Thirteen
Page 84

“Karl isn’t going to like that,” I said. “He’ll want to take Hope and run. Protect her himself. Is Elena on her way back? Karl listens to Elena.”
“The jet just left Dallas. I’m going to try to persuade Karl, but if that fails, I’ll have Elena head straight to the condo.”
“I’ll go over and talk to him.”
Silence on the other end of the line. Across from me, Cassandra arched her brows.
“Yes, I know he doesn’t respect me the way he does Elena, but I might be able to talk to him. Worst case, we’ll hang out on his doorstep until Elena arrives.”

We split up. Adam stayed with me, and Cassandra and Aaron went back to headquarters.  
The three Cabal-owned condos were part of a gated community, and our driver hadn’t brought the access ID, so he dropped us off a block away. To get in, we hopped a four-foot fence. Apparently, around here, they were only worried about trespassers with vans for robbing the places.
When we got to the house, Adam double-checked the number. The place was pitch black.
He rapped on the front door, then rang the bell. No voices answered. No footsteps either.
“Gone,” he murmured. “Karl must have been too tired to argue.”
“Damn. We’re never going to get a cab out here at this hour. Really wish someone had let us know before we got out of the car.”
A white SUV marked Security turned the corner. Adam and I ducked around the side of the condo as I called Benicio.
When I told him there was no sign of Hope and Karl, he sighed. “Too many pokers in the fire, and too many fires. They must have reported in to the security center. Let me check. Perhaps they’re still close enough to come back for you two.”
I hung up and we waited. When I heard buzzing, I looked down at the phone still in my hand, then at Adam.
“Not mine,” he said.
He edged toward the front of the condo with me right behind him. The security truck had disappeared. We could hear the sound better now. It wasn’t a phone vibrating—it was one ringing, set on an annoying buzz tone. We followed the noise to the front door, where we could hear it right on the other side.
I quickly texted Benicio. The phone stopped buzzing. Two seconds later, mine vibrated with Benicio’s incoming call.
“That was you,” I said. “Shit.”
I explained what we’d heard.
 
“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Benicio said. “I’ll try the guard again from another phone while I have you on the line.” A pause, then, “It’s connecting and …”
The phone inside the front door began buzzing again.
“We’re going in,” I said.

The front door was locked, and it wasn’t going to open with a credit card. Or an unlock spell. We hadn’t brought any tools, so we needed to pull out the big guns—Adam’s power. That meant finding another door to tackle: a burned-out front door might alert that security van on its next round. Benicio had the floor plans on file from when the Cabal had bought the condo. He directed us around to the back, where the glass patio doors had been replaced by solid steel ones. I tried my unlock spell just in case, to save Adam from the energy drain if I could.
When my unlock spell didn’t work, Adam spread his hands on the steel, closed his eyes, and concentrated until sweat popped along his forehead. Then another pop, this one from the door, then it crumbled in a shower of metallic dust.
We stepped inside. Back when this had been a patio, I’m sure the door opened into the kitchen or living room. But while Benicio left the exterior alone—to conform with the condo board regulations—he’d had the inside gutted and redone. The back door now opened into a small vestibule with mats and shoes. A code was required to get through the next steel door. Luckily, Benicio had given us that.
Inside, it was completely dark. From the outside, it had looked as if the blinds were drawn. In here, I could see that the blinds were only a cover—the windows had roll-down metal shades, too.
I lit a light ball. It failed the first time. My fault—as hard as I was trying to play it cool, my heart was racing, and I couldn’t focus. I tried again and just as the last words left my mouth, I tripped. Adam caught me. The light ball sparked to life and I looked down to see an arm stretched across my path. It was attached to a guy in a suit. One of the security officers. Shot in the head.
To the left was another body: another Cabal guard. Right beside him was the corpse of a young woman dressed in black. One of the attackers.
I cast a sensing spell and picked up signs of life over our heads. I motioned to Adam that someone was up there, and we crept toward the stairs. As we stepped into the hall, I saw that the door to the front controlled-entry room was open. Propped open by the body of the third guard, the one whose phone we’d heard. There was a pizza box on the floor beside him. Ambushed by pizza delivery guys? I couldn’t believe Cabal security would be that easily fooled. There must be more to it.
I hurried for the stairs. Adam caught the back of my shirt, slowing me down. I nodded and paused at the bottom, listening. Then I looked up to see the body of another attacker draped over the railing, his eyes open, head wrenched back at an impossible angle.
“Broken neck,” Adam whispered. “Karl’s work. Good.”
I nodded. We climbed to the top of the stairs to find another black-outfitted attacker, neck broken, on his back in the hall. The master bedroom was right across the hall from the stairs. We stopped and listened, but there was no sign of anyone up here. I cast my spell again.
The pulse of life seemed to come from another room, farther down. When we reached the door. I peered through, but could see only darkness. Adam motioned for me to ready a spell. Then, on the count of three, he kicked the door wide open. We swung in, my light ball ahead of us.
 
The room was empty.
There was blood on the carpet. As I walked to it, I heard a whimper and whirled. No one was there. I shone my light ball around. I glanced from the bed to the closet to another door, presumably to an en-suite bathroom. All decent hiding spots if you’d been wounded. But not so good that your kidnappers would somehow fail to find you.
I strained for another sound.
“Help,” a voice whispered. I tracked it to the bed. “Please.”
Adam motioned for me to cover him. I readied a knockback as he made his way toward the bed, fingers glowing. Then he lunged. No one lunged back, and Adam dropped from sight on the other side of the bed.