"Oh no." Emma pressed a hand to her mouth.
Connor knelt down to check a man's body. "He hasna been dead for long."
"Casimir could still be in the vicinity," Emma said.
Angus had already retrieved a cell phone from his sporran and was making a call. "Jack, we need you and yer team here."
Robby called Phineas in New Orleans. Within a few minutes their number had more than doubled.
"Spread out," Angus ordered. "If ye find them, back away and call us. We'll fight them together."
Robby zoomed at vampire speed toward the cave. What poetic justice it would be if he could kill Casimir in the same place where the bastard had tortured him. He paused at the entrance to retrieve the flashlight he'd packed in his sporran. Even with his superior night vision, he could use some extra light in the cave.
Emma and Angus dashed toward him and stopped.
"We had a feeling you'd come straight here," Emma said.
Angus frowned at him. "Doona take him on by yerself."
Robby shrugged one shoulder. "I havena found him yet."
Angus took a flashlight from his sporran and clicked it on. "Lead the way."
They proceeded down the main shaft. Torches made of reeds lay extinguished on the stone floor. When the path divided in two, Robby went left and Angus and Emma went right.
The caves appeared empty. There were no lit torches. No voices murmuring and echoing in the distance. Robby headed straight for the small room where the Malcontents had held him prisoner.
The circle of light from his flashlight moved along the stone walls. The scent of blood still lingered in the air. His beam of light landed on the chair. The wooden frame was rickety and lopsided from his violent struggles to free himself. Silver chains dangled from the rungs of the chair's back, spilling down onto the stone floor. Those chains had held him to the chair, burning his flesh and preventing him from teleporting away. Blood - his blood - stained the floor a dark burgundy.
Dark memories flashed through his mind. All the pain, all the humiliation and despair, came careening back as if it had just happened last night. The flashlight beam wobbled as his hand trembled with rage.
"I thought ye'd be here," someone said softly behind him.
He whipped around to find Connor at the narrow entrance.
"The cave is empty," Connor announced. "The campground, too. Casimir and his minions have moved on to another feeding ground."
"I'm going to kill him," Robby whispered. "If ye find him, I have to be the one to drive a sword through his black heart."
"Ye need vengeance. I understand that." Connor's eyes took on a sad, haunted look. "Be careful, lad. Vengeance can drive a man to do terrible things. Ye willna feel better if ye lose yer soul in the process."
"I doona intend - " Robby stopped talking when Connor left the room. He glanced back at the rickety wooden chair. "I will have my revenge."
Olivia was getting ready to leave work Thursday evening when Barker opened his office door and shouted, "Harrison, Wang, Sotiris - in my office now!"
She exchanged a questioning look with J.L. as they hurried into their supervisor's corner office.
"What's up?" Harrison asked.
"Some news just came in from a county sheriff in Nebraska. Some folks complained that no one in a nearby farming community was answering their phones, so he went to check it out." Barker sighed and shook his head. "Everyone there is dead."
Olivia gasped. "How many people?"
"About ten, I believe," Barker replied. "There's no airport nearby, so we'll be driving. We may be gone a few days, so pack whatever you need, then let's hit the road."
"I keep an overnight bag in my car," Harrison said.
"And I've got one here," Barker told him. "I'll meet you in the parking lot in five minutes. You can drive."
"Gotcha." Harrison rushed out of the office.
Olivia winced. She didn't keep an emergency bag ready, since she'd never gone on a field assignment like this with the special agents. "I'll have to swing by my apartment to pick up a few things."
"I'll take you," J.L. offered. "Then we can drive together. I have a bag in my trunk."
"This is where we're going." Barker handed J.L. a sheet of paper with some information on it. "Olivia, I'm sure you're wondering why I want you on this case. The fact is, something bizarre is going on here. All the people are dead, but there's no sign of any struggle."
"Weird," J.L. muttered.
"You can say that again." Barker gave Olivia a wry look. "And when it comes to weird-assed crap, you're the expert."
She smiled grimly. "Thanks."
Forty-five minutes later she dropped an overnight bag in the trunk of J.L.'s car. She set another case containing her laptop and webcam on the backseat. The webcam was just wishful thinking, she realized. Most probably she would miss the usual nine o'clock meeting with Robby. Just as well. He'd missed the last two nights.
"Let's go." J.L. climbed into the driver's seat.
She slid into the passenger seat and buckled up as J.L. took off. Robby had called briefly on the phone the last two nights. He'd sounded rushed and admitted something urgent was happening at work, but he wouldn't explain what. He'd confessed that he might not be able to come see her Friday night after all.
Now it looked like she was in the same boat. "Do you think we'll be back by tomorrow night?"
J.L. shook his head as he pulled onto a freeway. "I doubt it."
She sighed and called Robby on his cell phone. As usual, he didn't pick up, so she left a message. "Robby, I've been sent out of town on an assignment. It doesn't look like I'll be home tomorrow night. Call me, so we can work something out. Love you. 'Bye." She hung up.
J.L. glanced at her. "You had a big date planned?"
"Yeah." She slipped her cell phone into its pocket inside her handbag. "He was going to tell me something important."
"About himself?"
"I guess." She set her holster containing her sidearm in her handbag. It felt awkward, wearing it in the car. She was glad she'd worn one of her more comfortable pantsuits today. The linen pants and jacket were navy blue, and her T-shirt was white with little red stars, making her look patriotic. In her apartment, she'd exchanged her navy pumps for a pair of black Nikes.
"So Robby has a deep, dark secret." J.L. zoomed past a car on the freeway. "How interesting."
She scoffed. "What makes you think it's deep and dark? Robby is a sweet guy."
"He carries a freaking claymore on his back, Liv. And he's built like a bulldozer."
"Thanks."
J.L. shrugged. "Could be worse. He could be hiding something bad, like he's a kleptomaniac."
"I don't think so."
"Nymphomaniac?"
She snorted. Though J.L. might have a point, if Robby made a habit of always going three rounds.
"I've got it! He escaped from a mental ward."
She shook her head.
"From the zoo?"
She punched J.L. on the shoulder.
"Hey, watch it. I'm driving."
"You're speeding."
"We've got a long way to go." J.L. passed another car. "I want to get there while it's still daylight."
"What's the latest news on the missing guard and Yasmine?" Olivia asked.
"There is no news. They did a good job of disappearing." J.L. glanced at her. "Did you learn anything useful?"
"No." She'd spent the last two days interviewing the other guards at Leavenworth. They all insisted they had no idea Joe was helping someone sneak in to see Otis Crump. And they were all being honest.
She yawned. She hadn't slept well the last few nights. She was still upset about Yasmine's betrayal and still worried about Robby.
"Do you need some sleep?" J.L. asked.
She yawned again. "Don't you want me to navigate?"
"I've got my handy GPS. Go ahead and rest. I have a feeling we're going to be up really late tonight."
She removed the clip from her hair so she could lean back against the headrest, then closed her eyes.
Sometime later J.L. shook her shoulder. "Hey, you want a hamburger, fishburger, or chickenburger? Those are the choices."
She blinked awake and realized they were in the drive-through lane of a small fast food restaurant. "Uh, chicken." She glanced at the digital clock. It was 7:38. "Are we in Nebraska?"