The Immortal Hunter(16)

A moment of silence followed when he finished speaking, and then his uncle slowly said, "Let me get this straight, Nicholas is still chasing rogues even though he's rogue himself?"

"So he said," Decker answered noncommittally.

"And you two helped with this nest?"

"Yes." Decker's gaze slid to the tarp-covered bodies. "There were six. They had a campsite in the woods and there's a little ravine next to it with two bodies in it. From the quick look I took, they're in a bad way. These guys butchered them... slowly."

"Tell me where it is and I'll have a cleanup crew go out and see if anything needs doing before the authorities can be led to them," Lucian said wearily.

Decker quickly told him the name of the road and gave directions to the ravine. When he finished, Lucian asked, "What about these rogues? Did you catch them?"

"Only four," he admitted grimly. "They had two new girls they'd just snatched and we managed to rescue one of them, but the sixth man got away using the second girl as cover. He-" Decker paused and cleared his throat before admitting, "I'd left the keys in the SUV in case Nicholas made a run for it and we needed to give chase in a hurry. The sixth rogue took advantage of that and stole the SUV for his getaway. Nicholas took off after them in his van while Bricker and I were taking care of the others."

Lucian cursed on the other end of the line and then snapped, "What about the other rogue? You say he got away too?"

"Yes. There were five down when I rushed after Nicholas. When we went back to the clearing, there were only four. Either the fifth one faked being hit, or we got bullets coated with a weak batch of tranquilizer and he recovered enough to get away in the few minutes we were gone."

"What did you do with the four still there?"

"We staked them to be sure they didn't recover and have them with us right now. It seemed better than leaving them for someone to find."

"Good, good," Lucian said, sounding calmer. "Okay, so you now have Nicholas and two other rogues to find?"

"That's why I asked you to track the SUV. If Nicholas is chasing it and we can catch up to the SUV, we can find both Nicholas and at least one other rogue."

"And rescue the second girl," Lucian muttered. "I'll call Bastien and have him track it. I presume you have a vehicle to give pursuit?"

"We took their van."

"What about blood?"

"In the SUV."

"Along with your weapons," Lucian said, sounding testy again.

"Yes," Decker admitted quietly. "We have a couple of guns each, but are low on ammo."

"All right. Sit tight. I'll call Bastien and get things rolling. I'll get back to you when I have coordinates and a plan for how to get a new SUV with blood and weapons to you."

Decker grunted and waited a moment to see if there were further instructions. When the only sound was the click of the phone disconnecting, he flipped his own phone closed with a sigh.

"Is he going to track the SUV and send someone to look after the clearing?" Justin asked as he watched Decker slip it in his pocket.

"Yes. And see about getting us another SUV with blood and weapons."

Justin's gaze moved to the tarp-covered bodies. "It will be nice to be rid of these guys. I keep thinking I catch a glimpse of the tarp moving out of the corner of my eye. I keep looking back, expecting them to sit up and start coming after us."

"You watch too much television," Decker said with disgust. "They've been staked. They aren't going anywhere."

"Yeah, well, I'll still be glad to be rid of them," Justin muttered, and then asked, "Will whoever brings us a new SUV take Dani too?"

Decker stiffened and shook his head. "No. She stays with us. She could be useful in helping to keep Stephanie calm when we get her back," he added, but knew Justin wasn't fooled into believing that was the real reason he wanted to keep Dani with him. They could control Stephanie as Justin had controlled Dani if need be.

Turning away to avoid the other man's eyes, he glanced out the window, looking for the woman in question, and then frowned. "Where is she?"

Justin followed his gaze, and then turned and peered through the windows on the opposite side. "There she is."

Decker twisted around and spotted Dani on the side of the road, a good hundred feet away.

"You don't think she's running away, do you?" Justin asked, sounding more curious than concerned.

"No." Decker opened the van door and slid out.

"I told you, you should let me keep her under my control," Justin said smugly. "She wouldn't even have had to get out of the van if I had."

"No," Decker repeated firmly, turning back to peer through the open door. "No more controlling her. I don't like you being inside her head. Just stay out of her mind."

Justin arched an eyebrow. "And if she really does try to run away?"

"Then I'll stop her." Decker said firmly. He started to slide the door closed and then paused to peer at the kid grimly. "She's mine. Stay out of her head."

"I'm a hundred years old, hardly a kid," Justin said dryly, plucking the thought from his mind.

Decker merely scowled, pulled the door closed, and started around the van to head after Dani.