Blake's Pursuit (Scanguards Vampires, #11)(79)

“But there was nothing on the recording other than Norwood and Ronny turning into vampires. You can’t even tell what they’re talking about; there’s no audio. And we didn’t find the formula for the drug either.”

Hannah winked. “Because I don’t have it. But Norwood didn’t know that.”

“I still don’t understand. You couldn’t have known that you would be kidnapped when you hid the memory stick.”

“You’re right. But after I accidentally recorded Ronny and Norwood arguing, and Ronny told me he wanted out of what Norwood was doing, I had a strange feeling. So I hid the USB stick. I figured if something happened to me, at least somebody would know where to start. Scanguards would know.”

“But didn’t you realize that Norwood would go to your apartment, trying to find the evidence you told him you had? What if he’d found it before we did?”

Hannah shook her head. “I told him because I wanted him to go to my flat. I was hoping that by that time, Scanguards would realize that I was missing, and set up a watch on my flat. I was counting on Norwood going and hoping that he’d be caught by Scanguards.”

“You were right. Except that Norwood was able to escape.” She sighed. “Blake’s worried about you.”

“He’s a good friend.”

“He told me how you two met.”

Hannah dropped her lids. “You probably think that I’m impulsive and irresponsible, but even when he told me that he was a vampire, I couldn’t just let him die.”

Lilo smiled. She’d been in a similar situation. And she hadn’t had the heart either. “Thank you for saving him. If you hadn’t, I never would have met him.”

Hannah’s chin suddenly dropped. “Are you serious?” She shook her head. “You and Blake? How? I mean I don’t understand. You’re not the impulsive one. That’s me. You’re so... so reasonable... and you think everything through.”

“Sometimes things just happen. And there’s nothing I can do about it. And our captors somehow found out about me and Blake, and they used it against me. When you called to tell me that Blake was badly injured, I didn’t even stop to think for a split second. I just acted. You had his car. I had no reason to believe you weren’t telling the truth. I was so scared to lose him, Hannah.” Even now the thought clamped around her heart like a vice and squeezed.

“He’ll come for us,” Hannah said, her voice stronger now. “But now that you’re here, maybe we can figure out how to get out of here.”

For the first time, Lilo let her eyes wander around their prison. It was a large room with high ceilings, bare concrete walls, and a couple of windows high up. Both were painted black. Steel reinforcements, possibly an earthquake safety retrofit, criss-crossed two of the walls. It appeared that this was a room in a warehouse.

Lilo tapped her finger to her lips.

“What would Morgan West do in a situation like this?” Hannah asked, putting her arm around her shoulder.

“I’m not sure even Morgan West is clever enough to outsmart a bunch of vampires. We might have to put our money on Blake and Scanguards.”



~



“Everybody ready?”

Blake looked at his colleagues. They were all standing in a side street behind a large truck in the Potrero Hill neighborhood. Wedged between two freeways, the northern part of the district housed mainly businesses: predominantly warehouses and wholesalers. Farther up the hill to the south, the area was framed by a residential neighborhood.

Wesley’s idea to use the blood inside the human they’d caught at Fort Mason had worked like a charm. The human had led them to a large warehouse in Potrero Hill as if he were a homing pigeon. While a Scanguards employee escorted him back to HQ where he would be debriefed—or rather, where they’d wipe his memory—Blake and his men got ready for their rescue mission.

Thanks to their contacts with the city, Thomas had already sent the blueprint of the warehouse to a computer in one of the vans they’d arrived in. But what had really helped in strategizing their approach was Lilo’s blood.

Blake pulled in a fortifying breath. Because he’d bitten Lilo only a few hours ago, her blood was still strong inside him, and as soon as they’d gotten within a block of the warehouse and out of the van, he’d smelled her. He’d been able to identify where in the building she was being kept.

Blake now looked at his colleagues, who were putting on their goggles. They weren’t for night vision; the vampires didn’t need that. Instead, they functioned as thermal imaging devices. Blake shouldered a rope with a hook at its end, as well as some climbing gear. His backpack held several stakes, small-caliber handguns and enough ammunition to take out half an army. He wasn’t leaving anything to chance.

“You know what to do,” he said and turned his back to his colleagues.

“You sure you wanna do this alone?” John asked.

Blake looked over his shoulder. “I have to. If we go in guns blazing, they’ll have enough time to kill Lilo and Hannah. Wait for my text.”

Not waiting for John’s response, Blake turned into the next street and walked around the block until he reached the street behind the warehouse Norwood and his cronies were holed up in. He knew he didn’t have much time. In less than an hour the sun would rise, and any rescue attempt would have to be delayed.