Lucas (35 page)

“This isn’t a debate, Nick. You’ll be getting a text with the address.
An old warehouse in
Saint Louis Park
.”

“That’s right outside the city,” Nick said unhappily. “He obviously knows you’re here.”

“I’m sure Francoise was on the phone with him the moment we drove away from the gallery.” Lucas felt more than heard Kathryn’s attention spike at the mention of Alex’s gallery manager. He turned around slowly and found her staring at him, her purse in one hand, weapon and badge once again safely stowed inside.

“Please tell me you’re not planning on going alone.”

“I’m not an idiot, Nick.
You and Mason.”

“And a team, my lord.
Please.”

“You and Mason, Nick,” he repeated. “He’s already terrified. I don’t want to scare him away.”

Nick groaned. “You’re killing me here, Sire.”

“I’ll bring Agent Hunter along for good measure, how’s that? She’s armed and dangerous.”

Kathryn narrowed her eyes at him, and he grinned.

“Do I have a choice?”

“No.”

“Then tell me what time tomorrow night, and we’ll be ready.”

“Alex and I agreed on two hours after sunset, but let’s get there a half hour earlier than that.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Lucas smiled at the glum resignation in his lieutenant’s voice as he hung up. Kathryn was on him an instant later.

“Whom are we meeting?” she demanded.

Lucas gazed down at her beautiful face, her lips still swollen from his kisses, her blue eyes bright with excitement. And all he wanted to do was drag her back to his bed. She stared back at him and must have read the desire in his gaze, because her cheeks heated, and her heart began to race. She licked her lips, and Lucas followed the quick movement of her pink tongue.

“Who—” she repeated, then had to swallow when her voice came out raspy and dry. “Whom are we meeting, Lucas?” she said, trying again.

“Alex Carmichael,” Lucas provided, cupping her jaw in his hand and lowering his mouth to hers for a lingering kiss. It was all he had time for. The sun was very nearly above the horizon. Not that Kathryn would be interested in sex anyway. Not once she’d heard Alex’s name.

She grabbed his hand, squeezing his fingers as she pulled away from their kiss. “
Carmichael
? Does he have Daniel?”

“He didn’t mention your brother,” Lucas said, sighing in resignation, “and I think he would have if he had him. But we’ll have to wait and see.”

“Damn it,” she swore. “Wait. He gave you the address. Give it to me, and I’ll check it out today. If Daniel’s there, I can grab him. If not, no harm, right?”

Lucas gave her a patient look. “The location is an abandoned warehouse.
It’s
doubtful Alex is there now. If he is, the building will be secure enough that you won’t be able to do anything but stare at it from the outside.”

“You can’t know that. Give me the address.”

“I do know that, and, no, I won’t give you the address, because if you storm in there without knowing what you’re doing, someone might end up dead.”

“You mean your buddy Alex.”

“No, actually, I meant you. But, yes, Alex might also be a casualty. A vampire at rest is completely defenseless. I won’t help you with that.”

She stared at him, her jaw flexing with tension. “You don’t think Daniel is there.”

“No, I don’t.”

“All right.
We’ll play it your way.”

“Yes, we will. You can let yourself out.” He strode toward the bedroom, miffed at her single-minded obsession with her brother.

“Wait!” she called. “What time—” She yelped in surprise as the automatic steel shutters rolled over the windows and locked with a loud
thunking
noise.

“Be here at sunset,” he said over his shoulder. “You’ve got three minutes, or you’ll be locked in here until then.”

Kathryn shot a quick glance at the shuttered windows, then back at him. She grabbed her purse and coat,
then
surprised him by racing over to give him a quick kiss before running for the door.

“I’ll see you at sunset,” she called as she hurried out of the penthouse.

Lucas gazed after her in bemusement. Maybe there was hope for her yet. He pressed a button on the security control panel for the penthouse, overriding the lockout on the elevator. A second button
push,
and a screen deployed, showing him Kathryn in the elevator, then switching to the lobby as she exited the building. She was on her cell phone, presumably calling a cab. She shouldn’t have a problem this early in the day.

He leaned heavily against the wall as he entered a code to remove the override. The system reasserted itself immediately, bringing the elevator back to the penthouse level and locking it there, while securing both the elevator door and the front door to the suite with the same steel shutters that covered the windows.

Lucas knew the moment the sun topped the horizon. It was a flame inside his head, a thousand pound weight on his chest as he fell onto the bed. His last thought before the sun stole his awareness was that
Klemens
was using
Carmichael
as bait.
That this was payback for the death of his vampires in the
Rockford
house.

Chapter Fifteen

“I don’t like it.”

Lucas glanced at Nicholas, not at all surprised by his lieutenant’s pronouncement. “Of course, you don’t,” he commented, then turned his attention back to the decrepit warehouse where Alex had set the meet. “I’m not crazy about it myself.”

“How do we know who or what’s waiting in there?” Nick insisted.

Kathryn made an impatient noise. “We’ll never know if we stand out
here
all night.”

“Actually,” Lucas said, giving her an apologetic look, “I can tell you right now who’s in there. And that’s Alex Carmichael.”

“You can tell,” she said faintly, and then her expression fell. “Only
Carmichael
?” she said, disappointment dragging on every syllable.

“Yes. I’m sorry, Kathryn.”

“You warned me,” she said resignedly. “I didn’t believe you.”

Lucas ran a comforting hand down her arm. “Your brother’s not there, but that doesn’t mean
Carmichael
doesn’t know where he is. He asked to meet us for a reason.”

“Sure.”

“Nicholas,” Lucas said, reaching a decision.

“Sire.”

“Kathryn and I will go in alone. You and Mason—”

“My lord!
Carmichael
belongs to
Klemens
. What if it’s a trap?” Nick demanded, echoing Lucas’s own concerns.

“That’s why I want you and Mason out
here
. There is no one in that building, human or vampire, except for Alex. And I think I can handle him on my own. But if it’s a trap, if
Klemens
plans to send a force in after
us .
 . . then I need you out here, keeping watch and ready to call in the troops.”

“I could call them now, my lord. They’re geared up and waiting for the word.”

Lucas considered it. This entire setup was damn odd. But
Carmichael
was a decent sort who had always chafed under
Klemens’s
rule. He’d never had the courage to leave the other vampire lord’s territory, but he’d spent much of his time in
Minneapolis
, nonetheless.

He shook his head. “There’s no one in there, Nick. Come on, Kathryn,” he said, holding out a hand, “let’s see what Alex has to tell us.”

She looked at his hand,
then
drew her Glock instead. “I’m with Nick on this one,” she said grimly. “I don’t know who this guy
Klemens
is, but there’s something not right about this meet.”

Nicholas gave Lucas a meaningful look, which Lucas ignored. “As you will,
a
cuisle
,”
he said to Kathryn. “But, let’s go see.”

The building was old and deeply weathered. The brick was pitted, the mortar missing in chunks big enough that an observer could have peeked inside if one had been so foolish as to put an eye up to the small holes presented. Lucas wasn’t that foolish. He strode up to the sheet metal-plated front door and gave the handle a tentative yank. It was unlocked. Clearly
Carmichael
was expecting them.

The door opened outward. He checked to make sure Kathryn was ready, then pulled open the door and went in ahead of her. He might not think there was a trap waiting for them, but he wasn’t going to bet Kathryn’s life on it. He was far less destructible than his human lover.

Dirt and grit scraped underfoot as they crossed what had been a small reception area. There was an ancient metal desk in one corner and what he assumed were the remains of a chair in pieces behind it. Wires, both phone and electrical, poked out of the
walls,
and patches of carpet spotted the concrete floor like a brown fungus.

“Nice,” Kathryn commented.

“Alex did say it was abandoned.”

A second door stood open to the interior. Lucas crossed over to it and saw that the rest of the building had been a manufacturing facility of some sort. There was a central open area with heavy mountings still bolted to the floor, although the equipment had been removed for the most part. What bits remained
were
unrecognizable, at least to Lucas. Around all four sides was an open mezzanine with three separate floors, each facing out onto the manufacturing
area.
Offices lined the mezzanine walls, some with doors still closed, others gaping open. Whatever glass had been in either the doors or the open frames next to them was long gone and littered the floor underfoot. A metal railing that had once provided a barrier between the mezzanine levels and the open factory was rusted away with big gaps where it had fallen, or been ripped, away completely.

Lucas scanned the area, his senses wide open. His gaze fell on the industrial-sized elevator, which appeared to be in relatively good shape. Alex was clearly maintaining it for his own use, despite the ramshackle state of the rest of the building.

The double doors slid open a moment later, and Alex himself stepped out.

“Forgive me, my lord. I meant to be waiting here when you arrived.”

Lucas dipped his head briefly in acknowledgement. “Alex, this is Special Agent Kathryn Hunter, FBI. I don’t believe you’ve met.”

Alex smiled faintly. “The infamous Agent Hunter. You’ve got Francoise in quite a tizzy.”

“I don’t know why. Unless one of you has something to hide,” Kathryn responded coolly.

“I admire Daniel’s work a great deal, Agent Hunter. But regrettably, he is not with me.”

Kathryn remained silent, but Lucas could feel her tension and distrust like a buzz saw along his nerves.

“Why are we here, Alex?” he asked, wanting to get this over with.

“Please, my lord,” he said, gesturing at the elevator. “What I have to say is best said in private. I have a very pleasant apartment of sorts downstairs, a place for when I need to get away. No one knows about it, but me.
And now you, of course.”

Lucas studied the other vampire, looking for deception. If Alex tried to tell an outright lie, Lucas would know, but beyond that, it was difficult to say. Alex didn’t belong to him. Still, he was in Lucas’s territory, and he had to know that Kathryn, at least, didn’t believe a word he was saying. Nonetheless, he seemed perfectly relaxed. Maybe it was only because he was in his private lair, someplace he felt secure. Or maybe he had nothing to hide.

“All right,” Lucas agreed. “Is there light enough for Kathryn?”

“Of course, my lord.
I frequently work down there.”

“Kathryn?” Lucas said, glancing at her in question.

“Sure, why not?” She’d re-holstered her sidearm, but Lucas noticed she hadn’t replaced the safety strap, and her hand rested lightly on the butt of the weapon.

“Lead the way, Alex,” Lucas said, gesturing toward the open elevator.