Sanctuary

Chapter 14

Luke

"Where'd our girl end up?"

"She didn't go far. Just round the corner to a hotel. But I don't think she's here. It looks like our boy got lucky. Either that or she has our scent."

"Why do you say that?"

"I can smell her perfume coming from the park. It doesn't smell like she went into the hotel. Hang on for a moment. There's something I need to check."

"James. What is it? Come on mate, don't leave me hanging." Andrew's tone of voice had me worried until I heard Jaynah's voice beside him. Her voice was too low for me to hear what she was saying, but the tone she was using helped calm him. He waited a few breaths and asked again.

"Okay, I'm back. I thought I saw her. Or at least, I saw someone that could pass for my Little Bird in a bad light. I assume that it was our girl." Footsteps in the background as he spoke told me that James was still moving. "Damn it."

"James?" The edge crept back into Andrew's voice, causing me to wonder if I should worry about him keeping his demon under control.

"If it was her, she got into a car."

I stiffened. The maid saw a car taking the vampire we were hunting away from her last kill. Before I could stop myself, I talked over the top of Andrew in my impatience to find the driver of the car. "What kind was it?"

James sounded a little confused as he spoke. No doubt he was trying to work out why I was asking him instead of Andrew. To his credit, Andrew held back and waited for an opportunity to take the lead again. "Didn't get the make or model. It was a dark, four-door sedan. Looked like it had tinted windows."

"Plates?" He rattled off the licence plate number. Kelly wrote it down on her pad. "I'll get Carl on it. Thanks. One last thing. What direction did the car go in when it left?"

"It went along Barney Street, past the cathedral."

Andrew took control of the conversation again. His voice sounded tense and I could tell he had a tight rein on his temper. "Thanks James. Get back to the motel and she if you can find the man she was following. If I'm right, he might resemble Luke."

"Will do."

"And James. Be careful. That girl is dangerous, and I doubt she's working alone."

"Andrew. We need to meet up." I pissed him off by interrupting him, and he had every right to be. By speaking out of turn, I had disrespected his position as team leader. Something I wouldn't tolerate if our positions had been reversed.

"No shit. Where are you?"

"In the mall."

"Jay and I are on our way, and from the look on her face, I will be the least of your concerns."

I heard a familiar chuckle as Nathan's voice sounded over the earpiece. "Well, it was nice knowing you Luke."

"He's not in that much trouble, yet. I'll save that for when I have to save his ass, for the fifteenth time. That's if Kelly doesn't get to him first." There was a steel to Jaynah's voice that undermined the light, joking tone. I looked at Kelly and didn't receive much reassurance. Both women may detest each other, but I was their one point in common. If my mate and my best friend were to put their differences aside, I was so screwed.

Laughter echoed around me from all three teams, Jaynah and I were the only ones who weren't laughing. Kelly smirked at me and gave a shrug of her shoulder. "If he screws up bad enough, I'll stand back and watch. Who knows? I might even help."