Luther's Return (Scanguards Vampires Book 10)

“They kind of don’t like it when you break in and then try to break out again,” Luther said nonchalantly. “Anyway…” He turned to Katie. “The printout.”


Katie dug into her jeans pocket and pulled out the folded sheet. Blake reached for it and unfolded it. His eyes flew over the information printed on it.

“Cliff Forrester. You sure?” he asked.

Luther nodded. “Has to be him. He was released a week ago. He had ample time to plan this. And the letters he sent to Katie over the last year seem to suggest he was preparing to come for her.”

Blake looked up. “Good work.” He handed the piece of paper to Wesley. “Call HQ and give them this information.”

“And what do we do about him?” Wesley asked, glancing at Luther.

Blake took a step toward Luther. “Thank you for your help. In light of all this, let’s forget what happened here. But I think it would be best for all involved, if you left the area like Samson suggested.”

“Well, that’s just not gonna happen,” Katie snapped.

Luther spun his head to her, as did the others.

“Excuse me?” Blake said.

“You heard me. Luther risked his life to get us this information, and now you’re gonna just dismiss him?”

“By the looks of it, he risked your life, too!” Blake grunted. “So excuse me, if I’m not too keen on having him around. Nor will Samson or Amaury tolerate him getting involved in this.”

“Well, he’s already involved. Without him, you wouldn’t have anything! Maybe his methods are a little unorthodox, but at least they produce results. We now know who’s got Isabelle. Now we just have to find him.” Katie crossed her arms over her chest. “So you have a choice here: either you let Luther help us find Isabelle, or you turn around now and I’ll investigate with Luther on my own.”

“Out of the fucking question!” Wesley interrupted, grabbing her bicep. “You are coming home with us!” He glared at Luther. “You’re not staying with him! It’s gonna get you killed!”

Katie tore her arm from her brother’s grip. “He saved my life! So make your choice.”

Luther tapped Katie on the shoulder. “Katie, just out of curiosity: were you gonna ask me whether I wanted to stay involved in this?”

“No.”

“Thought so.”

And strangely enough the fact that she didn’t give him a choice in this turned him on. Katie was a force to be reckoned with. A woman who knew what she wanted.

Luther grinned and exchanged a look with Blake. “No use fighting her. I tried. And look what it got me into.” What exactly he’d landed in, he wasn’t quite sure yet. But it was a welcome change from the monotonous life he’d spent in prison.

“Yeah, that’s our Katie,” Wes confirmed. “Once she’s got something in her head, you can’t stop her.”

And oddly enough, Luther didn’t want to stop her. Had they been alone, he would have pulled her into his arms and continued where they’d been interrupted, because a strong woman like Katie was a bigger turn-on than anything else he’d ever encountered.





29


“My father will never allow it!” Grayson protested, glaring at Luther. “He hates you!”

Blake put a hand on the young hybrid’s arm, then looked at Luther. “I’m afraid Grayson is right. There are several people at Scanguards who’d rather drive a stake through your heart than let you get anywhere near this investigation,” Blake stated calmly. “Unfortunately we’re running out of time. We know the kidnapper already knows that he’s got the wrong woman.”

Katie’s breath hitched. They had news from Isabelle? Why hadn’t anybody told her? “How? What happened?”

Blake took his eyes off Luther. “We were able to identify the vampire who kidnapped her.”

“Cliff Forrester?” Katie asked. “So you already knew.” She pointed to the piece of paper, then glanced at Luther. “I got you into all this trouble for nothing?”

Blake shook his head. “It wasn’t Forrester who took Isabelle. It was a guy named Antonio Mendoza. He was a hired gun.”

“You think Cliff Forrester hired him?”

“It looks like it. Mendoza took Isabelle and was waiting for the man who hired him to take her off his hands, but when the guy showed up, he realized immediately that Mendoza got the wrong woman. He killed Mendoza and took Isabelle with him.”

“How do you know that?” Katie asked. Her heart beat as loud as a drum, and she knew the vampires in the room could hear it.

Blake motioned to Grayson. “We sent four of the hybrids to Mendoza’s house when we identified him from the surveillance video. The house was empty, but apparently Mendoza didn’t trust the man who’d hired him. He turned on a voice recorder before he let Forrester into the house. It recorded everything. The moment he saw Isabelle, he knew she wasn’t you. He killed Mendoza for his stupidity. But we know he’ll keep Isabelle alive.”

Katie swallowed hard. She knew exactly what that meant, even if Blake didn’t say it. “He’s going to want to do an exchange.”