Savage Redemption - By Alexis Morgan Page 0,69

was time to call them off and try some other tactic. He wouldn’t hesitate for a second, but unfortunately he’d yet to think of a better plan.

His assistant sat up straighter, his expression insolent. “Perhaps they would’ve had more success if we weren’t tying their hands. It’s difficult for even the best-trained troops to succeed when too many restrictions are placed on how they can do their job.”

Then the young upstart actually held up a hand and started ticking off all of his grievances. “Don’t breach the perimeter of the O’Day estate even though our men were fired upon first. No direct assault on the condo in New Eire because it belongs to Rafferty’s wife. We would’ve had as much luck in picking up the Karr woman by mailing her a polite note.” He snorted. “It’s no wonder the vamps own everything when the human leadership is made up of such gutless wonders!”

“Enough!” Cyrus roared. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with, young man. We cannot afford to bring down the full weight of the vampire clans on our heads at this crucial point in our mission.”

The other man sneered. “They hate each other more than they hate us. They’d just as soon see Rafferty’s estate go up in flames.”

Cyrus slammed his fist down on the desktop. “You don’t get it at all, do you? Yes, the vampires do have their petty squabbles. But I can assure you that nothing will unite them like an attack on one of their own. If we had raided the O’Day estate to remove Kat Karr and her nieces forcibly, we would have every member of the North American vampire clans gunning for us.”

He fought to regain his composure. “I, for one, do not care to end my life as a banquet for an irate vampire. Once we retrieve Kat Karr’s research, we’ll have a weapon that will restore the natural order of things where humans rule and those bloodsucking abominations will slither back into the gutter they crawled out of.”

All right, that was more than he’d meant to say, but he felt better for venting some of his frustration. Time to get focused again.

Richie slumped back in his chair. “I’m sorry, sir. Of course, you’re right.”

“Apology accepted,” Cyrus said, only slightly mollified. “What are your men doing now?”

Before Richie could answer, his phone rang. “Sorry, sir, but this is from the mercs. I should take it.”

He walked out of the office. Why? He had to know he’d just have to repeat everything the man said once the call ended. Not for the first time, he had to wonder where Richie’s true loyalty lay. Only time would tell. For the moment, all Cyrus could do was cross his fingers and hope this whole mess got resolved, and soon.

Richie was already back, a smug smile on his face. Whatever the report had been, it had obviously pleased him.

“My men have Conlan Shea and Kat Karr trapped in a restaurant. They have all exits covered and are preparing to do a room-to-room search to find them. Once they have the two targets in custody, they’ll call back for instructions.”

For the first time in days, something was going right. Cyrus poured another drink of scotch and this time offered Richie the good stuff. Both men sat back in their chairs and waited for the phone to ring again.

Chapter 15

“Do you think your friend is all right?”

It was tempting to tell Kat what she wanted to hear, that Dwayne would be safe from retribution for harboring them, but Conlan preferred not to lie. He settled for a version of the truth.

“I hope so. It’s unlikely that they can find a direct link between me and him, so they have no reason to think that he’d stick his neck out for us.”

“But...?”

“Something or someone is driving these mercs hard. If whoever is footing their bill pushes hard enough, the situation could escalate quickly.”

“That’s what I thought.”

The tunnel widened back out enough that Kat could walk beside him. She caught up with him and shot him a bleak smile. “Thanks for not lying to me, Conlan. I know you’d really rather pat me on the head and tell me it’s all going to be all right.”

“I’m still hoping that’s true.”

She caught his hand with hers and gave it a quick squeeze. “Me, too.”

The tunnel made a sharp turn just ahead. Time to do some scouting. “Wait here for a second. I want to see where this leads.”

At least she