The Karma Study

Chapter 1 - Little Albert

Dean

Everything hurts. I can feel Zoe's absence in the knot in my throat and the stinging in my palms. I haven't quite figured out how to keep the numb in place like the others, and it keeps slipping me into this cycle of panic. The only thing keeping me calm is going over the things that we do know.

We know The Cambions lured her with an urgent message from Brandon. We also know Zoe is not dead, and they want her alive for some reason, or else they would have killed her by now. Plus, that hurricane of a woman is too stubborn to be killed.

We know her last location, and we are working on trying to figure out which direction they headed. Zoe did have a necklace that Brandon embedded a tracker into, however when we found the necklace in the tunnels we lost that pinch of hope.

Not only have we sent all of our troops into the city for a search, but we also have our men in the precinct searching for her. There are at least two hundred eyes on the hunt for her, or anything that might point us in her direction.

I know she's alive. As if we are connected to the same threat, or the same heartbeat, I feel her.

"So, you're telling me that all she said was that she was coming to save us, then she tackled you?" Brandon asks Jessica. It's odd to see him so laid back considering the circumstances. He's always been the calmest out of the four of us, and while Max has found a new blood thirst, Brandon has done his best to try and make the search as organized as possible.

"Yes, that's it. She was strapped with daggers and a pistol. But when I tried to detain her, Zoe tackled me to the fucking marble." Jessica explains as she rolls back her shoulder trying to relieve the pain in it.

"And where the hell were you?" I bark in Drake's direction.

I could honestly kill both of them with my bare hands if I knew it wouldn't hurt Zoe. So, for the time being I'll try to bite back my anger.

"I was doing my rounds at the front of the manor to check on the other guards. I heard Jessica call me for back up, but by the time I made it across the manor to the garage she was already peeling out of here." He shrugs in a way that makes me want to pluck his head clean off his shoulders, but his guilt is gleaming in his eyes.

"Fine." Brandon clears his throat and eyes me for a moment, as if to check in on my head space. When I give him a tight nod, he continues. "It's all hands on deck right now, but I swear on everything unholy, you will be held responsible the moment she is found."

"Where do you want us right now, Boss?" Jessica directs her question towards me, and I suddenly remember that I am in fact their boss.

"Jessica, I want you with Team A. They should be on standby for Max. Drake, I'll need you with—." My demands are cut short when the front door swings open to a now shirtless, bloody, and sweating Teddy. "Drake, you're with Teddy."

Drake tries his best to hide his discomfort, but I recognize it immediately.

"What's in that bag?" Drake asks Teddy.

Teddy swings a burlap sack off of his shoulder and tosses it at Drake's feet. The sack seems to have once been a light tan color but is now saturated in a deep red that is obviously blood.

"Take a look, pretty boy." Teddy shakes his hair out of his face and starts to pull it into a bun.

Drake hesitantly obeys, and bends at the knees to get closer to the sack. Using the tip of a pen, Drake lifts up the opening and peeks into the bag, but shuts it immediately. "It's heads." Drake confirms. "It's a sack of severed heads."

"Sure is." Teddy smiles and starts to strut towards the kitchen. "Do me a favor and get rid of them. I'll also need Team B to take care of the bodies."

When Teddy rounds the corner out of sight, Drake's panicked eyes meet mine and I can't help but chuckle. "You heard the man," Says Brandon to Drake. "Get a hold of Team B for cleanup and see if there is nothing you can do to help Teddy.

Drake sobers from the shock and nods before stepping away to call Team B.

We have our guards separated into teams to look over certain sectors of the city. Team A is the north side, Team B is South, and Team C is searching the tunnels. Something tells me the south streets are currently bleeding red and Teddy has started his reign of terror.

Once Brandon and I are completely alone he nods his head toward the armory, signaling for me to follow him. Once we get in there, he closes the door behind us. Brandon paces a few times and finally stops at a shelf of ammo and rests his head against it, letting his palms press against the wall next to it.

"I'm freaking the fuck out, man." He shutters a breath, and it almost sounds like he's seconds from breaking into tears.

"You've got to keep it together, Brother." I sigh and lean my back against the closed door. "We all do."

"I know, I know." He shakes his head and sits up straight to finally turn back towards me. "We need to get her back." He's basically pleading.

"We will. Because we have no other choice." I set my jaw in place, trying to keep it from shaking.

"I need a few hours to look into our camera system. I think they may have hacked into our cameras and they may have been watching our movements the last few days." Brandon admits. "I've been suspecting it for the last hour and I need to sit down and see. I need to see how much more of this is my fault." He clenches and unclenches his fists.

"Your fault?" I ask, confused.

"It's my fault they managed to get hold of my cell phone, and I'm supposed to be the tech guy remember? If I didn't catch any camera hacks sooner, it's definitely all my fault she's gone." Brandon explains.

It now starts to make sense on why he has tried so hard to fix and organize as much as he can with retrieving our little hurricane, his princess. He's trying to fix his mistake.

"Brandon," I sigh and pull my brother into a hug. "We don't blame you. This is not your fault. Here me when I say this." I press my forehead against his and hold him by the back of the neck so he can't pull away. "We will get our girl back. Trust in her to hold her own wherever she is. Hell, by the time we show up, she'll have them all dead." The last part makes him crack a small smile. "You're our brother, and we love you B. This is not your fault."

Brandon's hand latches at the back of my neck and he lets out a breath, "We will get our girl back." He says definitely.

Finally, we pull away and slap each other's shoulders. We take a moment to settle our emotions so when we exit the room we can go back to being the hard asses everyone in this city knows us to be. We eventually stop out of the armory together and find Teddy waiting for us.

"Going crazy is my thing, I'll need you three to stop coming from my brand." Teddy lets a smile show, as he stands before us still covered in blood, but now eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. At least, I'm assuming it's jelly.

"The three of us?" Brandon asks. "Where's Max?"

Teddy takes the final bite of his sandwich and his smile grows bigger, "Why, Maximilian is in my basement taking care of business."