“Oliver here. We should be at the northern end of building A in about sixty seconds.”
There was a pause.
“Amaury?”
“Yeah. Sorry, had to adjust the volume. My guys and I are stationed behind some crates at the entrance of the walkway between buildings D and E. We have a good view of the parking lot. Ronny’s just pulling up.”
“Good. John and I are overlooking the Festival Pavilion, and we can see the entrance to the Herbst Pavilion, too.” Several shadows approached from the back of the firehouse and slowly crept past the shrubbery there. “Shit, I can see somebody approaching from the east. Anybody got eyes on them from below?”
He exchanged a look with John, indicating that if nobody was closer, he and John would try to take them from behind.
The three figures froze. “It’s us,” Samson suddenly said through the earpiece. “I’ve got Haven and Yvette with me. I texted you that we were coming.”
Just then, Blake felt his cell phone vibrate and looked at it. Samson’s text message appeared on the screen. “Just got it now. Glad you’re here.”
For a few minutes, everybody remained silent. Blake glanced at the dot that represented Ronny. “Amaury?” he asked through his mic. “What’s Ronny doing?”
“Waiting around next to the car.”
“They’re late,” Blake said.
“Yeah, or something,” John said next to him, frowning. “I don’t like it.”
“Yeah, you and me both.” Thirty minutes hadn’t given them any time to prepare for this. They were winging it, and Blake could only hope that everybody would think on their feet and make the right decisions when it came to it.
“I hear something,” Oliver suddenly said. “I think it’s a boat.”
“Samson? You see anything from where you are?” Blake asked.
“Definitely a boat approaching. A small motorboat,” Samson confirmed.
“How many people on it?”
“Not sure. One driving it. But there could be more hiding in the hull.”
“Okay. Sharpshooters, get ready!” Blake started issuing his orders. “All teams: move in.” He motioned to John and they descended all the way down to the embankment until they reached the paved area. Communicating by signs now, so as not to be overheard by the approaching vampires, they moved closer, using the buildings and parked cars to give them cover.
Blake could hear the engine of the motorboat being throttled down, and knew the boat was coming to a stop now, somewhere between buildings A and B.
A loud bang suddenly jolted him.
“What’s that?” he hissed into his mic.
“Fuck if I know,” Amaury cursed.
“I’m going in,” Blake growled.
“Wait!” Samson cautioned, but Blake was already running.
“Cover me!”
~
Lilo paced back and forth in Blake’s office. There wasn’t even a window to help her wile away the time, something she hadn’t noticed until Blake had left. Every few minutes she looked at the clock on his wall. There were actually three clocks. One showed the current time, the second counted down to sunrise, the third to sunset. And the less time there was left until sunrise, the more nervous she became.
She wished somebody would tell her what was happening. Had Ronny’s associates brought Hannah with them? What was happening right now? Were they all safe?
The ringing of Blake’s phone made her jump. She raced toward it and grabbed the receiver, afraid that the ringing would stop before she could get to it.
“Blake?”
“Lilo? Oh thank God, it’s you.”
The female voice couldn’t possibly belong to the person she thought. “Hannah?”
“Yes, Lilo, it’s me. Oh God! It’s terrible. I’m free, but Lilo, he’s hurt so bad. Blake is hurt so bad, and some of the others, they’re dead. I don’t know what to do.”
An iron fist clamped around her heart and squeezed. “Blake? Oh no! Please no!” She couldn’t go through this again. She’d almost lost him once, she wouldn’t survive a second time.
“Listen, Lilo. I’m in Blake’s car. He’s with me. We’ll be at HQ in a minute. But I don’t have the strength to get him into the building. He’s too badly hurt, he can’t move on his own. Help me!”
“I’ll be down there. Please, Hannah, hurry. I can’t lose him.”
She slammed the receiver down and charged to the door, ripped it open and ran for the elevator, pressing the button several times before the doors opened. She jumped in. The ride down to the first floor couldn’t have taken more than fifteen seconds, but it felt like an eternity. All she could think of was Blake. He was hurt. He needed her.
Oh God, what had happened at Fort Mason? What had these monsters done to the men of Scanguards? How many of them had died? A sob worked itself up from the pit of her stomach to her throat. She tried to force it down. Blake needed her. She had to remain strong.