Janvier hissed at the sadistic vampire’s name, but shook his head. “We check the factory out, but I say it’s Giorgio. Khalil is vicious, evil at times, but he’s never been this sly.”
Yes, she thought, that was the right word. There was a cruel slyness about it all, a sense that the monster had been laughing at his victims; such meanness fit Giorgio with his shiny new house, false bonhomie, and herd of devoted cattle. And there was something else, something she’d seen and forgotten, something important.
She heard Dmitri speak again, mention that Trace had found a dead drug dealer in the same general area, a man who’d been dealing Umber. It was a coincidence too good to be true. But that wasn’t what held her attention, what occupied her mind.
Felicity was whispering to her.
What she had to say changed everything.
“The watch!” Violent anger tore through her, made her voice shake. “Janvier, when we interviewed Giorgio, the bastard was wearing the watch Felicity bought him!” It hadn’t registered at the time except as part of his entire getup. “He was taunting us even then.”
Janvier’s response was a stream of Cajun-flavored cursing that turned the air blue.
Things moved at rapid-fire speed after that. Dmitri authorized them to use whatever force was necessary to bring Giorgio in and rescue any other hostages. Illium and a mixed angelic/Legion squadron would provide aerial backup. Meanwhile, Dmitri would coordinate with Sara to clear the other possible properties, on the slim chance that Giorgio wasn’t the killer.
• • •
Ashwini was used to working alone for the most part, but she had no problem being on a team. Especially when the core of that team was made up of her, Janvier, and Naasir. They knew one another’s rhythms, could predict split-second decisions with near-total accuracy and make the necessary course corrections.
Now, the three of them made their way to the suspicious warehouses while another unit cleared Giorgio’s house. If he was there, they’d take him into custody. Ashwini didn’t care about that at this instant—she wanted the bastard to pay, but her first priority was to rescue any other women he’d caged.
Leaving the car some distance away in order to maintain stealth—the one thing they did not want was for Giorgio to murder his victims in a fit of rage—the three of them went onward on foot. “Up,” she said to the two men.
Grinning, Naasir jumped onto a rooftop with a feral grace that was magnetic. But not as compelling to her eyes as Janvier’s fluid leap up. She made the motion for “Go” and they headed onward. The two would take Naasir’s lower skyroad, while she’d go in on the ground, and their aerial backup would drop down from above the cloud layer on their signal.
She tugged down the ball cap under which she’d hidden her hair after dirtying up her face, made sure her battered and patched sunglasses were on her nose, and slouched forward with her hands in the pockets of her raggedy black coat. A young vampire at the Tower had dug up the ankle-length piece out of God knew where.
On her feet were sneakers as ragged. She hated being without her boots, but they were the thing that most often gave people’s true motives away, especially hunters and military types. It was something Saki had taught her soon after her admittance into the Guild.
Shoes and wristwatches, that’s where folks slip up.
So she slouched along, just another street person looking for a place to get out of the cold, pitiful and not the least bit intimidating. When she reached the first warehouse, she made as if to see if she could get around the back and, when that proved impossible, tried the door, muttering nonsense under her breath for effect.
The door was wrenched open from within, the muscle-bound vampire on the other side dressed in a navy suit sans tie, his complexion so white it was eerie. “Git!” He shoved at her shoulder with bruising force, while another body moved in the shadows behind him. “Out! Pestilent vermin.”