It was still dark, when Damian got into the passenger seat of Naomi’s car, which was parked at the top of Twin Peaks. The view from here into the city was stunning. And since it was November, there was no fog, only a clear sky with millions of stars.
“Make the call.”
Naomi pressed the button on her cell phone and put the call on speaker. It rang twice, before the call was connected.
Wei Guo answered the phone. “Naomi? It’s early.”
“I know, I know, but this is urgent. I found something. And it’s gonna blow this story wide open.”
“Excellent. Meet me in the office. I’m heading in now.”
“No, not the office,” Naomi said quickly. “We can’t be overheard. This is huge. I mean, real huge. Meet me at the top of Twin Peaks. Nobody will see us there.”
Wei Guo hesitated. “Uhm, okay then. I’ll be up there in less than fifteen minutes.”
“Thank you.” Naomi disconnected the call.
“Well done,” Damian praised. Then he lifted his own cell phone to his ear. “Eddie, disconnect the phones.”
“On it,” Eddie replied. “Oh, and I checked the two cars registered to Wei Guo. None of them match the partial license plate of the thief’s getaway car.”
“That means he has an accomplice.”
“Most likely, because Mrs. Zhang doesn’t have a car. Nor does Tracy.”
“Are Grayson and Cooper still following up on the leads from the partial license plate?”
“Yes, and Ryder and Vanessa are doing the same. Nothing so far.”
“Thanks, Eddie.”
Damian shoved his cell phone back into his pocket and leaned across to Naomi. “The moment you hear his car drive up, get out of your car. I’ll have you in my sight at all times.”
“Okay.”
He kissed her, then exited the car and walked to the bushes his colleagues were hiding behind. They’d parked the blackout van on the far side of the little hill, hiding it from view. Damian joined Sebastian and Ethan. Since the sun would rise soon, none of the full-blooded vampires were on the mission to capture Wei Guo. They were waiting at Scanguards HQ.
“He should be here in less than fifteen minutes,” Damian announced. “He lives in the Outer Sunset.”
They didn’t have to wait long until a red Lexus pulled up and parked next to Naomi’s Mini. Naomi already stood next to her car, waiting for Wei Guo. The short Chinese man exited his car and shut the door. He wore a windbreaker over his dress shirt and dark pants, and it was impossible for Damian to see if he was armed.
The way Naomi had positioned herself, Wei had to face away from the hill, looking out toward the city, which meant that Damian and his two fellow hybrids could approach him without being seen.
“So, what did you find?” he asked eagerly.
“Hi, Wei, you’re not gonna believe this, but this is way bigger than a satanic cult. Way bigger.”
“Well? What is it? Come on, don’t keep me on tenterhooks.”
Damian stopped right behind Wei. “Yeah, way bigger,” Damian repeated.
Wei whirled around, his eyes widening in shock. “What the—”
Damian flashed his fangs at the man, while Sebastian and Ethan grabbed his arms so he couldn’t reach for a weapon.
“What the fuck is this? Help!”
“Shut up!” Damian snapped, and patted him down. “He’s unarmed.”
“Who the hell are you? Let go of me! Naomi?” He looked over his shoulder.
Naomi stood there, her arms folded over her chest.
“Who are these people?” He glared at her, while he tried to fight against Sebastian’s and Ethan’s hold, without any success. “You set me up!”
“Yeah, and you set me up earlier. I’d call that even,” Naomi replied calmly.
“Let’s go, we’ll take him back to HQ,” Damian ordered. “Naomi, follow us in your car.”
“Let go of me!” Wei Guo screamed. “Help! Somebody help me!”
“Nobody’s gonna hear you up here,” Ethan said and rolled his eyes. “So shut up, or I’m gonna gag you.”
Damian watched Naomi get back into her car and start the engine, while Sebastian and Ethan dragged a thrashing Wei Guo back to the blackout van and put him in the back, where they restrained him.
“Jesus, I can’t hear myself think,” Ethan ground out.
When Wei still didn’t stop screaming for help, Ethan put a gag in his mouth to silence him.
Damian jumped in on the driver’s side and put the van in gear. It was only a fifteen-minute ride from the top of Twin Peaks to HQ.
When they reached Scanguards, Damian drove the van into the underground garage, and made sure that Naomi’s Mini entered behind him, before he closed the electronic gate behind her.
“Take him down to the interrogation room.” Damian got out of the van and walked to Naomi’s car, while the two hybrids dragged the still defiant Wei Guo toward the elevator.
Naomi got out of the car. She looked pale.
“You did well,” Damian praised her, and pulled her into his arms. “You okay?”
“Just a little shaken. I’m not used to cloak and dagger operations like you and your colleagues.”
“You think that was cloak and dagger?” He chuckled. “For us, that’s just a regular Thursday.”
“That’s ‘cause you’re Superman, and I’m just regular Lois Lane.”
“I thought you were Little Red Riding Hood.” He would always see her like that, no matter what she wore, or what she did. But he couldn’t indulge in that kind of thinking right now. “Let’s go. You can’t be in the interrogation room, so—”
“No! I brought him in. I need to—”
“I’ll bring you to the observation room. You’ll be able to see and hear everything that goes on in the interrogation room.”
When Naomi’s face lit up, he added, “Did you really think I’d shut you out, when you were the one who tipped us off to Wei Guo and his mother? We’re a team, you and I.” And soon they’d be much more than that.
They rode the elevator down to where the observation room was located. It was a booth similar to the kind of room sportscasters used during live sports events, only that this room wasn’t overlooking a football field but a large interrogation room. With his access card, Damian opened the door to the observation room and ushered Naomi inside.
The room wasn’t empty.
“Nicholas, hey,” Damian said. “What are you doing here?”
Zane’s twenty-seven-year-old son sat on a chair in front of the two-way mirror and turned his head. “I’m gonna watch my dad interrogate a suspect. Should be interesting.”
“What suspect?”
“They just brought him in.”
Damian stepped closer to the window to look down into the room. “Ah, fuck!”
Zane stood in the room, several tools on a table next to him. Wei Guo already sat on the only chair in the room.
Damian pushed the button on the microphone. “Zane, get the fuck away from the suspect!”
Zane looked over his shoulder. “Just doing you a favor. It’ll be faster.” Then he turned back to the prisoner.
“Fuck!” Damian hissed and rushed to the door, where he looked over his shoulder at Zane’s son.
“Nicholas, she’s mine. You touch her, you’re dust.”
He didn’t wait for the hybrid’s reply and rushed down the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. When he reached the door to the interrogation room, he pushed it open and charged at Zane who was about to set a pair of pliers to Wei Guo’s right thumb.
Damian jerked Zane’s arm back. “I said: get the fuck away from the suspect! Sometimes, you’re such an asshole.”
Zane huffed. “I get results. And we don’t have time to waste.”
“I can handle this.” He pointed to Wei Guo. “Torture won’t be necessary. Or haven’t you noticed that he’s already peed his pants?” The smell of urine and the wet stain on Wei’s pants were hard to miss.
Zane glanced at Wei then back at him. “As I said, I get results. He’s all yours.” He snatched his tools from the table and walked to the door. “You’re welcome.”
“Your mate must be a saint,” Damian growled. “How else can she bear your insufferable arrogance?”
The bald vampire with the violent temper looked over his shoulder, his mouth twisting into a half-smile. “Portia can bear a lot more than that. Maybe one day you’ll find a woman who’ll overlook all your faults too and love you anyway.”
“I already have.”
Zane raised an eyebrow, then chuckled to himself and left the room. The door was about to close behind him, when Samson and Amaury marched into the room.
Damian looked at them. “Whose idea was it to have Zane have a crack at my suspect?”
Samson scoffed. “Zane’s. ‘Cause it sure wasn’t mine or Amaury’s.”
“I can handle this guy myself.”
“We know,” Samson said, while he and Amaury remained standing near the door.
“We won’t interfere,” Amaury assured him.
“Good.” Damian turned to Wei Guo. “Let’s have a little chat. This can go one of two ways: you tell us the truth, and I won’t hurt you. You lie, and you’ll learn very quickly that I have a short fuse.”
Wei Guo looked thoroughly intimidated, though there was still defiance in his tone. “I don’t know what you want from me.”
“Where is Mick? And where is the crate of blood you stole?”
Wei shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Damian stepped closer and leaned in, towering over the seated prisoner. “Maybe you didn’t understand the question, so I’ll repeat it: You kidnapped Mick Solvang, a bartender from my nightclub, and your niece’s boyfriend. Where are you keeping him? Is that question clear enough for you now?”
Wei’s lips quivered. “I didn’t kidnap anybody.”
Annoyed with Wei’s refusal to answer the question, Damian allowed his fangs to descend and parted his lips so his prisoner got a good look at his deadly canines. He growled to underscore his displeasure and leaned in, bringing his face to within inches of Wei’s. The Chinese man shrank back in his chair, but couldn’t get away, since the metal chair was bolted to the floor, and his arms and legs were shackled to it.
“Fuck!” His voice shook, and the stench of fear permeated the air. “What the fuck are you?”
“You know what I am. And you know what Mick is, or you wouldn’t have stolen the crate of human blood to keep him alive. You want me to spell it out for you?” Damian paused and willed his eyes to turn red.
A strangled gasp burst from Wei’s lips.
“I’m a vampire. And I’m gonna take a bite out of you if you don’t tell me the truth.”
“Please don’t hurt me! I didn’t do anything. I didn’t. I never touched Tracy’s boyfriend. You have to believe me.” His voice broke.
Damian let another growl roll over his lips. “Try again. This time I want the truth.”
~ ~ ~
Tears welled up in Wei’s eyes, and from the observation booth above the interrogation room, Naomi could see him break. All fight went out of him. It would surprise her if it were otherwise. Damian looked intimidating, and if she didn’t know how gentle and loving he could be, she would be afraid of him too.
A pleasant shiver went down her spine at the knowledge that this powerful vampire was in love with her. It hadn’t escaped her what he’d said to Nicholas. That she was his and that if he touched her, he’d die. And if that wasn’t enough to stake his claim, he’d told Zane that he’d found the woman who loved him no matter his faults. The tone in Damian’s voice had been one of possessiveness. He hadn’t backed down from the scary looking bald vampire who looked like he loved inflicting pain. The strength and power Damian exhibited when he stood up to Zane were even more of a turn-on than his good looks and charm.
Feeling herself get hot, Naomi concentrated on the interrogation again.
Wei looked like a weak and scared man now. “I’m sorry, all I wanted was for Tracy to break up with him. She changed when she met him.” He sniffled, and a sob tore from his chest. “But I didn’t hurt him. I just planted the evidence to get him and the club in trouble… so the city would shut down the club, and he’d leave. He was controlling my niece.”
“Bullshit. You figured out he’s a vampire, and you kidnapped him. Why else would you steal the bottles of blood, other than to keep him alive while you locked him up. Where the fuck is he?”
Tears now streamed down Wei’s face. “I don’t know. I didn’t steal any bottles of blood.”
“You just admitted that you planted the evidence. We found the broken bottle and the vial. It proves you stole the whole crate.”
“I found the bottle in Tracy’s flat. In the trash. I could tell it was blood. And I saw the label on it.” He swallowed away some of the tears, and cleared his voice. “I suspected that he was pulling Tracy into some satanic cult. I had to stop it. So I took the bottle from her flat.”
Naomi saw Damian glance at Samson and Amaury, who were listening with interest.
“Are you saying you didn’t know that Mick was a vampire?”
“No, I had no idea. Vampires… they don’t exist… they can’t exist.” Wei stared at Damian’s fangs. Naomi realized that he kept them extended to intimidate Wei into compliance. “They can’t… it’s not possible. It makes it so much worse. Tracy… I can’t believe she would do that… date a creature like that… No.” He shook his head, still in denial.
Was it possible that Wei Guo really didn’t know that Mick was a vampire?
“Both Mick and Tracy have disappeared. Where are they?” Damian asked.
Wei shook his head, his shoulders dropping. “Why don’t you ask Mick? He should know where she is. I haven’t spoken to Tracy in days. When she didn’t return my calls, I went to her flat. I found the bottle and that little vial, but Tracy wasn’t there. I wanted to flush that guy out by exposing what he’s doing… so Tracy would realize how wrong he is for her. I only want her best.”
Naomi snorted involuntarily. More like he wanted to control his niece.
The door to the observation booth suddenly opened, and Naomi looked over her shoulder. Zane, the bald vampire, entered.
“Hey, Dad.”
When Zane’s eyes fell on her, he cocked his eyebrows. “And you are?”
Before Naomi could find her voice, Nicholas answered, “She’s Damian’s woman. He said if I touched her—”
“Let me guess,” Zane interrupted. “He threatened to stake you? Figures.” He ran a long look over Naomi that made her feel as if she was being inspected and didn’t pass muster.
“I’m Naomi,” she said, annoyed by how uncomfortable the intimidating vampire made her feel. “The guy down there is my boss.”
“You keep crappy company.” One side of his mouth tilted up, then he gestured to Nicholas. “Nikki, go see Eddie.”
“Don’t call me Nikki,” Nicholas ground out and glared at his father. “Not in front of others.”
Zane grunted. “Touchy. Now go to Eddie’s office. They’ve got another lead on the partial license plate, and need another team to check it out. You might have to take Lydia with you. I don’t think anybody else is available.”
Grumbling something unintelligible, Nicholas left the room.
“I’ll keep you company,” Zane said and sat down in the chair Nicholas had occupied earlier.
“I don’t need—”
“Let me rephrase that: I’ll watch you.”
Yeah, that was more like it. But she refused to admit that his presence intimidated her. “Suit yourself. We done with the chitchat? ‘Cause I’d like to listen to the interrogation.”
“Guess the kitty has claws.”
Naomi ignored his comment and looked back down into the room to concentrate on the interrogation.
Damian turned away from the prisoner, and approached Samson and Amaury. “I think he’s telling the truth.”
Samson nodded, while Amaury replied, “It looks that way. He’s clearly afraid of us. He wouldn’t continue lying.”
“Then he’s a dead end. All we’ve got is the partial license plate of the thief’s car.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Damn it. If he really doesn’t know that Mick is a vampire, and he didn’t kidnap him, then all he and his mother were trying to do is stir up trouble in the hope of Tracy leaving Mick. It’s despicable, and not very smart either. As if stirring up shit for the club and for Mick would have made Tracy leave him.”
Naomi knew Damian was right. If Tracy really loved him, the knowledge of what her family had tried to do would drive her even further into Mick’s arms.
“But that doesn’t get us any closer to finding Mick or the girl,” Damian added.
“Back to square one,” Amaury said. “Let’s concentrate on finding the person who stole the crate of blood.”
Samson nodded. “I’m with both of you. Wei Guo doesn’t have the guts to continue lying to us. He’s telling the truth. We can have Gabriel confirm, just in case he’s a better liar than we think, though I don’t believe Gabriel will come to a different conclusion than the three of us,” Samson said and pulled out his cell phone, when it suddenly rang. He looked at the display, then hit the accept button. “Grayson?”
Samson listened, then addressed Amaury and Damian, “I think we found the thief.”