pack sat by the door to the garage. What did that mean? Had she forgotten it, or had she merely set it there so she could grab it on their way out? She’d washed the few dishes they’d used. Okay, that made no sense. If Kat had been planning on escaping, why would she hang around long enough to do chores?
He checked the garage. The transport was parked right where he’d left it. No surprise there, although he patted his pocket to confirm he still had the key. The security system verified the garage door hadn’t been opened since they’d arrived. That left the front door.
It was unlocked. He closed his eyes and replayed his return from the deli last night. Yeah, he’d locked the door as soon as he’d come in and double-checked it again later. He studied the frame and the doorknob from inside and then outside. No fresh marks. In fact, it was pristine, because Rafferty had replaced the door and the jamb after the attack on Ambrose.
If Conlan were to draw the logical conclusion, Kat had walked out of the front door of her own accord. Unless she’d called for a ride, she was on foot. Where was the sense in that?
His was the only phone they had, and it was sitting right there on the counter where he’d left it. He checked the log. There were no new calls, incoming or outgoing. Of course, she’d already erased one call. She could’ve done so again.
Maybe there was another way to check. He hit the third number on speed dial and waited to see if Finn answered. Conlan let out a sigh of relief when the young chancellor picked up on the fourth ring.
“Hey, boss, what’s up?”
Boss? It was unlikely Conlan could still lay claim to that title. Well, unless Rafferty hadn’t told anyone what Conlan had done. Again, unlikely. The vampire wouldn’t leave his security team in the dark. They’d have to know what was going on in case the mercenaries put in another appearance.
“Did Rafferty happen to mention me?”
“Sure thing. He said that you’d taken off with Ms. Karr because you decided that you were the only one capable of keeping her safe. Gotta tell you, Conlan, he sounded pretty insulted by that.”
Finn actually laughed. Then his voice dropped lower. “Even so, despite how pissed he acted, I think he was glad for the excuse to take charge of things. Got him out of entertaining those vampire ladies who’ve been driving him crazy.”
That might be true, but if this mess didn’t end soon, Conlan was afraid Rafferty’s patience would run out. “Listen, Finn, I don’t want you to risk your job over helping me. Don’t get Rafferty mad at you, too. If helping me is going to cause you problems, say so.”
His assistant didn’t sound at all worried. “Don’t sweat it, Conlan. He told me that if you called to do whatever you asked within reason and then wait to tell him about it when Ambrose O’Brien wasn’t within earshot.”
So the bridges weren’t burned yet. That was a relief.
“Okay, if you’re sure, then, can you run the master phone logs on my number? I got a call last night. I want to know if you can trace the number and if there were any incoming calls this morning, especially from that same number.”
While Finn typed, Conlan asked, “So you’re telling me Ambrose is still there?”
“Oh, yeah, and you should’ve seen the look on his face when that friend of yours Lucius landed inside the fence and introduced himself. Seriously, it was like watching two stud dogs circling each other trying to figure out if they really want to fight. Finally, Lucius grinned and stuck his hand out for Ambrose to shake. They’ve been thick as thieves ever since.”
If Conlan wasn’t so worried about Kat, he would’ve thought it was funny, too. He’d had a feeling that the two men would hit it off despite Lucius’s shady dealings. The friendship would probably only last as long as they were on neutral territory, but at least someone was smiling today.
Finn got back on topic. “Looks like the call that came in last night had a blocked ID. Doesn’t mean much. Give me a couple of hours, and I’ll see what I can come up with for you. No calls since that one.”
“Good, thanks, Finn. That helps.”
Or maybe not. If the same guy hadn’t called with a new threat to up the ante, it made her absence even