He handed the phone to Eli and turned to the house. Behind him he heard Eli swear. “Let’s go in and see what’s going on.”
Damien nodded and led the way to the front door. “Do you smell that?”
“Yeah, it’s some nasty cologne.” Eli made a disgusted face.
“I smelled it at the warehouse where Mayor Jomen was killed and in the hallway outside of Sky’s room.” Damien quickly pulled out his phone and called Sky. “Call Misty to see if she’s left yet.”
Eli took a step away and frantically started dialing his phone.
“Come on, baby. Pick up the phone.” After a few rings, it went to voicemail. “No answer. I’m calling the hotel to have them patch me through to her room.”
Two rings later and a female picked up. “Hell—”
“This is Damien Grimes. I need to know if Sky Adler has left and if not patch me to her room right now. It’s urgent.”
“Yes, sir. She just left with two men, sir. Should I see if I can get her for you.”
Damien swore. “YES! Get her on the phone now!”
“Hold on a second, sir.” The lady set down the phone.
“Damien, Misty isn’t answering either.” Eli paced around them and then stormed up to the house kicking the door open. “Fuck!”
Damien spun around to see what Eli had found. The house was torn apart. It looked like a tornado went through the inside. He stomped into the house. “Eli look around and make sure Patrick’s not here.”
As he held on the phone line, he took a quick walk through the house, meeting up with Eli in the kitchen. Eli’s face was pale. “There’s no sign of the Sheriff, but the whole house is like this.”
Damien looked around the kitchen. “Does it look like someone’s been using this to you? Look past the dishes scattered and debris. It’s not dusty or stale from lack of use.” Damien opened the fridge to see fresh food. “Fuck, he snuck back in and has been living here this whole time! Why didn’t we check it out?”
From the phone in his hand, he heard, “Sir, one of the men sneered at me and pulled her out the door into the parking lot. What should I do?”
“Don’t go after them. Can you get a look at the car or even the license plate? Right down anything you can about the men and the vehicle. I’m on my way there.”
Damien’s panther was on high alert. He wanted out to hunt for their mate. He didn’t care if it was official or not. She was theirs, and he wanted her near them.
To Eli, he said, “We’ll deal with this later. The clerk at the hotel saw two people escorting Sky out of the hotel. Let’s go find out what we can and maybe Misty will be there. I know you’re upset. Let’s find our mates.” Damien turned and stomped out of the house with Eli at his heels.
“I’m riding with you, no reason to take two cars. This way I can keep an eye out while you speed through town.” Eli jumped into the passenger seat and quickly buckled up.
Damien glanced over and nodded at the cell phone in his hand. “Maybe you should call the Sheriff’s Office and see if they’ve heard from Patrick. If they haven’t… explain what we know, please.”
Eli grunted but started dialing. Out of the corner of his eye, Damien could see Eli’s leg bouncing in agitation. He listened with half an ear while Eli explained about Patrick and asked if he had relayed any information.
After a moment, he hung up and sighed. “Last thing they knew he was heading to Mayor Jomen’s house to look around. Nothing since. They are sending a couple Deputies out to look around. I didn’t think you wanted me to mention the hotel.”
Damien grimaced. “No, we’ll handle that ourselves.”
They pulled up to the hotel door and jumped out of the car. The front desk clerk ran out to them as soon as they entered. “Sir! I wrote down everything I saw, but you should know when I went outside I saw them grab another woman and put her in the car too.”
Eli growled and slammed out the door. Damien grimaced, part of him was relieved Sky wasn’t alone. “Thank you. I won’t forget this.” He turned and walked back out to where Eli paced.
“She got a description of the men and the car. We need to go to the Sheriff’s Office and see if they can do anything with this information. And I need to call Gerri Wilder and let her know what’s going on. She’s going to skin me alive.” Damien hurried around the car, dialing the number. “Eli, get in.”
Chapter Eighteen
Sky dropped back onto the bed, as Damien walked out the door, a huge smile on her face. Mate! Holy shit, he was hers, and he was amazing. She laughed at herself and rolled over to grab her phone and yell at Gerri for playing games with her.
A knock on the door made her jump and she ran over to look out the peephole. She whipped open the door when she saw it was Damien. His curt words shocked her. “I’m going to have Jackie’s mate come pick you up and take you to my friend’s house until I get there. Okay? I’ll have Misty meet you there.”
Sky nodded, and quickly shut the door. She knew he was in a hurry to meet the Sheriff, so she didn’t want to ask any questions right then. She figured she could just ask Jackie when she got to her house.
She locked the deadbolt then sat on the bed, her thoughts going a mile a minute wondering what was happening.
Her phone pinged and she jumped. “Shit!” Sky laughed at herself and ruefully grabbed the phone, glad no one had seen her acrobatics.
She rolled her eyes when she saw it was a scam call. She ignored it and then dialed Gerri. As soon as the woman said hello, Sky was going to let her have it.
“I must say my matchmaking skills must be off, or you are two very stubborn people. I assume you’re calling this early to tell me you finally figured it out?” Gerri’s warm voice rolled over her, and Sky shook her head. Gerri was right. She was an idiot for not realizing she was sent to a setup. She couldn’t even yell at her for lying to her. She had to meet Damien to find out the truth for herself.
“Your skills are legendary as usual. I was just too blinded by judgement to see what was right in front of me. You were very clever, and shall I say devious.” Sky laughed and felt like dancing around the room. Damien’s worry momentarily forgotten.
“I’ve been called worse, my dear. But really, why are you calling me when you should be calling out Damien’s name right now.” Gerri’s very direct question caused a blush to rush up Sky’s neck and face. She could feel the heat across her face.
“You’re about twenty minutes to late, and he had to rush out to meet the Sheriff. The former Mayor was killed yesterday, and they are looking into it.” The reminder about the murder brought back her fear, and she quickly got up and threw on clothes. She had no idea how long it would take for Jackie’s mate to arrive.
“Good! I’m glad you admit he had you screaming. If not, I would have to chat with him, and the men don’t always take it well. Anyway, is there anything I needed to do or is everything in hand down there?” Through the phone, Sky could hear Gerri running water. The sound made her smile, she was probably brewing a pot of tea.
“Damien told me he was having a friend pick me up and take me to their house. I met a few women, yesterday, friends of his. One of their mates is supposed to come for me.” Sky frowned, she really should have asked Damien what he looked like. She didn’t want to open the door to some random person. “I just wanted to thank you for sending me here, and to tell you that I never thought I’d say this, but I quit.” She laughed into the phone.