A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1) - Darynda Jones Page 0,112
needed another plan. If Levi was wrong—
“I’m not,” he said beside her.
“What do you—? How did you know what—?”
“There’s only one suspect. Male, size ten shoe, one fifty to one sixty. No one else has been out here, and he is gone.”
“Do you know what he had for breakfast?”
He grinned down at her. “Go get your girl.”
She tapped Quincy on the shoulder. He unfolded his tactical knife, slid it into his belt, and raised his semiautomatic to advance. Sun had only drawn her gun twice in the line of duty, but she’d never shot anyone. This would be her third draw. She hoped her record would continue.
Quincy got to the door, listened, then shook his head, indicating no sound. Sun and Fields crept to the door, and after a three-count, Quincy and Fields kicked it in together.
Quince raised his rifle and yelled, “Del Sol sheriff! Hands up!” The light on his rifle showed no other people in the room. “Sheriff!” he said.
Sun rushed inside and found a tiny, shivering ball of a girl wedged as far into a corner as she could get.
Her eyes were huge circles on an elfin face, but even in the light, her pupils were dilated. She raised her hands to defend herself. Good girl. Never stop fighting.
“What did he give her?” Quincy asked.
“No idea. Possibly morphine or Rohypnol.”
Fields knelt down and found a clear vial. “Rohypnol.”
“I think it’s time,” Quincy said to her.
“Call them in.”
As Quincy called in a rescue team, forgoing radio silence to get Sybil to the hospital, Sun tried to reach the girl. “Sybil, you did it. You led us straight to you. You and Auri. Such clever girls.”
She finally blinked and tried to focus. “Auri?” She pointed.
Sun turned to see Auri’s name in graffiti on the cinder block. No wonder she could see it in the windowless room. The paint was glow in the dark.
“Auri,” Sybil repeated, nodding as though wanting Sun’s approval.
“Yes. Auri.”
Levi took off his jacket and wrapped it around Sybil while Fields called in a report.
“You and Auri.” Sun drew her into her arms, and while one might imagine she would break down, she was simply in too much shock from both the ordeal and the cold.
“We can’t wait,” she said to Levi.
He nodded and lifted her into his arms.
“Zee, you and Quince get the ATV.”
“On it,” Zee said.
“Quincy, we don’t know if this guy is out there. Stay sharp.”
Quincy gave Sun a curt nod and took off in the direction from which they’d come, rifle at the ready. Levi carried Sybil, and Fields took point as they followed her team out. Levi’s role was as transparent as the rest of theirs. He was the knight.
State police escorted them to the small Del Sol Urgent Care Center. Levi sat in the back with Sybil. She clung to him, her dirty fingers and broken nails digging into the flesh at his neck. He didn’t seem to mind.
Emergency vehicles in every size and shape were waiting for them when they arrived. A medical crew had a gurney at the door as soon as they showed up. They didn’t know yet if they’d have to transfer Sybil to Albuquerque or not.
The mayor was there, speaking to news crews. They called to Sun, but she strode past and inside the UCC.
She watched the medical team work as she called Auri.
“You found her!” Auri cried when she picked up.
“You’ve seen the news.”
“You found her. Thank you, Mom.”
“Thank you, bug bite. I didn’t do it alone.”
“You have to tell me everything when you get home.”
“No, because you will be in bed asleep.”
“Tomorrow, then. Promise me. Everything.”
“Remember that whole no-more-secrets thing?”
“Yes.”
“I’m pretty sure it applies here.”
Sun hung up and looked around for Levi. He was gone.
She’d been dealing with doctors and family and reporters. The mayor gave her a semi-approving nod. The St. Aubins were rushed in among a flurry of camera flashes and hugged their daughter for days. And the doctors agreed Sybil would be fine despite her state of near hypothermia and dehydration.
Never one for the spotlight, however—even when it came to promoting his own company—Levi vanished before she’d gotten a chance to thank him.
“Around the clock?” Quincy asked before checking out for the night.
“Around the clock,” she said. With the kidnapper still out there, they’d have to keep a very close eye on the little ginger with olive-green eyes. In the meantime, Sun would contact some of her friends in the SFPD