I sat in the pub, which was once again closed down and losing a whole night of business. This time because several chairs and two tables were demolished. Anya, River, Pinky, Jarrett, and I sat at the bar, trying not to discuss the day’s events while we waited for Ian and Sam to return from Rangel’s apartment. Jarrett was telling a story about his sailing days back before he was a vampire, and I was so entranced in the story of buccaneers that it took me a moment to realize there was a buzzing coming from the top pocket of my vest. I reached in and retrieved my portable-scry case, which was vibrating to let me know someone was trying to contact me. I popped open the case to reveal the flat, polished crystal inside as I stood and walked to the other side of the room for some privacy. It was more from a force of habit than because I didn’t want the others to hear what was said. I touched my thumb to it to activate it, and Leesa Parks’ face filled the screen.
“Leesa, what’s up?” I asked, a bit surprised to see her. I had been expecting Ian or Sam with some news. I was about to tell her it wasn’t a good time, when I saw the frantic look on her face. “What’s wrong?”
“Fiona, have you seen Millie?”
“No, not since the day I stopped by your office. What’s going on?” Dread crept into my stomach.
“I’m not sure, but Millie is missing.”
“Missing?” The dread in my stomach started to envelop my entire body. Bokor had said, “You are missing something dear, and when you realize what it is, you will come to me to get it back.”
I forced myself to breath and not panic, walking back near the others so they could hear what Leesa said. I did my best to keep my voice and facial features calm, in an effort not to alarm Leesa. “Tell me everything that has happened. Why do you think Millie is missing?” Perhaps there was just some sort of misunderstanding and Millie was safe at home.
“Millie didn’t show up for work yesterday. I figured she was sick. It would have been better if she had called, but I know her family doesn’t own a scry-crystal, so I wasn’t concerned. But then she didn’t show up again today. I was starting to get a little worried, but still thought it might be a case of her skipping work to spend time with her friends. That doesn’t seem like Millie, but I figured when she came back in, we’d have a talk about responsibility.”
“No, that doesn’t seem like Millie,” I said. Though I had only met the girl a couple of times, she seemed very eager to work and improve her position, and that of her parents, in the world. I couldn’t imagine her jeopardizing that for a few hours with friends.
Leesa continued, “But late this afternoon, just as I was getting ready to leave for the day, Millie’s mother, Nancy Linton, came into the office, looking for Millie. Her classes start next week and she is working half days now. Millie usually goes home directly after work and when she was more than three hours late, Nancy got worried.”
“If she always goes home right after work, why didn’t her mother notice she was gone yesterday?” I asked.
“Apparently, Nancy had to work a late shift yesterday and she thought Millie was in bed when she got home. Millie’s father always works the late shift and hardly ever sees his daughter. It was late—hours after Millie would have come in to work today, when the Lintons woke up. When I told Nancy that Millie hadn’t come into work, I went back to their home with her. We checked Millie’s room, and there was a pile of clean clothes on her bed that Nancy said she put there yesterday after doing the washing. That indicated Millie hadn’t been home. That was when Nancy told me that a City Guard Inspector came to their apartment yesterday morning just as Millie was getting ready to leave for work. The inspector said he needed to ask a few more questions about the incident a couple of weeks ago and offered her a ride to work. She left with him.”
My blood went icy, and I clutched the scry case to keep from dropping it. “Did Mrs. Linton catch the Guard Inspector’s name?”
Leesa’s eyes crinkled with concern. “It was GI Rangel. But, Fiona, that is why I’m calling you. Something is very wrong here. I’m at the City Guard headquarters right now, and they told me that GI Rangel has been out sick for several days. They told me that anything pertaining to his current case had to go through the Blade Agent in charge, which is you. Fiona, do you know where Millie is?” Her tone wasn’t accusing, just concerned and curious.
“No, Leesa, I don’t. Until this moment, I had no idea she was missing,” I fumbled, trying to decided how much I could tell her, or even how much I should. “Rangel was working with me on the missing mages case. As far as we knew, he had taken a few days off sick. But, about two hours ago, we received information that he may have met with foul play.” That was the understatement of the year. “Right now, Rangel is classified as missing. Sam has already dispatched half the Blades to look for him. No one had any idea he had been with Millie when he went missing. I will let Sam know about Millie. Getting her back safe will be the number-one priority.”
Leesa’s face was ashen. “I get the feeling there is something you aren’t telling me. That’s okay; I know the confidentiality drill. What do I tell the Lintons?”
I felt sorry for Leesa. She was not a field agent—not an agent at all in any real sense. She worked with crystals, not people. Telling a family their daughter was missing wasn’t easy for anyone, but if you were untrained, it would be hell.
“Leesa, I can send a Blade over to fill them in. You don’t even have to go back,” I told her.
“Thank you, Fiona, but no. I owe it to Millie and to her parents to be there for them until she gets back. I’m a Blade, even if I spend my time in a room full of rocks. I can do this. Tell me what I can tell them.”
“Okay,” I said, admiring her determination. “You can tell them a shortened version of what I told you. That we just learned that Guard Inspector Rangel was abducted, but we did not know until just now that Millie was with him. Assure them that now that we do, finding her and returning her home safely is our number-one priority. Also, take a City Guard back with you. I will have Sam send two Blades over to replace him in a little while.”
“Two? Fiona, are the Lintons in danger?”
“No, I don’t think so. This is mostly for their comfort and because it is standard to have someone at the home of an abducted person in the case of ransom.”
Leesa saw through my lie immediately and scoffed. “Ransom. Fiona, give it to me straight. The Lintons are dirt poor. They live in a slum apartment smaller than my office. Their rooms are little more than closets. There is no way there will be a ransom demand. I can’t give them that line.”
“Okay, there won’t be a ransom demand. Millie was likely targeted because she thwarted the first attempt, which we think was random. This guy is deranged and unpredictable. It isn’t out of the realm of possibility that he would try to hurt her parents just to hurt her more. But don’t tell them that. Besides, I feel like they need to know we are working on the case. Their daughter is no less important than the daughter of a senator, ransom demand or not,” I said.
“I’m sure they will appreciate that. But two agents?”
“I do realize two agents may seem like overkill, but trust me, it is a necessary precaution. Remember, one of the abducted persons is a very capable mage as well as a City Guard Inspector. I can’t go into details, so please don’t ask. Just trust me that two agents are necessary.” It was unlikely Bokor had been able to abduct another Guard, or a Blade, in the short time since he’d left Rangel’s body, but we still didn’t know how he managed to insert his spirit into the bodies of the mages, so it was better to be safe. Having two guards was a precaution, just in case Bokor was able to take one of them over. I could just send a were or vamp, and perhaps I would, but even though only mages had gone missing, we had no real evidence Bokor couldn’t take over other paranorms.
“Please find her,” Leesa said, a tremor in her voice.
“I will Leesa, I swear.” And I meant it. I would find her, and I would make the son-of-a-bitch that took her and kil
led Rangel pay, with his life if possible.
The moment the scry-crystal went blank, I collapsed. I barely registered the activity around me. Pinky rushing from behind the bar with vampire quickness to catch me before I hit the floor, lifting me into a chair Anya pulled out. Jarrett was standing in front of me with his own porta-scry held out as he repeated what Leesa had just told me to whoever was on the other end of the call. I heard Sam’s voice, but I didn’t catch the words.
“Fiona, are you listening?” Jarrett said, loudly. He leaned down so that his face was right in front of mine, grabbed my shoulders, and shook me lightly. “Do you know Millie Linton’s address?”
“Uh, I, no. But it is in the files. Sam should have a copy of my report, but if not, the file is in the top right drawer of my desk,” I said, the world slowly coming back into focus.
“Did you catch that?” Jarrett said into the crystal as he straightened and walked across the room. He was too far away now for me to hear his voice but after a few seconds, he snapped his scry case shut, shoved it in his back pocket, and came back to where I sat, my family hovering around me.
“Sam and Ian are at Rangel’s apartment right now, still trying to find leads to where Bokor took him, or even how Bokor got a hold of him. Sam is sending two Blades over to the Linton home and will call in the City Guard to help canvas the city,” he told me.
“They won’t find them. We’ve been going over the city for days now. I’ve got to go…” I tried to stand, but Anya was standing behind me. She put both hands on my shoulders and pushed me back down.
“You’ve got to go nowhere, big sister,” she said. “What you’ve got to do is sit there and get your bearings. You’re so upset that you are vibrating. There’s a whole battalion of Blades and Guards out looking for that little girl. They’ll find her.”
“She’s right,” Jarrett said, crouching in front of me again. “There are plenty of capable agents out there scouring the city. You need to sit tight here. He’s after you, Fee. If you are out there in the mix, you will be a target, and a liability. If you were out there, the agents around you would be focusing on protecting you, not finding Millie. Use your head, Moon.” His words were firm, harsh even, but his voice was so tender and understanding that it brought the tears I’d been holding back since the moment Leesa had said Millie was missing to the surface. My throat tightened, and I nearly choked.
“But he has her, Jarrett! I should have went with him, and now he has that sweet little girl and I don’t know how to find her,” I raged, frustration clogging my throat and making the words come out strangled.
“Fee, you couldn’t go with him. You know that. He would have killed you, and there is no way you would have been able to save Millie.” Jarrett took my hand and squeezed it gently.
He was right. I knew he was right. But every fiber in my being ached with the guilt of knowing that innocent young girl was out there, alone, with a lunatic. I might not have been able to save her if I’d went along with Bokor, but at least she wouldn’t be alone.
“You’re right. I know that. I just… I need to be alone for a bit, need to gather my thoughts,” I said. What I needed to do was get out from under the pitying stares of my family. And, I needed some air.
“Oh, no you don’t, young lady. I will put a keep-in spell on every door and window in this joint. You are not going out there. Didn’t you hear what Jarrett said? You are this creep’s main target,” Pinky raged in his most fatherly tone, which could be quite comical coming out of his teenaged visage.
I couldn’t help but smile, just a little. He knew me too well. But in truth, I hadn’t meant to try to leave, I just needed to escape to somewhere less crowded. “I’m not going to go anywhere, Pinky. I swear. I just need to get some air. I’m going to go up to the garden. I won’t sneak out.” I held up my little finger and waggled it like I had done as a child. “Pinky-swear.”
He smiled at me, grabbing my finger with his own and shaking it once. It was the most solemn promise in our family.
After hugging every member of my family, more for their peace of mind than mine, I climbed the stairs to the roof. Once I reached the mini-jungle River had created with plants and trees, the real weight of everything that had happened hit me hard enough to double me over. I sat on the ground under a potted apple tree and let the tears flow freely. My body shook, my stomach and heart hurt, and I wished, beyond anything else in the world, that Ian were there with me. But he was out working, doing his part to find the fiend that had murdered my friend and kidnapped an innocent girl, and it was selfish of me to wish for him to be there comforting me. So I sat there alone, bawling, hugging myself, and feeling completely miserable and sorry for myself.