”

“Yep. I think we’ve found her sister.”

“Good. Well, let me get to work on this. I’ll get back to you quick as I can.”

“Could you send the info to my e-mail account?”

“No problem.”

After they had hung up, Hawk returned to the parlor, where the two women were talking.

Claire looked up as soon as he stepped in. “What did she say?”

“She’s going to e-mail me the information as soon as she has it.”

Gia asked, “I’m not sure that I understand how that list of names is going to help you. Do you know the name of the person who has your sister?”

Claire shook her head. “Not exactly.”

Hawk explained. “We don’t have a definite name, but we have something close. One of the bloodslaves we interviewed said that Cassidy was being held by someone whose name sounded like
Hunnerson
.” He quickly explained to Gia how they’d gone to speak to the rescued bloodslaves and had discovered that one of the girls had actually spoken with Cassidy.

“So that’s where the necklace came from?” Gia exclaimed.

Claire nodded her head in agreement. “Yes. She gave it to us after I recognized it.”

“And that’s where you learned the name.”

Hawk spoke again. “We’re figuring Henderson or Harrison. Something like that. English wasn’t the girl’s first language, so she couldn’t get any closer than that for us. Still, I think it will help us narrow things down. And then we can cross-check any similar names against known vampires in the Memphis area. That should give us exactly what we need.”

“And once you find her. Then what?”

Claire answered, her voice firm and hard, “Then we go in and get my baby sister away from those bastards who have her.”

Hawk smiled. “Exactly.”

“Won’t that be dangerous?” Gia wanted to know. “Both for you and for her?”

“We’ll do everything we can to minimize any risk. I’m going to bring several of my men in, and Quinn’s offered some of his guys as well. We’ll come up with an extraction plan that will put everyone in the least amount of danger.”

He saw that Claire was looking worried. She said, “I didn’t think about the fact that this might put Cassidy in danger. Or you. Or anyone else. Maybe we should think of something else, Hawk. Maybe he would be willing to sell her to us. We could pretend we wanted to buy a bloodslave.”

Hawk shook his head. “Claire, trust me on this. This is what I do. My men are well trained. We won’t let you or Cass get hurt. I swear it.”

He held her gaze as she seemed to search his eyes for the truth of what he was saying. Finally she nodded. “Okay, Hawk. We’ll do it your way.”

He smiled. “Good. Now, while we’re waiting for Kirby to get back to me, I need to talk to some of my people. Is there somewhere I can go to be out of your way while I do that?”

Gia pursed her lips. “Why don’t you just stay in here while Claire and I head to the kitchen. I could use a cup of coffee myself.”

Claire stood. “Yes. That sounds like a plan.” She turned to Hawk. “Let me know as soon as you hear anything. Okay?”

“Sure. Gia, is it okay if I use your computer? I have mine out in the SUV if it’s a problem.” Hawk stepped over to the desk.

Gia shrugged. “Go right ahead. Just sign in as a guest.”

“Thanks.” He waited until the two women had left the room and closed the door before he took out his cell phone and began making calls. It didn’t take him very long to contact Cade and instruct him to round up as many of his men as were available to head toward Memphis in the next twenty-four hours. He told him to come loaded with maximum firepower and all the usual equipment needed for a raid on a secure building. Once Cade had agreed to take care of everything, he advised him that he’d call back in an hour or so to check and see what he’d managed to accomplish.

Next he called Quinn to explain to him what was going on.

Quinn was worried. “Are you sure this is the best plan, Hawk? There are so many things that could go wrong.”

“I’ll tell you like I told Claire, this is what I do. In my opinion, our best chance of getting Cassidy out of there safe is to go in and snatch her before anyone suspects we’re there. If we try to negotiate, it will just give them time to bolster their defenses.”

“You’re right. You’re right. I don’t know why I’m trying to tell you how to do your job. But what’s this I hear about somebody looking for Claire?”

“I guess Nic told you, huh?”

“Of course.”

“We’re not really sure, but my best guess is that either Simone has found out about her and has sent some goons to get her or the morons who turned her have decided to cover their tracks.”

“That’s not good.”

“No, but at least we’re prepared. They won’t catch us off guard.”

“All right. Do you need any of my people to help with this raid?”

“I’m not sure. I need to find out how many of my own men I can pull in. Can I get back to you?”

“Absolutely. Or if you can’t get me, call Nic. I’ll instruct her to cooperate with you in any way.”

“Thanks, Quinn. I appreciate it.”

“Don’t thank me. You’re doing me the favor, remember?”

“Ah…I’m not exactly sure I’d agree with that statement, Quinn.”

“Why not?” There was a brief pause. “Oh, hell. Don’t tell me you’re involved with her?”

“Okay. I won’t tell you.”

Quinn laughed. “I don’t believe it. The distant and remote Hawk, brought low by a pair of blue eyes.”

“Huh. How’d you know her eyes were blue?” He couldn’t stop the question, and he knew what it probably revealed to his friend.

“I saw her, Hawk. Remember?”

“Shit.”

“Just how serious are you about this woman, Hawk?”

Hawk just sat there, the silence on the line growing until Quinn growled. “Fuck. You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

“What?” Hawk felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He hadn’t thought through his feelings for Claire yet and was not ready to delve deeply into what was going on between them. “No. Of course not.”

“Right.” Hawk could hear the skepticism in Quinn’s voice, but he decided he should just keep his mouth shut.

“Look, Quinn, I’ve got to go.”

“All right, man. You be careful. With everything. You hear?”

“I got you. Later.”

“Bye.”

Hawk hung up the phone and stood there thinking for a minute. Then he shook off his conversation and moved over to sit in front of the computer. He pulled up his e-mail account and saw one from Kirby. “Attagirl.” He opened the message. It was a fairly long list. Apparently the neighborhood was larger than he’d thought. He clicked print and waited for the pages to print out. Then he exited out of his email account and stood to take the list in to where Claire and Gia were waiting.

He found them sitting at the kitchen table, talking quietly and sipping their coffee. Claire looked up as soon as he entered, her eyes focusing directly on the papers he held in his hand.

“Is that the list?”

He nodded and sat down, spreading the papers across the table in front of them. “Looks like a couple hundred names. Why don’t we each take a page and mark any that look close to Hunnerson?”

The women agreed. Gia got them each a pen, and the room was quiet as they each studied the names. When the last paper had been marked, Hawk sat back.

“Okay. Let’s see what we’ve got. On my pages I have a Marvin Henderson, James and Shannon Henrickson, and O.C. Halbertson. What do you have, Gia?”

“All I have is a Carlton Ryan Harrison, Jr.”

“And you, Claire?” Hawk looked at her and could see the suppressed excitement on her face.

“Hunter Garrison and Wyman Douglas Hudson.”

“Good. Let me check these names against the known vampires in the area, and then we’ll see where to go from there.”

He went back into the office and sat back down at Gia’s computer. He quickly went to the website he needed and started his search. It didn’t take long.

A short time later, he rejoined the women. In his hands he held two pictures.

He met Claire’s anxious gaze. “I think we’ve got him, sweetheart.”

Claire took the piece of paper Hawk held out toward her and looked down into the face of the man who had her sister. She tried to remember how Tatiana had described the man. The salt-and-pepper-colored hair was blatantly obvious in the black-and-white photo, but it was difficult to tell whether his eyes were green or blue or how tall he was since the photo was only waist up. It was the hand resting on the staircase banister that drew her eye. The one with the missing pinky finger on his right hand.

She looked up at Hawk. “Who is he?”

“Meet Mr. Hunter Garrison, owner and CEO of Garrison Enterprises. Our Mr. Garrison is a very wealthy individual who has his fingers in a lot of pies, mostly publishing and computer tech. Apparently, he’s been jockeying for a position on the Council of Nine for the past few years. He’s also been part of some very questionable business deals and has earned the enmity of some incredibly influential people, which is why no one is really taking him too seriously as a possible candidate.”