Days of Redemption (The Firsts Book 6) (5 page)

Cherise pulled away and paced, her eyes searching the air for her best move now to try to find Lauren before they hurt her or killed her.  Technology was the only thing left
, surveillance and research, which had failed too many times recently to find missing people.  There had to be another option.

“Where is Bryn now?”

“I think he was headed to the Chicago airport.  We assumed the abductor would take her out of the country using a private plane.”

“Yes, that is
likely so.  Okay, then.  I need to speak to Gunnar.”

“Your talents won’t help in this case, will they?”

“No, we discovered that with Alisa.  I can’t find a human’s lifeforce.  They are too common and too weak.   David, when will I ever learn to just trust my instincts?”

“Baby, you can’t take responsibility for everything that happens.  You’re an empath, not a
god.  We’ll find her.   Have faith.”

Laying her ha
nd against his cheek, she looked up at her handsome first blood husband.  “
You
give me faith, my love.  You always have.  We will find her together.”

She took his hand and led him out of the room to find his security guy, Gunnar.

“What was Bryn doing in Chicago?” she asked as they walked.

“Drinking
and fucking, if I know Bryn.  And I do.”

Bryn used vampire compulsion in the airport to get information.  No private planes left for France tonight.  None were scheduled.  Dead end.  His heart sunk as he realized there was a good chance she was already on her way out of the country and that he might not be able to find her.  He wanted a tall glass of whisky.  

Not that it would help, but it was Bryn’s go-to choice when trouble happened.  He didn’t handle problems too well, he didn’t want to.  Party until it hurts, that had been his motto for centuries.   And he needed a stiff drink right now.

It wouldn’t help, he did know that.  It never had, but keeping himself medicated had taken the edge off long years of living without a purpose.  Bryn had no idea why he was so unsettled, he’d just always been.   No one knew that.  It wasn’t something he ever discussed, even with David, who he was closer to than any other person he had ever known.

But he had a purpose now.  He
would
save his little geneticist.  And that meant no whisky, no wine, no spirits at all.  The question was…could he function well without it? 
He would find out, wouldn’t he? 

With an impatient glance at his mobile phone, he paced for a few moments in front of the counter at the airport where the young woman had told him they had no private planes leaving for France tonight.   Was there a chance they were going somewhere else?   He walked back up to her as she
began to take care of another man, who tried to push Bryn back.

“Hey, buddy, wait your turn,” the small guy yelled. 

Bryn caught his eye and spoke.  “Go sit on that bench over there for ten minutes and think about confronting a man three times your size.  Go.”   Then he turned to the girl.

“Sorry, lass.
  Could ya tell me if ya have any private flight leavin’ for somewhere
other
than France tonight?”  

The girl keyed through some screens and looked up at him
.  “Yes, sir.  I have a private plane that left two hours ago, but it was traveling south.”

South
?   That didn’t seem right.  He couldn’t imagine the French choosing somewhere that far from home for their work.  They were a xenophobic lot.  But it seemed to him that it was his best lead right now.

“Details, please,” he demanded.

“They filed a flight plan to Curitiba City.”

“
Curi…  Where in the hell is
that?
”

“South America.
Southern Brazil. 
Aeroporto Afonsa
Pena.
”

“All right then.”  Bryn looked around the busy airport.  He knew it was too close to daylight for him to travel by plane.  But time mattered, so it was the only way he could travel.  “Ca
n I hire a private plane here?”

“You can.
”  She gave him directions and some flyers.

“Thank
ya, lass.  Ya can take care of the idiot now.”

As he walked away, he phoned David, who answered right away
, and told him what he planned to do.

“I don’t know, David, but it’s the closest thing to a lead I have.  What if they moved their facility after we torched the
one outside of Paris?  What if they moved it halfway across the world?   It might be where they’re takin’ her.”

“I’ll research it while you travel.  Bryn, Bas has a friend down there, near Brazil.  Her name is Dez, and she has some unique skills for a
made
vampire.  I’ll text her number to you in case you find you need some help.  Cherise is very worried.”

“Aye, my friend.
  So am I.  This girl is brave, and she’s fought for us.  I can do no less for her.”

“I agree.  Keep in close touch, I’ll get all I can to help guide you.  If you need a team, you only have to ask.”

“That I know.  All right, I’m off to encase my body in a metal tube that’ll fly through sunlight.  I hope the gods are on my side or I’m going to be a side of toast by nightfall.”

“Take care and good luck, Bryn.”

“
Bit hidh an osnaich dheireanach cràidhteach
.” 

David sighed as he rung off.  Bryn had quoted a Gaelic p
rayer they’d used before a battle in the old days, which meant he would take this to the end before he gave up. 

All was quiet.  The plane had stopped.  Lauren rolled upright and listened carefully, hoping to hear something that might help her discover where she was or help to escape.  At the same time, she scanned the curved walls for any weapons or sharp items that could cut through rope, but there was nothing at all she could use to try to get loose. 

Didn’t mean she’d quit trying, just meant she was still caught.

Another screech announced
that the door was opening.   He was coming for her.

But it wasn’t the man in the suit.  Two big guys, dressed in jeans and dirty tee shirts with pistols pinned to their sides, came in quickly and grabbed her by the arms to haul her up and through the opening.

“Hey!”  Lauren called.  “Watch it!  I’m not a sack of potatoes, here.  If you break something, nobody’s going to like it.”

The smaller of the two snickered,
then looked into her eyes.  “They don’t give a shit.  They want you alive, yeah, but only so they can torture you.  Man, you shoulda kept running, lady.  The director has a real bent for you.  He calls you his chew toy!   Man, you are screwed, because I tell you, he is one mean-ass motherfucker.”

Screwed.
 
And not in the good way
.  Oh, yeah, she didn’t doubt that she had no long-term future, not from the moment that they found her. 

A car waited just outside the plane, and Lauren could see immediately how she would travel from there
.  The trunk lid of the large sedan was open and they dragged her, kicking and fighting, to the trunk, shoved her down, slapped a piece of tape over her mouth and slammed the trunk lid hard.  Struggling to breathe through her nose, this was the moment the whole thing got very real for her.  She wasn’t anywhere near home anymore, that she knew, and there was no one coming to her rescue.

She thought of Bryn. 
Even if he’d tried to help her, he wouldn’t have any idea where she was anyway, so it didn’t matter.  It was over.  The council had her and she would never see the light of day again once they put her in one of their holding cages. 

The car traveled on
rough terrain, her head bumping repeatedly against the thinly covered metal floor of the trunk.  She was unbelievably thirsty.  That thought overwhelmed her as she finally fell asleep on the endless drive.

Sudden light invaded the darkened space as the lid of the trunk opened, waking Lauren abruptly.  She sq
ueezed her eyes back closed as a bright light shined directly into them.  When she opened them again, she realized that someone was using a punishing hi-power light to blind her or disorient her.

“Out,” a man’s voice barked, and then someone yanked her out, her arm nearly pulled from the socket.

He threw her into a wide chair that smelled like piss, cigarette smoke, and beer, then walked away. 

When she tried to
get up, a man’s large foot struck her in the middle of her chest and pushed her back down.

“
Don’t give us no trouble.  Been a long day and ain’t up to no problems,
cadela.
”   The dark haired man with a scruffy beard held a rifle.

Yeah, she got it.  She wasn’t up to
no problems
either.  Wouldn’t mind a bath or some cold water, but she was certain a man who felt comfortable shoving a woman in the chest with his booted foot wasn’t interested in making her life more comfortable.

Some minutes later the first two men returned and pulled her up again.

“We’re hiking the rest of the way.  Maybe two miles, you got it?”

Lauren
nodded, her mouth so dry she wasn’t sure she could speak, even if she wanted to.  But she didn’t.  At this point, all she wanted was to do what she needed to do until she could figure out if there was a chance she could get out of this.

Like now, as she traveled
with no shoes across heavy foliage in a marshy area, hands tethered behind her back.   They’d been traveling for at least an hour with no break.  The two men who’d pulled her from the plane stayed on each side of her, pistols in holsters, and she knew she was being taken to someone who was apparently a
mean-ass
motherfucker.
 

Where they were marching her to, she did not know, but ultimately, it was into her grave, six feet under, if she was lucky. 

If she had known, she would have at least had that expensive filet mignon dinner she’d been craving for four months!  And she still couldn’t let go of the loss of her one night of erotic vampire-level sex with Bryn.

Pulling back, Lauren stopped,
forcing her escorts to do the same.  Both stared at her like they were going to shoot her right there.

“Look, guys, they didn’t give me anything to drink the entire flight
or since.  Any chance I could have some water?”

Still staring at her, one of the guys fingered his sidearm.

“Come on, I’m a little girl, how am I a threat to two huge guys like you?”

The smaller o
f the two men tilted his head.  In truth, Lauren was not much shorter than him.  But he seemed to understand, and, although he hesitated, he pulled out a canteen to try to pour water down her throat.

She made sure he missed.  It soaked the front of her

robe, forcing the satin material against her breasts.

“Oops,” she said, trying to
attain a sweet, sexy expression, which she had no idea how to do.  She tried to recreate the adorable smile she’d seen on Cherise.  “I can’t do that with someone else holding the canteen.  Could you untie my hands?  For just a moment.  Please.  It’s so warm here.”

Both
pairs of the men’s eyes kept wandering to her breasts, which were well highlighted now, the nipples clearly defined against the soft white fabric that, although dirty, was close to transparent now.

“Geez,” the smaller guy said,
but he turned her around to pull the knot free from the rope that bound her hands.

La
uren rubbed them aggressively. 

“Thank you
.”  She offered another sexy smile, she hoped.  “That was tight.”  Reaching for the canteen, she lifted it up and took a slow sip, running her tongue around the lip of the container sensuously as she threw her head back. 

“
Ummm,” she moaned, and lifted it once more as she leaned into the man who gave her the canteen, her breasts against his bare arm.

H
is eyes were locked on her as she leaned even closer, letting the robe gape open.  They dropped quickly to her fully exposed breasts.

Wow, I’m actually good at this
, Lauren thought, as the guy began to move one of his hands to slide it past the neck of the robe.  She made her move.

Fast, almost impossibly so, she twisted her hand around and yanked the 9 mil from his holster and pushed him
with as much force as she could, while she backed up away from both men.  As she glanced down to ensure the safety was off, the larger man reached for his gun.