him. And we’ll both keep an eye out for anything that doesn’t seem right.” She gave him a teasing smile. “Contrary to one person’s opinion, I’m really not a lame-brained idiot.”
Ryan’s mouth twisted in a rueful grin. “Sorry about that. But damn it, Ari…” He stopped and regarded her with a worried frown.
“I know you don’t like the idea. But fess up, Ryan, we can use his help.”
He fiddled with a pen on his desk. “We’ll see about that. I suppose I can go along with this for now. But you knew that when you walked in here.”
“Oh, no. I wasn’t that confident.”
“But why didn’t you at least call me? You shouldn’t have gone into that nest by yourself.”
This seemed to be a sticking point Ryan couldn’t get past. She tried again. “I wasn’t alone. And I didn’t call because you’d try to stop me. So can we drop it now? We’ve got a good lead. A reason to go into the wolves’ home, conduct a search, and start asking official questions.”
Ryan still needed to vent, especially about including Andreas as an equal partner. As they argued through his objections, he gradually got used to the idea. Once he reached that point, they started planning the next move. Whatever was going to happen, it had to happen that night. Andreas wouldn’t wait beyond dark. And Ari wanted to be part of any confrontation with the wolves, not mopping up the mess afterward.
* * *
Four hours later, Ryan held the necessary warrant papers and plans for a raid were in place. Ari recruited Steffan and a couple of his wolves to keep watch on the house on Vine and report any activity. Ryan arranged for four officers to assist in the search. Or the shootout, Ari mentally added. Molyneux didn’t strike her as the compliant type.
Ryan wanted to move as soon as he had the warrant, but Ari convinced him to wait for Andreas. Depending on the condition of the vampire victims, they might need Andreas’s help. And although she didn’t mention it to her disgruntled cop, Andreas had earned the right to be there.
Around 4:00 p.m. Steffan reported Molyneux had left the house carrying an overnight bag. The wolf leader wasn’t moving like he was alarmed or in a hurry, but the bag indicated he planned to be away for some time. Ryan and Ari talked it over and decided to let him go rather than blow the entire operation. The goal at the moment was finding the young vampires. If they found evidence of criminal activity, they’d locate and arrest Molyneux after the raid.
Another half hour passed before Andreas called. “Do we have a plan?”
“You bet.” Ari arranged to meet the vampires in twenty minutes at Steffan’s command post. She jumped in the van with Ryan and his impromptu SWAT team, and everything proceeded as expected, until they were only blocks from the rendezvous point. Ari’s cell rang, and Steffan’s excited voice could be heard all over the van.
“They’re running! The whole bunch is piling into a black van. What do you want us to do?”
“Nothing,” Ryan shouted. “We’re almost there.”
“Were any vamps with them?” Ari demanded.
“Not that I saw. Just a pack of wolves. Dammit! They’re pulling out.”
Ryan turned on the lights, and the van skidded around the corner on two wheels. Ari spotted the house, but the wolves’ black van was out of sight. Steffan ran into the street and waved.
“Which way they’d go?” Ari yelled.
Steffan pointed, and Ryan stomped on the gas. They careened around the next corner, tires squealing. Still no van. Ryan radioed the other patrol cars to be on the lookout for the fugitives. After driving around for another ten minutes, Ryan looked at Ari. “Shall we go back to the house?”
“The vampires weren’t in the van.”
“Yep, noticed that. We’ll let patrol look for the van.” Ryan swung back onto Vine and pulled over. Steffan and Andreas stood on the front walk, surrounded by a group of wolves and vampires. The two leaders appeared to be arguing. Ari and Ryan jumped out to join them.
“What’s wrong?” she demanded.
“Nothing now,” Steffan said. “A disagreement on whether we should enter the house before you got back.”
Ari gave Andreas a quick glance, figuring he was ready to tear the house apart. In fact, she was surprised he’d paid any attention to Steffan.
“So what happened?” Ryan demanded. “What spooked them?”
“Damned if I know.” Steffan’s voice was sharp. “As I told Andreas, everything was quiet. Then all hell