"They were the White Lakes, New Mexico Pack before that," Lavonna pointed out. "We'll adapt. I think Nathan may actually buy a boat."
"There's something I hadn't considered," Adele laughed.
"Can we go to the beach tomorrow?" Dori asked. "I really want to go."
"I'll think about it. I'm hoping the moving trucks will arrive. We can make plans after that," Lavonna replied.
Sapphire stood before the Queen. He did not have comforting news. "What is it?" The Queen snapped. She was adept at reading emotions from close range. Sapphire hoped his punishment would be light for bringing unwelcome information.
"My Queen, I have had word from our paid source," he replied, cautiously testing the air about his monarch. She was in a rage already, best not to delay. "One of our spies reports that the community lies empty, now. The spy also reports that the relocation information was withheld." Sapphire closed his eyes as he was blown backward with more force than the strongest of hurricanes. The breath left his body with a painful whoosh as he crashed into something solid and unmovable. Sapphire fell unconscious to the ground.
Chapter 3
"Nathan we're being followed," Aedan twisted quickly in his seat to check the headlights in the distance behind them. "And they're not professional about it. When we change lanes, they change lanes."
Nathan Anderson drove Aedan's SUV down I-35, near the Oklahoma-Texas border. "Can you tell anything about the vehicle?"
"Not yet," Aedan replied. "There's not much traffic; how about driving dark for a while?" Nathan grinned at the suggestion, turned off the headlights and sped up. It was a game for them; go dark, speed up and when the vehicle following sped up as well, they'd wait for a dip in the road so the brake lights wouldn't be visible, pull off, conceal the SUV and wait for their tail to catch up. Then they'd come in behind their trackers to see what they might discover about them.
"There's a likely place," Aedan indicated a turnoff past the city of Ardmore. An older highway ran parallel to I-35 on the eastern side, with an exit and an overpass close by. Nathan slowed down, got off the highway and slipped the SUV into a spot where it couldn't be seen from the highway above. They waited thirty seconds before their tail went by. A nearly new, red Lexus raced past; Aedan made a note of the make and model as Nathan placed the SUV in gear and spun out of their hiding place, driving toward the access ramp. Leaving the lights off would prevent their newly acquired quarry from noticing that they were being followed by their former quarry.
"Think they'll slow down anytime soon?" Aedan asked as they drove onto the highway again.
"No idea. I'm going to throttle back a little, though," Nathan eased his foot off the pedal, slowing down below the speed limit. The Lexus continued to race along at the same rate, leaving the vampires behind quickly.
"I wonder when they'll learn they've passed us?" Aedan was worried and amused at the same time.
"No way to tell. I think we should choose an alternate route, though. In case they do figure things out."
"Good enough." Aedan punched the onboard GPS and searched for a new route toward their destination.
"Your dad is spending the day in Victoria. They came down using a slower route," Ashe's mother told him when he wandered into the kitchen the following morning.
"He all right?" Ashe asked, pulling the small container of orange juice from the new fridge. They'd brought OJ, sodas and bottled water packed in a cooler. A trip to get groceries was planned for later in the day.
"He and Nathan are fine. They thought they were being followed, so they found a different route. I'm sure they'll be here an hour or two after nightfall."
Ashe was gulping orange juice when his cell phone rang. Sali's picture appeared on Ashe's cell. "Dude, it's barely seven-thirty," Ashe shook his head and answered the call. It wasn't Sali.
"Ashe, this is Winkler," the voice on the other end said. "Wynn has been kidnapped in Amarillo and we need your help."
"Uh," Ashe looked up at his mother, who'd heard the conversation. Her hearing was sharp, just not as sharp as Aedan's or Ashe's.
"How? When?" Adele hurried to Ashe's side.
"Sometime last night," Winkler replied. He'd heard Adele's voice and responded to her question. "They grabbed Wynn's cousin Andrea too, but Andrea was found later at a convenience store, tied up in the back of an old car. She'd been drugged and was still groggy but okay. There wasn't any trace found of Wynn. If I'm right about this, I think Wynn was the target all along. Ashe, I need what you can do to get her back. The O'Neills are about to go crazy and we have to hurry or Wynn might not make it back."
"This is my son, Mr. Winkler," Adele wiped tears away.
"I know, Mrs. Evans. I'll do my best to see he's safe."
"Where does he need to go?" Adele asked.
"We're on my private jet, twenty minutes away from Corpus Christi Airport. Can you get Ashe there as quickly as possible? We're flying straight to Amarillo from there."
"I will." Adele closed the phone while another tear slipped down a cheek. "Honey, get your suitcase," she told Ashe.
"I'll be okay, Mom," Ashe dragged his suitcase toward the garage minutes later. He hadn't unpacked yet, so he'd dressed quickly, brushed his teeth and ran a comb through his hair before hauling the bag from his new bedroom and loading it into the trunk of the Cadillac.
"Your father and Nathan may come if you're gone very long," Adele said, climbing into the car and pulling it out of the garage. Ashe, who sat beside her, shivered. Wynn was in trouble and he itched to get to Amarillo.
"Mom, why would somebody in Amarillo snatch Wynn?" His blue eyes searched his mother's face for clues. "How would they know she was even there?"
"Honey, you have to consider what she is," Adele said. "And somebody could have let it slip, including her cousin. No more questions. See if you can load directions to the Corpus Christi Airport into that gadget."
Ashe had the GPS navigation system programmed after only a minute or two and they were on their way.
"Wow, this is Winkler's jet?" Ashe was impressed at the size of the private aircraft Winkler apparently owned. Winkler walked down the steps of the jet as soon as Ashe and his mother pulled onto the strip where the private planes landed.
"Go, honey. An extra minute could save Wynn's life," his mother hugged him before urging him toward Winkler, who now waited at the bottom of the jet's steps.