KnightForce Tres (La Patron KnightForce Book 3) (10 page)

Chapter 18

“
Grandfather?
” David called as soon as he fell asleep. “
There’s a problem Grandfather, and I need your help
.” As the fog lifted, David walked through tall bunches of grass punctuated with lemongrass and other odors he couldn’t define. The air cooled as he continued searching for Grandfather, and his voice echoed in the breeze.

David stopped, put his hands on his hips and slowly turned. Strange, there were normally others playing in the glen, but today it was quiet. Unsure why no one raced or huddled together in large puppy mounds, he strained to see the shadowy figure in the distance, hoping Grandfather finally answered.

The dust picked up. David covered his eyes and coughed.

“David?” The deep, melodic voice of Grandfather eased him.

Smiling, he opened his eyes and gazed into the emerald and gold eyes of the large dark wolf. His heart raced and his fears eased. Like his sire, Grandfather could fix anything.

“Sarita is missing. She disappeared.” Without allowing time for questions, David told everything he knew about the matter.

Grandfather nodded but didn’t speak for a long time. David moved closer and sat near his large paw and stroked one of the long claws. You couldn’t rush Grandfather, he always took his time, but when he said something, it was usually good.

The old wolf sighed. The air brushed against David’s cheek and lifted his hair from his neck. “I can only tell you this, the person who took lovely Sarita is one of ours. What will happen to the child remains a mystery.”

David’s heart plummeted. “One of ours? How can that be?”

“Yes, sad state of affairs.”

“No! That’s not possible, everybody here loves Sarita.” David couldn’t imagine who in the compound would take Sarita away. Asia, Hawke or Damian would hurt that person really bad.

“It happened.”

“She’s not dead,” he said with stubborn determination. If his best friend was dead, he’d know.”

“No, she’s alive.”

David released a breath and thanked both the Goddess and the Christ for his best friend’s life.

“Is daddy going to stop us from going to school?”

“Rest your mind for a few moments, young one. La Patron has many responsibilities covering millions of pack members. Allow his mind to be at ease over his den, you are all safe and he searches diligently for your friend. Regain your strength to help in the search when you awake. I’ve cleared the meadow of noise and distractions so that you can sleep undisturbed.” He paused. “Your brother and sisters have been calling for me, I’m not ready to meet them, but I will in time. Tell them.”

“Yes.” David yawned as his limbs grew heavy and his eyelids drooped. “Yes, Grandfather, I’ll tell them.”

“He’s still sleeping.”

“I see that.”

“Want me to wake him up?” David recognized Adam’s voice but hadn’t caught the other one yet.

“No. I just wanted to make sure you guys were okay.”

“We’re still sad,” Adam said.

David’s eyes were heavy, and his mouth tasted horrible.

“I know you are, Champ. My team is doing everything to find her.”

“Find her? Who?” David wondered and then it hit him. Sarita was missing. He opened his eyes and saw Uncle Angus sitting in the chair, holding Adam.

“He’s awake.” Adam pointed.

“Yes, I see that,” Uncle Angus said. He removed Adam from his lap to the side and leaned toward the bed. “How you doing, big guy? Get enough rest?”

Unsure how he felt, he nodded and stared into his uncle’s green eyes.

“Good, good,” he nodded and turned to Adam. “Champ, go tell your dad, David’s awake for me.”

“Yes, Sir. Watch how fast I run, Uncle Angus.” Adam took off toward the door without looking back.

“You and daddy mind-talk,” David said, realizing Adam had been sent out of the room on purpose.

Uncle smiled. “Yes, he knows I’m here and that Adam’s on his way.” He paused. “Did you talk to Grandfather?”

David nodded.

“Good. He used to talk to me all the time, or maybe I went searching for him to talk, either way, knowing he was available always helped me make it through tough situations many days.”

David sat up on his elbows. The dimmed light created a halo around his uncle and he wanted to see his eyes when they talked. “Grandfather spoke to you? Were you a little boy like me?”

“No. More like Rese and Rone’s age. Grandfather saved my life and my sanity.” He looked at David. “Does he know where Sarita is?”

David shook his head. “All he said was the person who took Sarita was one of ours.” He met his uncle’s gaze. “But she’s not dead.”

Uncle Angus closed his eyes and then breathed hard, making funny sounds. “Thank the Goddess for that.” He placed his finger on his lips and stared at the wall. “One of ours…that’s a surprise.”

“I told him Asia and Hawke would hurt whoever took Sarita.” He frowned. “I think I told him that.”

“No worries, we’ll work with that. Let me tell you about the time grandfather made me leave town out a second story window.”

Chapter 19

Countdown clock: 62 hours remaining

“There were no bodies we could identify at the trash site, Sir,” a trainee told Angus. “We searched through the recycled boxes, most had been emptied and their contents incinerated. She’s not there.”

After five long hours, 20 trainees returned to the compound, filthy, without any additional clues.

“Good work, get cleaned up, grab something to eat, and file your reports. We meet in the training room in five hours at two a.m.”

“Yes, Sir.” The men grabbed their bags and left his office. Tyrese and Angus stared at the monitors, reviewing information. “What are we missing?” Angus asked. “She couldn’t have just disappeared.”

“What does “it’s one of us” mean” Tyrese asked, rubbing his forehead.

“Someone who works in the compound I guess, an inside job?” He glanced at Tyrese. “Jacques is running checks on communication logs, leave requests, anyone who’s left the compound. We’ll split up the information, start an electronic board on anyone with a pattern. Silas orders, we start in-house and with the school staff before looking outside.”

Tyrese nodded.

Byte growled and lifted his head as Crescent Blue approached the console. “After reviewing the tapes, the only way to have left the school would have been in the box and then in the truck. No one entered or left the building.”

Angus nodded, wondering where Blue was going with this.

“I’ve checked the records, there is a period of time unaccounted for between when the truck left the school and arrived at the trash station.”

Tyrese and Angus stared at him.

Blue placed a flash drive into the computer. Time schedules flashed on the overhead monitors. “These are the times the truck has made the drive between the school and the station.” Several pages scrolled across the screen. “Over the past three months the times have been consistent with the exception of this past week. Note the variations. It starts small but has grown. Today there’s 10 minutes unaccounted for.”

Angus stared at the screen. “I’ll be damned.”

Tyrese stood. “I’ll bring these drivers in myself.” He looked at Blue. “Let’s go.”

Crescent nodded and followed him out. Angus updated Silas.

“
The past three months? Good work. Has Jacques sent the files over that you need?”

“Not yet. But we don’t meet for another four and a half hours. Did you want to listen in while we talk to the men from the truck?”

“Maybe, keep me informed
.”

An hour and a half later, Tyrese, Blue, and the two full-bloods from the truck, entered their offices. Twenty-eight KnightForce trainees stared at them from behind monitors instead of going through timesheets and employee files.

Angus had the drivers sit in front of their impromptu audience as he waited for Asia and Hawke. Damian had been one of the trainees who returned early to see if there had been any new developments, and worked alongside the others filtering information. Questioning the workers would be a nice break from the tedium.

Asia and Hawked walked in and stared at the two men. Angus wanted Asia to verify the truth of whatever the men had to say. She strode forward, took the hand of the first man and asked his name.

“Grady Beef.” His hand shook and then she released it. Taking the second man’s hand, she asked the same question.

“Phil Rooks.” Asia held his hand a little longer and then stepped back. She looked at Hawke, and they left the room.

“
Asia said they made stops but it had nothing to do with the boxes and they don’t know anything about Sarita or what happened
,” Hawke told Angus.

Unsurprised at their findings, Angus never thought it’d be that easy, but he’d had high hopes. Now they’d discover why the change in pattern. Angus stood in front of the trainees.

“
Crescent Blue noticed a discrepancy in the times
,” Angus said, and went on to explain what they found and the reason the two men were at the front of the class.
“If your ID number ends with the number 5, step forward
.”

Three men approached him.

“
During the next hour you’ll take turns asking questions to discover what happened. They don’t know why they’ve been brought here, so you have the element of surprise.”
He looked at those seated. “
Everyone pay attention, we’ll discuss and evaluate this interrogation later
.” Angus stepped aside and the three trainees approached the two men.

Asia stood just outside the KnightForce training area and leaned against Hawke. He rubbed her back, offering comfort while his heart raced and turbulent emotions battled in his chest.

“
Still no luck?”
she asked.

Hawke’s hand paused and then continued. “
No, I can’t sense her, it’s like she vanished
.” He rubbed his chin against her forehead.
“I’ve no idea what happened or how
.”

Half listening to the impromptu interrogation, she wondered how the trainees would react when they learned the men made a stop so Rooks could visit his mother. The full-blood broke her leg while hunting in the forest and the healing was taking longer than he thought it should. That stop, while on the clock, made him a brief suspect and shouldn’t take long to discover the truth.

Asia looked at her watch and groaned. Eight hours had passed since her daughter went missing and they had no clues.

“Let’s go to the main office and look at everything that’s come in with a fresh pair of eyes,” Hawke said, taking her hand and leading her toward the entrance across the hall. When she stepped inside, Mope sat at the desk. He stood and nodded.

“I’m going over the pictures of everything to see if I missed anything, Ma’am,” he said.

Asia appreciated his dedication and stepped around the desk to see the large monitor. “Did you?”

Mope released a sigh and shook his head. “Not yet, Ma’am. But Blue is on the right track even if the drivers don’t present a solid lead. She was taken from this building, if not by that truck, then by someone else leaving.”

He touched a button and the security feed played. “This is the first time anyone left this building all day, other than the trash. I’ve searched outside, there are no blind spots, every inch of the outside is covered. La Patroness believed she was still in the building as we searched, and I agree.”

Asia bent forward and watched as parents entered the building or students were in line waiting to be picked up outside. There was no bus service for elementary students and upperclassmen could not access the lower floors without notice. The cameras and alarm system would’ve triggered anyone attempting to use the stairwells to change floors.

“So someone walked her out the building? Carried her? How did she leave?” Asia asked staring at the screen.

“I don’t know, yet, Ma’am,” Mope said. “There are 10 students who responded indifferently to what happened to Sarita, I’ve watched them leave the building.” He zeroed in on each student and their parent or caregiver who picked them up. For the next three hours they watched tapes and looked at pictures of the school. Asia noted worried looks on the faces of the staff, not guilt.

Asia pointed at the screen. “Who’s that?”

Mope looked at the photos of the students lying on the desk in front of him and then back at the screen. “Jacob Myers.”

“Who’s that picking him up?”

“Not sure, Ma’am.”  He handed her a folder. “Here’s the information we found on his family. When KF went to his home, we were unable to locate them to answer questions.”

“Questions? What kind of questions?” Hawke asked.

“How he felt about what happened in school? Did he and Sarita get along? Did he know anyone who disliked her? Those types of questions, Sir,” Mope said.

Hawke nodded. “As long as we’re not punishing pups.”

“No, Sir, just general question and watch how he reacts, smell if he’s lying.”

“Jacob got into that car, but I can’t see the tag, can you blow it up?” Asia strained to see, but there were too many other cars in the way.

“No, Ma’am, I wrote down the first three letters.” He held the page up so she could see.

“Have you run it?” she asked.

“Yes, Ma’am, but there are 8,178 vehicles of that make, model, and color with those three letters registered.”

Asia and Hawke sat side by side, reviewing more pictures and tape, comparing notes and coming up with nothing.

Two and a half hours later, the door opened and Angus walked inside. “Trant is gone.”