The Vanishing Stair (Truly Devious #2)(47)

“They said you wouldn’t be a problem,” he mumbled.

Slater ignored that. “Where did you take Olivia LeClair?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I don’t have time to be polite about this,” Slater said. “I know you’re expecting your twin to show up soon, so we’re going to have to hurry things along. Where did you take Olivia LeClair?”

“Fuck you. If you’re smart, you’ll get out of here while you still can. I’m not working alone. My brother will be here any minute.”

“Where did you take Olivia LeClair?” Slater repeated.

He made no threatening moves, but a tide of glacial energy surged in the atmosphere. Catalina realized it was coming from Slater’s aura. She had never experienced anything like it. Confusion turned to shock, and then a strange excitement sparked across all her senses, normal and paranormal.

She did not know whether to be terrified or thrilled. Maybe both. Power in any form never failed to grab a person’s attention.

Slater tightened his grip on the twin’s shoulder. “Where did you take Olivia LeClair?”

The twin convulsed as if he was having a seizure. His face twisted in a mask of horror.

“Wh … what are you doing to me?” he gasped.

“Answer my question,” Slater said.

“Just a job. Nothing personal, okay? Client said pick ’em up and leave them at the old motel. Got one. Supposed to grab the other woman but you got in the way.”

“Where is the motel?” Slater asked.

“I’m cold. Too cold. What are you doing to me?”

“Where is the motel?”

The words were spoken in a terrifyingly neutral tone of voice. It wasn’t just the twin’s aura that was getting cold. The temperature in the hallway was dropping, too.

The twin stared at Slater. “You’re a fucking icer. You’re not real.”

“Where is the motel?” Slater said.

The room got a little colder. So did the twin.

“Slater,” Catalina said, “be careful. We need him alive.”

Slater glanced at her, frowning a little, as if she had spoken in another language and he was having trouble translating.

The twin started speaking in a thin, panicky voice.

“Frontier Lodge. Outside Hinley. We didn’t hurt her, I swear it. Instructions said undamaged goods. That’s what we delivered. You gotta help me. You can’t kill me.”

“Probably best if you don’t give me the incentive to try,” Slater said. “Catalina, use your phone to take a picture of this guy.”

She was trembling in reaction to the violence but she managed to dig her phone out of the pocket of her trench coat. She took a couple of shots of the twin, who stared at her, dazed.

A draft of air swept down the hallway just as she dropped the phone back into her pocket. She realized a door had opened somewhere in the house. Footsteps sounded in the shadows.

“Deke? Where are you? They found Royston’s safe room and the damned tunnel. Did you get them?”

Deke jerked violently and tried to lever himself into a sitting position. “Tony. Tony, help me. He’s an icer. Gonna kill me—”

Slater tightened his grip on Deke. The cold in the atmosphere intensified. Deke twitched again and then slumped on the floor.

Slater rose and started down the hall. A storm of midnight ice swirled around him.

But Deke’s desperate cry for help had sounded the alarm. The thud-thud-thud of rapidly retreating footsteps told Catalina that Tony was on his way back out of the house. Evidently one violent sociopath saw no reason to stick around to try to save another violent sociopath, even if they were twins.

The footsteps faded quickly. Catalina heard the muffled rumble of a motorcycle engine.

Slater reappeared. “He got away, but we’ve got one.”

“I don’t think Deke is going to be able to answer any more questions for a while,” Catalina said.

“Why not? Is he dead? Damn. He’s no use to me dead.” Slater moved closer to the man on the floor. “Good. He’s got an aura. He’s alive.”

Catalina decided not to point out that the fact that Deke was still breathing was something of a happy accident.

“He’s alive,” she said. “But he’s in a very deep state of sleep. Unconscious. Maybe in a coma. There’s no way to know when he’ll wake up, but assuming he does, I don’t think it will be anytime soon.”

“In that case, we’ll leave him in the basement. I’ll contact Victor and have him send someone out to collect this piece of garbage. You and I can’t waste any more time.”

“We have to check that motel before we go to Fogg Lake,” Catalina said. “Olivia might still be there.”

“Waste of time,” Slater said. “We have to get to Fogg Lake.” “I’m not going to argue about this. You are free to leave for Fogg Lake. I’m going to find that motel. It’s our first solid lead. I can’t ignore it.”

Slater fixed her with a considering look.

“Don’t even think about it,” she warned.

“What?”

“You’re wondering if you can grab me, stuff me into the car and take me to Fogg Lake. Forget it.”