To Tempt A Tiger(72)

Vlad cursed.

Rose wanted to curse as well, but somehow she couldn’t summon any words. Too much anger and desperation clogged her throat. She tucked the unloaded 9mm into her coat pocket, then picked up both rifles, and without a word, she and Vlad headed to the parking lot and their rental car.

Alexis, Victor, and two Trackers followed them.

“We’ll let you know as soon as we get information,” Alexis said. “We uncovered who they were a lot quicker than they could have anticipated, so they aren’t that far ahead of us. You’ll get her back.”

Rose swallowed hard but didn’t comment. Her mind had gone quiet, only instinct and determination left.

And rage. A holy storm of rage.



They were on the highway heading southwest when Vlad’s cell binged with a text. Since he was driving, Rose looked at it. “The Trackers just reported.” She frowned. “The bastards who took Zoe have gone to ‘the Mate Run area.’ What does that mean?”

“Fuck,” Vlad growled. “They’ve taken her deep into an area of the mountains where we hold Mate Runs on this coast. It’s difficult to get back to, so there are almost never any humans in the area.”

“Why take her there?” She swallowed as she imagined the worst and tried hard not to think about that possibility.

Vlad didn’t answer but his hands flexed on the steering wheel, his knuckles going white as he gripped hard.

“Vlad, this isn’t some…some perverse thing, is it? Please tell me we’re not dealing with a pedophile?” That was almost as bad as the worst possible outcome—the outcome she didn’t dare even think.

He shook his head. “Lei has never shown any taste for children.”

“Then why are they taking her to the place you do Mate Runs?”

“I can only guess it’s because it’s isolated, no one around to see or interfere with…anything.”

“Oh, God.” She started praying harder than she’d ever prayed in her life. She promised God she’d go back to mass if He just got Zoe out of this alive. She promised to confess and do a thousand Hail Mary’s. She promised she’d do anything if He just kept Zoe safe. She texted Alexis back, Are the Trackers still following them?

A minute passed. Yes, but haven’t caught up yet. Following their scent trail into the forest now.

Rose told Vlad what Alexis said.

“Good. They’ll know they’re being followed and won’t want to stop moving while the Trackers are so close. I don’t think Lei planned on being found out. He’ll be working out an excuse for his presence but won’t want to get caught before he’s in a position to make the story believable.”

“Meaning?”

“He can’t afford to be found with Zoe.”

“That means he and his associate have to split up. That’ll stretch the Trackers, maybe send them in the wrong direction. They can’t feel Zoe. What if the men just…leave her somewhere and lead the Trackers off?”

“They can’t feel her, but they’ll be able to smell her. Besides, she’s not going to just stay where her kidnappers leave her.”

“She’s just a baby. She doesn’t have her coat or snow boots. It’s freezing up here. If they let her go and she runs away, she’ll be lost without food or warmth. Oh, Vlad.” Panic tightened her throat again and her stomach churned with worry. She wanted to throw up, to scream, to move faster. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare.

“We’ll get her back, Rose. I promise. We’re not far behind them.”

They climbed into the mountains, taking dirt roads that barely looked like tracks. When they couldn’t risk taking the rental car any farther without it getting stuck, Vlad parked in the middle of the road. “Not likely to be any other cars up this way.”

“I don’t see signs of the car they took Zoe in.”

“Probably had an off-road vehicle. See the tracks?”

She squinted to where the car’s headlights reflected off the snow and realized there were tracks still visible.

“There’s a place a few miles up from here where we leave our cars when we come in for a Run. They likely parked there.”

“A few miles? Jesus. That puts us even farther behind. We’ll never catch up.”

“The Trackers are up there somewhere, too, remember.”

Rose climbed out of the car and took a moment to get her bearings as she slipped on her gloves—tight leather ones that wouldn’t interfere with her ability to fire the rifle. Snow crunched gently beneath her boots, soft and ankle deep. The air was crisp, making her breath visible. The night filled in the area under the trees, though the snow gave a very faint glow thanks to the car’s lights. When they got away from the car, they’d be hiking in complete darkness.