The Immortal Hunter(28)

Eshe nodded and then gestured a bit irritably to the two mountains on either side of her. "This is Dante and Tomasso. They were in the office when Bastien called me, and they insisted on accompanying me."

The one with the ponytail that Eshe had introduced as Tomasso shrugged. "We were bored."

The other, Dante, nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Christian is always off with Marguerite and Julius, and we've had nothing to do but hang around the office bugging Bastien."

Decker's eyebrows rose at the mention of his aunt Marguerite, her husband, Julius, and their son Christian. It suddenly clicked in his mind who these men were.

"You're Nottes," Justin said with realization even as he thought it. "You're Christian's cousins from Italy. The twins."

The two men nodded, and Dante said, "And you're Justin Bricker and"-his gaze shifted to Decker-"Martine's son, Decker. You weren't at the family gathering."

"I was on a job when Marguerite got everyone together," Decker said quietly.

"She said as much," Tomasso assured him, offering his hand. Decker accepted it, and as they shook in greeting, Tomasso admitted, "That's part of the reason we came out with Eshe. To meet you."

"Yeah," Dante said as he next shook hands with him, and then, sparkling eyes darting to Eshe, he added, "Besides, we couldn't allow the little lady to drive all the way out here by herself in the middle of the night."

He received an elbow in the stomach from Eshe for his effort. It was no playful jab, but a blow that made him double over in surprised pain. She glared at Tomasso when he started laughing, and snapped, "If the two of you boys don't stop talking like that, I'm going to show you what this little lady can do."

This didn't seem to curb their amusement any. Decker had worked with Eshe several times and knew the woman well. He could have warned the men that they were playing with fire, but then decided to let them learn the hard way. It wouldn't be a lesson soon forgotten and would make for one hell of a show.

"What's in the cases?" Justin asked Dante and Tomasso curiously.

"Portable computers set up to track the stolen SUV," Eshe explained. "One is for Lucian and one is for Mortimer. We're to wait for both men here to hand them over. There's a third one in the SUV for you guys."

"Nice," Justin commented.

"Better than hunting blind," Eshe said with a shrug. "Though, if you two hadn't let your ride get stolen-"

"Their eyes," Dani said suddenly, distracting Decker from the irritation that Eshe had managed to stir with the start of her comment. Turning, he peered down at her as she swiveled to frown at him with confusion. "Their eyes shine like a cat's in this darkness. They..." She paused, eyes widening, and then said with amazement, "So do yours. They look all silver-blue."

Decker caught the way Eshe's eyebrows rose, but muttered, "It must be a trick of the light."

"This is the woman we're supposed to take back, then?" Eshe asked. "Why aren't one of you controlling her?"

"I would, but Decker won't let me," Justin announced, and then added significantly, "And he can 7."

"No one controls me," Dani said grimly. "And I'm not going anywhere."

Catching the way Eshe's eyes flashed a deep gold with black flecks, Decker caught Dani's arm and hurried her away from the group, managing to get her a good distance past the SUV before she began to struggle. Deciding it was far enough, he turned her to face him.

"It might be better if you waited here and let me handle this," he suggested quietly before she could get out the words that were trembling on her tongue.

Dani hesitated, her eyes sliding back to the group by the vehicles. Decker glanced back as well to find that everyone was watching them with curiosity as Justin said something. Suspecting he didn't want to know what that was, Decker sighed and turned back to Dani, reclaiming her attention by saying, "I'll talk to them. I won't leave you behind."

Dani eyes narrowed rebelliously, and he wasn't terribly surprised when she said, "You'd better not. I know you've been lying to me and aren't with CSIS, and the only reason I'm not at a police station right now screaming bloody murder is because you can track the SUV. You're my only link with my sister at present, Decker, but if you leave without me, I'll go straight to the police and tell them everything I know."

"I understand," he said with a solemn nod, not bothering to mention that she wouldn't get the chance to call anyone. Eshe would take control of her mind and see to that if he didn't convince the woman to leave Dani with him. He was hoping that wouldn't come to pass, however. He really didn't have any intention of leaving her behind or letting anyone else sift through her thoughts and control her actions, so he added, "But please stay here and let me handle it. All right?"

Dani crossed her arms angrily, but gave a stiff nod.

Just as he turned away, she pleaded, "Just hurry. The more time we waste here, the further away Stephanie gets."

Decker merely nodded as he made his way across the parking lot to the group.

"You've found your life mate," Dante said quietly as he rejoined them. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," Decker muttered, and then glanced to Eshe.