"Looks like it. He's disappeared, too." J.L. skirted the edge of the counter. "How did your meeting with Otis go?"
"He wouldn't divulge her name, but he admitted to using her." Olivia made a face. "How could Yasmine do this? Doesn't she know what a monster he is?"
"You never felt any sort of deception from her?" J.L. asked.
"No! She never lied. She was always nosy, but as far as I could tell, her friendship was real."
"She knew about your gift, so I guess she was always careful around you."
Olivia groaned. How could she not have known? Detecting deception was supposed to be her specialty.
J.L. escorted her toward the door. He glanced back at the guard. "You can expect some special agents here this afternoon to interview all the guards. Meanwhile, if you hear anything about Joe, call the number on the card I gave you."
"Will do." The guard looked worried as he watched them leave.
J.L. led her across the parking lot to his car. "Are you all right? You look really pale."
"I trusted her," Olivia whispered. Her thoughts wandered to Robby and his red glowing eyes. If she'd been deceived by Yasmine, then she could have been deceived by Robby. "I feel sick."
"I'll drive you home," J.L. offered.
"No. I want to keep working." If she stayed home all day, she'd have too much time to think. Too much time to nurse some terrible suspicions about the secrets Robby was hiding. Had she been wrong to fall in love with him?
That evening, like most evenings, Robby set up his laptop and webcam in the conference room across from the security office. As soon as Olivia's face appeared on the screen, he knew something was wrong. There was a sadness in her eyes and a weary droop to her expression.
"Sweetheart, what's wrong?"
She told him about her trip to Leavenworth, and how J.L. had discovered that their office manager, Yasmine Hernandez, had impersonated her in order to visit Otis Crump. She'd been assisted in her deception by a guard at the penitentiary.
"Have they been arrested?" Robby asked.
Olivia shook her head. "We're looking for them, but they've both disappeared."
"At least now ye know who was sending the apples," Robby said. "Ye should feel good about that."
A pained look crossed her face. "I thought Yasmine was a friend. I trusted her. I joined the FBI so I could use my lie detector skills to catch bad guys, and there she was, right under my nose, and I never saw it."
Robby leaned forward. "Ye shouldna doubt yerself. Ye always believed there was an accomplice, and ye were right about that. And did ye no' use yer abilities to get Crump to confess to more murders?"
There was a glint of moisture in her eyes. "I should have known. I should have sensed deception from her."
"Ye canna blame yerself. 'Tis normal to be feeling bad right now. Someone ye care about has betrayed you."
She glanced at him with a wary look. "Are you still coming here on Friday?"
"Aye. I should be there a little before nine."
She blinked, as if she were trying not to cry. "I wish we'd never left Patmos. It was so...magical there."
"We'll go back someday. Just you and me." If she could accept him as a vampire.
She closed her eyes briefly. "Be honest with me. Have you been deceiving me?"
He inhaled sharply. Pretending to be a normal human was a deception. "Olivia - "
"Forget it." She held up a hand to stop him, then shook her head with a wry expression. "If you've been lying to me, why would you admit it now? I don't even want to hear it. One betrayal a day is more than enough."
She was doubting him again? Bloody hell. But could he blame her? He'd already admitted there were things he hadn't told her.
"Olivia, listen to me. When I say I love you, that is the truth. When I say I think about you every waking minute, that is the truth. When I say ye've changed my life, that before my heart was filled with vengeance and now it is filled with love, that is the bloody truth."
A tear rolled down her cheek. "I love you so much, Robby. It'll kill me if you betray me."
He swallowed hard. He could only pray she wouldn't interpret his hiding the truth as an act of betrayal.
"Yo, Robby!" Phineas barged into the conference room.
"This is a bad time," Robby told him.
"Yeah, it's bad," Phineas replied. "We just went on red alert."
Robby tensed as he turned back to the monitor. "Olivia, I have to go. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
She frowned. "What's wrong?"
"I'll let you know later. I love you, sweetheart." He disconnected and rose to his feet. "What is it?"
Phineas led the way across the hall to the security office. "Angus and Emma just teleported in. I got an emergency message from Stanislav about five minutes ago. Casimir and his little band of merry bloodsuckers are on the move."
"Do ye know where they're headed?" Robby asked as he entered the security office. Angus, Emma, and Connor were there.
Angus gave him a worried look. "According to Stanislav, they're somewhere in North America."
CHAPTER 21
Within minutes the security office at Romatech was overflowing with MacKay S&I employees. The mortals and shape-shifters were teleported in by the Vamps.
"We have to locate Casimir and his followers as quickly as possible," Angus told them.
"It shouldna be difficult once they start leaving a trail of dead bodies in their wake," Connor grumbled.
Emma winced. "Hopefully, we'll find them before any innocent people die."
With a scowl, Connor crossed his arms over his chest. "If they're here, the killing has already begun."
"We need to check every place Casimir has teleported to before," Robby said. "One of those places would have been his point of entry."
"I agree." Angus nodded. "We know he liked going to Apollo's compound in Maine." He turned to Jack. "Ye're familiar with the place. Teleport there. Take Lara, Zoltan, Mikhail, Austin, and Darcy."
"Yes, sir." Jack led his team into the armory at the back of the office so they could select weapons. He vanished, taking Lara with him.
A few seconds later the phone rang. Connor punched the conference call button.
"We're here," Lara said. "It appears quiet..." She continued to talk while Zoltan and Mikhail fixed on her voice. They teleported, taking the mortals Austin and Darcy with them.
"Casimir also teleported to the coven house in New Orleans," Angus said. "They should be warned."
"I'll go," Phineas offered.
Robby snorted. He knew why Phineas was eager to go to New Orleans.
"Go ahead," Angus said. "Call us if ye need help. And stay in touch with Stanislav in case he hears anything."
Phineas grabbed some weapons from the armory and teleported away.
"Ian and Toni." Angus regarded them. "I want you to take Shanna and the children to Dragon Nest. Stay at the school. Keep all the children safe."
Ian's jaw shifted with an annoyed look. "If there's a battle, ye'd better call me."
"We will," Angus assured him. "We'll need every available warrior. In fact, we may need some of Phil's young lads." He turned to the Alpha werewolf. "How is the training going?"
"Two of the oldest boys have achieved Alpha status," Phil replied. He'd been living at Dragon Nest Academy with Vanda. While she taught art, he'd been coaching the young werewolves he'd found in Wyoming. "They're ready to fight."
"Good." Angus glanced at Dougal, who'd teleported in from Texas. "I'm leaving you and Howard in charge here. This could be a primary target if Casimir decides to blow something up."
Dougal nodded. "We're on it."
"That leaves South Dakota," Robby said. Casimir had teleported there last summer with a small army of Malcontents. He'd taken Robby there to torture him.
"Emma and I are going there now," Angus replied. "Connor and Carlos, ye're with us." He gave Robby a speculative look. "And ye can come, too, if ye're up to it."
"I am." Robby's heart rate quickened as he strode into the armory. After all these months of waiting, his quest for revenge was drawing near.
Ten minutes later Robby and his companions materialized at a campground south of Mount Rushmore. It was here that the Vamps had caught the Malcontent army by surprise. Many Malcontents had died. Many more had fled.
Sean Whelan from the CIA Stake-Out Team had assisted with the cleanup. The Malcontents had attacked innocent campers, holding them prisoner and feeding off them till they were all dead. Whelan had released a cover story to the media, blaming the deaths on a fictitious neo-Nazi group of fanatics.
This camp was a cursed place for mortals, Robby thought as he and his comrades searched the small wooden cabins. No people inside, but the clothing and toiletries left behind indicated they were in use.
"'Tis a bad sign," Robby muttered as they strode toward the main lodge.
Carlos halted suddenly with a grimace. "I can smell death."
They dashed into the lodge, their weapons drawn. Too late. Eight bodies lay on the floor, completely drained of blood and their throats slashed to disguise puncture wounds.
"Oh no." Emma pressed a hand to her mouth.
Connor knelt down to check a man's body. "He hasna been dead for long."
"Casimir could still be in the vicinity," Emma said.
Angus had already retrieved a cell phone from his sporran and was making a call. "Jack, we need you and yer team here."
Robby called Phineas in New Orleans. Within a few minutes their number had more than doubled.
"Spread out," Angus ordered. "If ye find them, back away and call us. We'll fight them together."
Robby zoomed at vampire speed toward the cave. What poetic justice it would be if he could kill Casimir in the same place where the bastard had tortured him. He paused at the entrance to retrieve the flashlight he'd packed in his sporran. Even with his superior night vision, he could use some extra light in the cave.
Emma and Angus dashed toward him and stopped.
"We had a feeling you'd come straight here," Emma said.
Angus frowned at him. "Doona take him on by yerself."
Robby shrugged one shoulder. "I havena found him yet."
Angus took a flashlight from his sporran and clicked it on. "Lead the way."
They proceeded down the main shaft. Torches made of reeds lay extinguished on the stone floor. When the path divided in two, Robby went left and Angus and Emma went right.
The caves appeared empty. There were no lit torches. No voices murmuring and echoing in the distance. Robby headed straight for the small room where the Malcontents had held him prisoner.
The circle of light from his flashlight moved along the stone walls. The scent of blood still lingered in the air. His beam of light landed on the chair. The wooden frame was rickety and lopsided from his violent struggles to free himself. Silver chains dangled from the rungs of the chair's back, spilling down onto the stone floor. Those chains had held him to the chair, burning his flesh and preventing him from teleporting away. Blood - his blood - stained the floor a dark burgundy.
Dark memories flashed through his mind. All the pain, all the humiliation and despair, came careening back as if it had just happened last night. The flashlight beam wobbled as his hand trembled with rage.
"I thought ye'd be here," someone said softly behind him.
He whipped around to find Connor at the narrow entrance.
"The cave is empty," Connor announced. "The campground, too. Casimir and his minions have moved on to another feeding ground."
"I'm going to kill him," Robby whispered. "If ye find him, I have to be the one to drive a sword through his black heart."
"Ye need vengeance. I understand that." Connor's eyes took on a sad, haunted look. "Be careful, lad. Vengeance can drive a man to do terrible things. Ye willna feel better if ye lose yer soul in the process."
"I doona intend - " Robby stopped talking when Connor left the room. He glanced back at the rickety wooden chair. "I will have my revenge."
Olivia was getting ready to leave work Thursday evening when Barker opened his office door and shouted, "Harrison, Wang, Sotiris - in my office now!"
She exchanged a questioning look with J.L. as they hurried into their supervisor's corner office.
"What's up?" Harrison asked.
"Some news just came in from a county sheriff in Nebraska. Some folks complained that no one in a nearby farming community was answering their phones, so he went to check it out." Barker sighed and shook his head. "Everyone there is dead."
Olivia gasped. "How many people?"
"About ten, I believe," Barker replied. "There's no airport nearby, so we'll be driving. We may be gone a few days, so pack whatever you need, then let's hit the road."
"I keep an overnight bag in my car," Harrison said.
"And I've got one here," Barker told him. "I'll meet you in the parking lot in five minutes. You can drive."
"Gotcha." Harrison rushed out of the office.
Olivia winced. She didn't keep an emergency bag ready, since she'd never gone on a field assignment like this with the special agents. "I'll have to swing by my apartment to pick up a few things."
