The Keeping(129)

Reluctantly, he rose to his feet, moving to the sofa and sniffing where the smell of the unknown male lingered. A scent and a probable name; he tightened his mouth at the meagre clues he had to go on. In a city this size the scent would be impossible to track and the name Greyson meant nothing to him. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

The sound of approaching sirens filled the apartment and he started, realizing he had to leave quickly or risk being caught at the scene of the crime. He felt like a cold-blooded bastard leaving Lucy alone, but staying was too risky. Time was of the essence and his presence would do nothing to help her. Quickly scanning the room for any last minute evidence, he grabbed the laptop just in case there was pertinent information still stored there.

He crouched one last time beside Lucy’s body. She was still breathing, though barely. “I’m sorry, Lucy. I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve this.” He pressed a brief kiss to her cheek, and then stood up. With one final backwards glance, he slipped out of the apartment and down the back stairs.

*****

Melody’s scent and that of the unknown male were inextricably blended, so Ryne could only assume she and the man were together. Whether or not she’d gone willingly he didn’t know, but right now it was a moot point. The trail disappeared at street level, lost in the myriad of other smells that filled the city’s air. Ryne really hadn’t expected otherwise; tracking in Chicago wasn’t like running through the woods in Stump River. Working on his only other clue, he went to a phone booth and looked up Greyson Inc. Of course, the phone call got him nothing but a tape recorded message asking what extension he wanted. Taking a stab in the dark, he chose public relations.

The woman he spoke with gave him a nice overview of the company; Greyson Inc. was involved in a wide variety of industries both at home and abroad. It was public minded, hosted several charitable events and the owner was Anthony Greyson. Mr. Greyson was an extremely private person who never granted personal interviews.

As he hung up, Ryne smirked. It wasn’t much, but at least he had a full name to work with now. Narrowing his eyes, he considered his options. He could try to find out where Greyson lived or he could try to locate this Aldrich person who was supposedly Melody’s boss. How were Greyson and Aldrich connected? Ryne couldn’t imagine a man of Greyson’s public stature being personally involved in abducting Melody from her apartment; there was too much chance of scandal and Greyson didn’t seem like the type to get his hands dirty. If that was the case, was Aldrich his flunky?

Ryne stared at his surroundings trying to determine his next step. He was on a busy corner with traffic whizzing past him. Music blared out of open car windows, snatches of conversations barely audible as masses of humanity surged across busy streets. Some were power walking, their minds probably intent on making a deadline while others stopped at a trendy coffee house. A sudden idea had Ryne’s eyes narrowing.

At one point Melody had told him how she liked to sit in coffee houses, sipping her favourite brew and surfing the net. Giving a half smile, he decided to use that glimpse of big city life to his benefit. It was time to call in the reserves and spread the work out.

In less than half an hour, Ryne was settled anonymously in the back corner of an upscale coffee shop, exchanging information with Daniel over Melody’s laptop. The boy was only too pleased to have a reason to attempt hacking into the Greyson Inc. website. While Daniel did his part, Ryne used the address for Aldrich that he’d copied down earlier to obtain a phone number for the man’s office. A phone call there might reveal something useful.

Aldrich wasn’t in, but his paralegal was. Using his sexiest voice and some well placed flattery, he charmed the woman into sharing several interesting pieces of information. Apparently, Aldrich had been scheduled to meet with Melody and had unexpectedly left shortly afterwards. Since then, the lawyer had called in to cancel the rest of the day’s appointments. Hmm... A bit too coincidental, Ryne decided.

The computer chimed; Daniel had information for him. He bent over the laptop and they began to compare notes, piecing together a plausible theory. Aldrich was Greyson’s lawyer, his name appearing in several court documents as a legal representative. His duties also appeared to include carrying out a variety of odd jobs for the wealthy man. Greyson was reported to be an art connoisseur, with a special interest in wolves. Connecting the dots, they concluded Greyson had Ryne’s photo, and knew—or at least strongly suspected—that it wasn’t an ordinary wolf. Melody had been hired through Aldrich to do the leg work. But did Melody know why? Right now, Ryne didn’t really care. Finding her was more important; she was the key to plugging the information leak.