Lindsey could think of something else he’d like Seth to be on. God, just the smell of the man made his cock hard. Too bad it could never happen. “Oh, I shan’t worry. Good night, darling.”
He strode out of the room, trying not to look in a hurry. He knew where that warehouse was. Damn, if they just didn’t move Carla before the next morning, he’d have time.
With a quick wave to the governor’s assistant, he headed out the door. He’d thought for a moment about telling Seth, but he could be wrong about the location. Plus, the police would go rushing in there all SWATified, and the chances of someone panicking and hurting Carla were too high. No, it was time for someone to creep in on little wolf feet. Not literally. No full moon. So other options were required. Fortunately, he had them at the ready.
Chapter Three
Lindsey hobbled toward the big, metal-sided building, leaning heavily on his cane. The warehouse appeared convincingly abandoned. Hopefully, that meant the humans inside were off their guard, since their only threat probably came from derelicts and squatters. He glanced around. Not many people on the streets in this neighborhood at this hour. Three young black guys strolled down the sidewalk across the street, laughing. Lindsey leaned against the fence like walking had gotten to be too much. No one would check out an old woman who just appeared to be looking for a place to sleep.
After the boys passed, he ducked behind the fence. Someone could be watching from the building, so he continued his halting steps around the side of the structure. Nothing. No entry. He stepped close to the building, out of sight of the upstairs windows, crouched, and moved rapidly along the wall. When he got to the end of the building, he peeked around. Nothing. No vehicles. Grass grew out of gaps in the asphalt driveway surrounding the building.
Damn, maybe he was wrong. Maybe this wasn’t the place. At least he hadn’t notified the police and FBI and gotten them all riled up. But he also didn’t have—
He spotted a tiny gap in the smooth metal siding, like the seam in a can of foie gras. Lindsey stopped and slid his hand along that gap. He pressed his fingertips into the space and pulled. Rip. A hiss like an air lock meant the door was soundproofed. Nothing at all about this building would have required soundproofing.
What lurked behind this door? Guns ready to kill him or kill Carla if they heard him?
He rushed a few more feet down the wall. Nothing. That door was it. Aside from the boarded-up and chained front entrance, this was the only way in he’d seen. Okay.
He reached in the old woman’s purse and extracted his Smith and Wesson Model 52 in stainless steel. Yes, it was affected, but he loved the “gentlemen’s pistol” with its never-fail action. He’d had it fitted with wolf-killing bullets, but in this all-human situation, he’d brought it in case there were too many to take out in other ways. Guns pointed at his chest when he opened the door would be one of those occasions.
He adjusted the body armor under his flowered dress. Werewolves were tough to kill, but he didn’t want to put too many demands on his human genes.
Holding the gun in his right hand and still carrying his cane, he slowly pulled open the door a crack. No rapid-fire response. Good sign. He glanced quickly through the opening into the dim light. Nobody. Seriously, no one was guarding the door? Off guard was one thing. Full-on stupid was yet another, and nothing these kidnappers had done so far suggested stupidity. This could be a trap or an encouraging sign.
He opened the door very slowly, stepped inside, and closed it quickly before someone saw the light. A small anteroom led to a long hall. It looked like a few doors opened off it. He stepped into the hall. Hard place to hide. He hurried to the first door and looked in. Some kind of storage room, probably for materials delivered to the warehouse. Stepping lightly despite his orthopedic shoes, he passed it quickly and continued down the hall. Voices! He listened. Coming his way.
He rushed back to the storage room and dodged inside. Fortunately, no lights made it a good hiding place. A couple of seconds later, the sound of two men’s voices got closer.
Voice one. “I told you, that chick in the porno looks a lot like our girl upstairs.”
Voice two. “Except ours is about thirteen and that porno queen must be twenty-five.”
“So? I’d still like to see her naked, wouldn’t you?”
“Nah. The bosses would kill us. Unharmed as long as the families pay. That’s the deal.”
“Shit. We could just make her take off her top. That’s not gonna hurt her. It’d be her word against ours.”
“And you know whose word they’d take.”
The guy made an ugly sound. “Yeah, hers.”
“I gotta stay on the door. Quit distracting me.” He laughed.
“Okay, okay. I’ll be upstairs.”
“Don’t go stripping our hostage.” He laughed again. Lindsey felt the cane digging into his hand, he squeezed it so hard. It would be a challenge not to kill these men. But even though they were clearly goons and not the “bosses,” they might know something that could lead to the capture of the leaders. He’d try to let them live.
The sound of the most repulsive one’s footsteps echoed past his hiding place. When the noise died, Lindsey peeked out. The other man seemed to be sitting on a stool in the small entry. His shadow showed on the wall. Lindsey crept into the hall and soft-footed his way to the entry. The man’s back was to Lindsey and, like the battle at Khartoum, he’d never expect an attack from behind. Step, hand-chop to the neck, and the man crumpled like a doll. Lindsey caught him before he fell, pulled tape from the commodious purse, and taped the man’s mouth and hands. After dragging him into the storage room, he taped his feet and pushed him out of sight.
Back in the hall, Lindsey stepped fast to the next door, looked in at a kitchen of sorts, then went on to the next. Success. The door led into a stair vestibule. Open, metal treads led up, and he could hear voices from above echoing like it was a large space. Yes, he remembered a huge open room, and he’d deemed it too inefficient for his purposes when he considered buying this building. Some conglomerate had bought it when he didn’t. Obviously, it hadn’t proved to be a good buy. Wonder what they’d think if they knew who was using it?
Superstealth was required to walk those metal stairs without making noise. He stared at his feet. The old lady shoes had soft soles but still weren’t quiet enough. He reached down and untied the laces, then kicked them off.
Very delicately, he placed his bare foot on the bottom tread. Cold, rough, but no noise. Gun and cane in hand, he climbed a few more stairs. Was there a vestibule above, or did the staircase let out into the room? He couldn’t remember.
Either way, speed gave him the best chance. He sucked in a deep breath, then covered the remaining five stairs in one exhalation and was inhaling as he burst into the big room. A brilliant light illuminated the girl tied to the chair and the table with two men playing cards beside her. That meant he had to be in shadow. Good.
Both men looked up and leaped to their feet. One cocked his head. “What the hell? Who are you?”
With that much advantage, Lindsey shot the asshole who’d wanted to strip Carla. The man fell screaming, clutching his left leg. Lindsey pulled the short throwing knife from his lady’s jacket pocket and caught the other man in the shoulder just as he raised his semiautomatic. A burst of bullets flew into the ceiling. Carla!