Master Unchained (Stealth Guardians Book 2) (17 page)

Manus pointed to the burnt tape. “The glue melted under extreme heat and the tape started to peel away. It was only a matter of time. Once enough of the tape was off, gravity did the rest.”

Hamish shook his head. “But neither the air conditioning system nor the heating was switched on the night of the party. The duct couldn’t have gotten hot from the air blowing through it.”

“You’re right, besides, that would have taken too long to heat up.” He switched on his laser pointer again and pointed to one spot, drawing Hamish’s gaze to it. “But there are other things that create heat.”

Hamish pointed to the red dot. “A laser pointer? That’s the most harebrained idea you’ve had yet.”

“Not an ordinary laser pointer.” Manus shook his head. “But if you use a small industrial laser, no bigger than an ordinary pen, and point the beam where the ducts are joined by the tape, you’ll create sufficient heat to destroy the tape. You just need to be close enough.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Hamish said.

“It’s not hard to do. Just search YouTube and you’ll find plenty of videos that’ll show you how. But you have to be close enough. Considering where the duct is located in relation to the stage and the audience, I’d say only somebody on the stage could have been close enough to point a laser beam at that duct with sufficient accuracy.”

Manus motioned to the lights in the room, then the tacky disco ball that hung over the area that had been a dance floor on Thursday night. “I’m assuming that thing was on the night of the party?”

Tessa nodded. “I noticed it when we were dancing. And when I spoke, it was blinding me on and off.”

Hamish let out a breath. Damn it, Manus could be right. “It would have made it easy for anybody on stage to use a laser. With all the other lights dancing around the room, nobody would have noticed. I didn’t. I was too focused on the crowd taking pictures and videos. There were flashes.”

“Exactly,” Manus said.

“Which means we have several suspects: VanSant, Mantle, Poppy, and of course Gunn.” And Hamish knew exactly where he’d put his money: on the person who had the most to gain from Tessa’s death.

“Couldn’t it have been a demon?” Tessa asked, looking around nervously.

“That’s always a possibility,” Hamish admitted, “but since this building uses LED and halogen lighting throughout, we’ll never know if a demon was in here. I don’t see any neon or fluorescent lights anywhere.” He motioned to Manus. “Did you, Manus?”

His colleague shook his head. “Not a one. I think our best bet is to check out the people who were on stage.”

“I’ll take Gunn,” Hamish said immediately.

Enya grunted. “Leave us something to do, will you?”

“You’ve got enough on your plate,” he replied and pointed to Tessa. “You’re going to make sure nobody touches a hair on Tessa’s head, or—”

Enya lifted her head. “No threats needed. I know my duties.” Then she twisted one side of her mouth up and looked at Tessa. “Men think they’re the only ones with the brains to execute a plan.”

Hamish ignored the hit and looked at Manus. “Manus, why don’t you call the compound and have them assign somebody to check out the other people on stage?”

Tessa looked at her watch. “I think it’s time to help my dad bring my mother home.”

“Let’s go then.” Enya was already turning around and heading for the door.

Tessa made a motion to follow her, then looked over her shoulder straight at Hamish. “Gunn insisted that night that I speak first. And that’s not like him. I have a bad feeling about him. Be careful.”

Hamish felt his mouth twist into a smile. Tessa was worried about him? It was an entirely unexpected thing, and he had to admit that he liked it. He liked knowing that there was a woman who cared enough about him to worry about him. Strangely enough he’d never had that same sensation with Olivia. She’d never worried about him. Maybe because she’d never really cared about him.

24

Hamish was in luck. Just after he arrived at Gunn’s house in the suburbs, the garage opened and a dark SUV backed out. Hamish remained idling at the curb half a block away, waiting for the car to pass him. Gunn was behind the wheel. Perfect. Hamish turned his car around and followed at a distance.

Gunn drove several miles before he stopped at a floral stall outside a small supermarket. He double-parked and jumped out of the car. Within seconds he picked a pre-made bunch of mixed flowers and motioned to the cashier, who took his money and wrapped the flowers in transparent plastic. Flowers in hand, Gunn returned to his car, tossed them on the passenger seat and drove off again.

“What are you up to?” Hamish murmured to himself.

According to his information, Gunn was married, and it didn’t appear that he was returning home with the flowers. He was definitely heading in the other direction. Was he visiting someone in a hospital? Or did Gunn have a mistress? Were the flowers for her?

Curious, Hamish continued his pursuit. Busy traffic made sure Gunn didn’t notice that he was being followed, but as they got into a more residential area, Hamish had to fall back farther.

The soft music coming from the car’s radio was suddenly interrupted.
“Breaking news,”
an announcer said.
“Following the shooting in Carroll Park last night, cell phone videos have surfaced that seem to suggest that the shooting of several intoxicated black teenagers was unprovoked. The two surviving officers involved in the shooting have been suspended. One officer died at the scene last night, and one of the teenagers died during surgery last night. Acting Mayor Gunn has issued a statement asserting that his police force is well trained and that officers are within their right to defend themselves. He went on to question the validity of the video footage—”

Hamish turned off the radio. He was getting numb to the violence in this city. It was time that somebody did something about the escalating tensions in Baltimore. Gunn was only fanning the flames of discontent and strife, playing right into the demons’ hands.

Finally! After another fifteen minutes of driving, Gunn stopped in front of a large suburban home with a neatly kept front yard and got out of the car, flowers in hand. There were few other cars on the street, forcing Hamish to drive past the house, and turn at the next intersection, then parking next to a tree. He glanced around, making sure nobody saw him, and made himself invisible. He exited his car without opening the door, lest any neighbors watching might find it suspicious that a car door opened and closed by itself.

He hurried toward the house where Gunn had stopped. His car was still there, but Gunn himself was nowhere in sight. He had to be inside.

“Well, let’s see what you’re up to,” he murmured to himself and approached the front door.

Behind it, he suddenly heard a dog yapping. He cursed silently. Dogs with their keen sense of smell were bad news. In fact, dogs could be used to sniff out Stealth Guardians while they were invisible. Nevertheless, he had to get in there. Maybe the dog would be too preoccupied with Gunn to pay Hamish any attention.

He waited a few more seconds and listened. The high-pitched barking of the dog moved farther away from the door. Hamish pressed his hand against the door, then passed through it. He found himself in a spacious foyer with stairs to the second floor, a corridor in the middle, and an open archway leading into an elegant sitting room on the right. He heard Gunn’s voice and that of a woman coming from the back of the house, where the dog was still yapping intermittently.

Hamish walked along the corridor, treading lightly so he wouldn’t be heard.

He reached the kitchen, where Gunn was playing with a white Bichon—the source of the yapping.

“He looks like a puppy. When did you get him?” Gunn asked, rising. The dog barked in protest.

The woman, who’d been arranging the flowers in a vase, turned away from the sink and placed the flowers on the island. Hamish recognized her immediately. He’d met her at the Wallace’s party: Amanda Yardley, the widow of the former mayor.

Was Gunn having an affair with her?

“Only last month,” she replied to Gunn. “You know, after John’s death, I felt very lonely, so my sister suggested I’d get a dog.”

The dog suddenly left Gunn, raced around the island, and barked loudly in Hamish’s direction, his bark taking on a vicious growling tone.

“Damn it, Diggi! Stop barking! There’s nothing there,” Amanda admonished the dog, before she addressed Gunn again. “But he’s driving me batty. He’s not trained yet, you know. And he constantly barks. I mean, look at him! Now he’s barking at the air.”

Gunn chuckled. “You should have gotten a larger dog. They don’t bark as much, and they’re good for protection.”

“I can’t return him now.” She tossed a kind look at the creature. “He is sweet, you know.” Then she smiled at Gunn. “It’s so nice of you to visit. Thanks so much for the flowers. I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime,” Gunn said cheerfully. “I just wanted to check in on you and see how you’re doing.”

“I’m coping. But it’s hard to get closure, you know?” She sighed.

“Because they haven’t found the driver?”

She nodded. “The police said it’s still an open case, but I have the feeling they’ve got their hands full with everything else going on in the city. What’s a hit-and-run, when there are riots and murders?”

Gunn put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Don’t give up, Amanda. I’ll have a word with the Chief of Police; see if I can light a fire under his ass.”

Amanda smiled thankfully. “That would be great.”

“Don’t mention it.”

She took a breath and pointed to the coffee machine. “Can I make you a coffee?”

Gunn made a dismissive hand movement. “No, no, I’ve gotta go. Lots of stuff to do. But while I’m here, I just wanted to ask you something.”

Amanda lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“I was told you received a box with all of John’s personal stuff from the office.”

“Yes, they sent it over just last week.”

“You wouldn’t happen to have seen his datebook in there?”

She nodded. “Oh yes, it was in there. I put it in his study.”

“Do you mind if I take it with me?” He smiled. “It’s just that before his death he’d set up some appointments and for some reason I can’t find all the details, and I’m supposed to take over for him. And you know how he always made notes in his datebook. I think it might come in handy for me not to walk into those meetings unprepared, right?”

“Well, sure. You can have it. I don’t know why they even sent it. It’s of no value to me. I’ll go get it.”

“Thanks.”

Amanda left the kitchen, while Gunn waited impatiently, tapping his foot on the floor. Apparently the dog took it as a sign to play. Diggi ran toward him, yapping again.

“Shut up, you idiot dog,” Gunn hissed under his breath and stared the puppy down.

But the puppy tilted its head to the side, then jumped at Gunn’s leg and got hold of his pants, digging his teeth into them.

“I hate dogs!” Gunn growled and kicked the dog with his other foot, so that the poor creature slithered along the polished tile floor in Hamish’s direction.

Diggi yowled.

Jerk!

Hamish bent down to the puppy and stroked his hand over its back. The poor dog flinched, but Hamish brought his other hand to under its head and caressed its neck, soothing the creature.

Moments later, Amanda reappeared in the kitchen and handed Gunn a large, weathered datebook.

“Here you go, Robert. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

“I hope so, too. Thanks so much again. And don’t be a stranger. Next time you’re near City Hall, call me and we’ll have lunch.” He smiled and walked toward the hallway.

“I’ll do that.”

Hamish followed him out. When Gunn reached his car and got in, Hamish ran to his own car, so he wouldn’t lose him. He needed to have a look at that datebook and figure out what Gunn was looking for.

Back in his car, and following Gunn back into the city again, Hamish pulled out his cell phone and dialed Tessa’s number.

She picked up after the second ring. “Hamish?”

“Can you talk?”

“Yes, we just got Mother settled. Dad’s making tea. What is it?”

“Is there any reason why Gunn would want to get his hands on Yardley’s old appointment book?”

“His appointment book?”

“Yes, he just went to see Amanda Yardley and asked her for it. She gave it to him. He said something about some meetings Yardley had set up before his death, which Gunn now has to attend. He claimed he needed to see any notes that Yardley may have made.”

“That sounds fishy to me,” Tessa replied.

“That’s what I thought, too.” He paused, thinking for a moment. “Listen, I’m going to stay on his tail and see what else he’s up to. If I can’t make it back to relieve Enya, I’ll send somebody else to stay with you tonight, okay?”

“You won’t come back?” There was panic and disappointment in her voice.

“Don’t worry, you’re not gonna get rid of me that easily. I’ll be back, but I might be late, and I won’t leave you unprotected. If Enya needs to rest and I’m not back, tell her to get Aiden to come and watch you.”

“Not Manus?”

“No, definitely not Manus!” Hamish growled. He didn’t want that womanizer anywhere near Tessa. “Aiden is my best friend. I trust him more than anybody.” Besides, Aiden loved his wife and would never touch another woman. “But I’ll try to be back as soon as I get something concrete on Gunn.”

“Okay.”

There was a click on the line. Yes, he would definitely try to be back sooner rather than later.

25

Despite Hamish’s promise to come back later that evening and relieve Enya, he didn’t. Instead, Aiden showed up at Tessa’s apartment. Enya assured her that Aiden would keep her safe before she left. According to Aiden, Hamish had been busy breaking into Gunn’s office at City Hall to go through his stuff, and was planning to do the same at his home, just as soon as he and his wife were fast asleep.

It was odd how quickly she’d gotten used to his presence and how alone she felt when Hamish wasn’t with her. She shouldn’t feel that way. After all, she knew this was all temporary. Once the danger was over, once the demons were defeated, Hamish would leave, too. There was nothing between them, just two kisses, both stolen in moments of despair and fear. Kisses that—according to his own words—meant nothing to him.