Red Dawn (16 page)

“Agreed,” I tell him as I wrack my brain. “We need to find out who he is and what he wants with the vaccine, but more importantly, how do we get it back?”

“Let’s see what Blaine can dig up on him,” Nik says.

“At least it’s a place to start,” I agree as Nik pulls out his cell and dials Blaine. He hits the speakerphone button and we both listen as the phone rings.

“Yo,” he answers on the fourth ring.

“I need a favor,” Nik tells him.

“Another one?” Blaine doesn’t exactly sound thrilled at the prospect. Imagine that?

“The last one was for Katia,” Nik teases. “This one is for me.”

“Lay it on me,” Blaine responds sounding bored. I roll my eyes. He should get an academy award for that one. It’s no secret Blaine’s got a thing for Nik. He’s probably peeing his pants with excitement at the prospect of Nik needing something from him.

“Xander Jacobs,” Nik tells him. “He used to work for The Dwyer Group. I need to know everything about him. Address, employment, work history, acquaintances. Whatever you can dig up.”

“Full package could take some time.”

“Just start with the basics,” Nik instructs him. I like this take charge side of him. It’s pretty sexy. “Get us what you can in the next half hour. We’re heading for the airport now and we need to know where we’re going. You can send us the full profile later.”

It turns out we’re heading to New York. It’s Jacobs’ home base. Nick and I catch the last flight out. When we hit LaGuardia we decide to bag a room for the night and regroup. Fortunately, our options aren’t quite as limited as they were down south. Thankfully, we’re able to get a decent room without any problem.

Once we’re settled in, Nik fires up his laptop so we can video chat with Blaine. It turns out he’s been busy.

“What did you find?” I ask, jumping right in when I see Blaine’s image pop up on the screen. His face twitches with distaste, but he gathers his notes and begins to share.

“This is your guy,” he says, flashing us a DMV photo of Jacobs. It’s not the best picture, but it will do. He’s a pretty average looking guy, the typical New York yuppie type. Clean cut, brown hair, straight nose, condescending expression.

“Jacobs works for a private investment firm on the upper east side, which is also where he lives. I’ll send you the addresses in a minute.” He pauses and shuffles the pages in front of him. “The place is called Black & Associates. The thing is, there’s not much to go on there. The place is very low key. I couldn’t find any public records.”

“Is that unusual?” Nik asks with raised eyebrows. In this day and age, I have to assume it is, but Blaine’s the expert.

“Extremely,” Blaine tells us. “An investment firm like this? They’d normally have press releases and other various types of PR at the very least. I could be wrong, but I’d bet it’s a front for something else.”

“Like what?” Nik and I ask in unison. I turn and smile at him. Great minds.

“I have no idea, but it tracks because your guys’ specialty is pharmaceutical research. He spent most of his career at The Dwyer Group, working his way up the food chain. I’ve heard of midlife crisis, but this would have been one hell of a career change.”

“Interesting.” So The Shadow was telling the truth. Jacobs really did have longstanding ties with The Dwyer Group. “Were you able to get anything else on his time there?”

“Not much,” he admits. “But according to Jacobs’ personnel file he left on decent terms. There’s nothing to indicate that he ever had any problems there. He was a pretty mediocre employee from what I can tell. Not the sort to raise any eyebrows or draw too much attention.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Nik muses. “What about his personal life? Where can we find him?”

“Like I said,” Blaine replies, shuffling his papers again. “He’s got a place on the upper east side. It’s pricey. Doesn’t look like money is much of an object. He also keeps a car in the city. Black Range Rover. Here’s a pic.” He holds up a photo he likely printed from the web. He must think we’re both idiots if he thinks we don’t know what a Range Rover looks like, but I keep my mouth shut. He’s doing us a major solid here. “I’ll send you the plate number along with the address.”

“What else were you able to get?” Nik asks. He’s taking notes of his own now. Probably a good idea. Blaine has managed to scrape together much more than I dared hope. He really is pretty awesome at this stuff, not that I’d ever tell him.

“Well, if Jacobs still has the hard drive, it’ll likely be in his apartment or office. He has a couple of bank accounts and investments, but you’re in luck because there’s no record of any lock boxes.” Blaine leans back in his chair looking pretty pleased with himself. “Oh, and he’s a fine upstanding citizen who pays taxes on his reported income. Pretty clean record overall. Jacobs’ biggest mistake was giving the shifter his real name.”

“He probably knew The Shadow would check him out,” I reason. Nik nods in agreement. At least we’re on the same wavelength.

“That it?” Nik asks.

“Gee, I’m overwhelmed by your gratitude,” Blaine replies snickering. “For now. I’m still working on the schematics for the apartment and the office building. I should be able to get them by tomorrow. I’ll also see what I can get on security. You’ll probably be dealing with systems and real, live security guards.”

“We need that information yesterday,” I tell him, ignoring the amused look on his face. “We can’t let that hard drive slip through our hands.”

“Assuming he still has it,” Nik points out. He turns back to Blaine. “Do what you can and get back to me.”

Nik disconnects and I’m again flooded with nervous energy. I hate not being in control. I don’t think I can spend one more minute sitting around a hotel room waiting. I want to do something already!

“We’ve made a lot of progress,” Nik says as if reading my mind. He slides an arm around my shoulders and pulls me close. “I know this is hard for you, but we’re on the right track.”

“I feel like I might lose my mind,” I confess, resting my head on his shoulder. Nik is solid. I don’t know how he manages to exude calm in the face of such dire circumstances, but I envy him that. I’m all volcanic eruptions and summer storms; he’s placid lakes and rolling green hills. I wonder how it would feel to think first and act second. I doubt I’ll ever know.

“Tell you what,” he offers as he rubs my arm possessively. “Why don’t we see what Jacobs is up to while Blaine works on the tough stuff?”

“You mean tail him?” I ask.

“Sure. Why not?” he responds, brandishing his notes with the free hand. Geeze! Even his handwriting is perfect. “We’ll see what we can dig up on the guy and this Black & Associates. Maybe we can figure out why he stole the vaccine and what he intends to do with it.”

“Works for me,” I agree, relieved to once again have a plan of action. “We’ll need a car. We can’t exactly use a car service on stake out.”

“I’ll make some calls,” Nik tells me as he climbs to his feet. “We leave at 6am. We’ll need to catch Jacobs at home before he leaves for the day.”

“I’ll be ready,” I agree. I can’t fault his logic. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Nik had done this before. For the first time, I wonder what exactly it was he did with the Linkuri last summer. Would he even tell me if I asked? I kind of doubt it.

Chapter Twenty-One

“You sound tired.” It’s not much of an opener, but Shaye’s no stranger to my directness. It’s good to hear her voice. Nik’s been busy making arrangements for the last hour, so I decided to check in with Shaye. After all, she’s the reason we’re doing all this. “How are you?”

“I am tired,” Shaye admits. “But otherwise okay aside from missing Keegan. I can’t wait for him to get back here. Plus, your absence has caused a bit of a stir. You and Nik are in hot water.”

“No big surprise there,” I tell her, laughing. “What about Keegan?”

“Naturally, no one has missed him,” she replies and I’m sorry I asked. “Anyway, Anya’s been looking for you. She wanted me to tell you that she won’t be able to keep your missed classes from Pratt.”

“Great. More work detail.” Actually, I’d be lucky to receive work detail. If Pratt discovers the full extent of my absence, I’ll probably be expelled.

“Also, your uncle called. I dodged it, but he left a message.” Shaye pauses and it sounds like she’s struggling to take a breath. “He probably left you one too. Or, you know, fifty.”

Craptastic. I better check my messages. I’ve been so preoccupied that I haven’t really been paying much attention to my phone. It’s been on silent since we left Crossroads. A quick check reveals a whole pile of missed calls. Funny how no one calls when I’m at school behaving myself.

“So how’s it going?” Shaye asks. “Any leads?”

“Actually, yes. Nik and I are in New York now,” I tell her, pleased to be able to deliver some good news. I’m sure it will help her spirits. “Thanks to Blaine, we’ve actually made more progress than I had expected.”

“Blaine seems to be full of surprises lately,” she muses.

“Don’t give him too much credit. We both know why he’s doing it, and it’s not out of the goodness of his teeny, tiny, possibly nonexistent heart.”

“True story.” She giggles then and I’m glad I called. Maybe I needed a real flesh and blood reminder of what we’re fighting for. Shaye’s got everything on the line and yet she manages not to succumb to the anger that frequently rules my own life.

“Tomorrow we’re going to check out the guy who commissioned the theft. His name’s Xander Jacobs. We haven’t been able to figure out why he made a play for the cure yet, but we’re working on it.”

“It may not be that easy,” she says quietly.

“One way or another, we’re going to figure out what the hell is going on and get our hands on that hard drive,” I promise her. I’m determined not to let her down. “The samples are probably a lost cause at this point. They’d have to be kept under refrigeration and even if we found them, it would take some time to analyze them and recreate the research.”

“Maybe you should call your uncle,” she suggests cautiously. “Tell him what you’ve learned. Let him take over from here. Maybe he can send in a Linkuri team.”

“No way,” I tell her firmly. “They’d come in hot and heavy. We can’t afford to tip off Jacobs. I won’t risk it. Nik and I can fly under the radar. No one’s going to be looking out for a couple of kids. And I can assure you this guy’s playing it safe. He hired someone to take out the shifter. I can’t even imagine how they found him, or if they knew we were meeting him, or if it was just a coincidence. This whole thing is so effed up.”

“Katia, you don’t have to do this,” she pleads. “It’s dangerous and it sounds like you’re in over your head.”

“Don’t be stupid,” I reply. “Of course we have to do this! It might be our only chance to make the recovery. For you and all of the others.”

We both sit there awkwardly, unsure of what to say next. I wonder if I was too harsh. I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings. I just wanted her to know that we’re not giving up on her. Not ever.

“Anyway, don’t worry about us,” I start clumsily. “Go give Keegan a call and get some rest. We’ll be in touch.”

“Katia, wait. Before you go… How was Mardi Gras?”

“Mardi Gras?”  I ask totally confused.

“Yeah, I heard you got all dressed up.” She starts laughing uncontrollably. A glance at Nik confirms that he told Shaye. He’s smirking and although he won’t meet my eyes, his shoulders shake with suppressed laughter.

“Ugh! I am going to
kill
Nik!” I whine, flopping back on the bed miserably.

“Too late,” she says sounding victorious. “I’ve already got photographic evidence on my phone. Love the….”

“If you say feathers,” I threaten her, “you’ll be next on my list.”

“Mask!” she shrieks. “I was going to say mask!”

**********

I can’t sleep. No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to empty my mind of the days’ events. Shaye’s right. We’re in over our heads, but I can’t call Aldo now. He’d be furious. Besides, I have to see this through to the end. No matter the cost.

Things were so much simpler when I was a human. Or maybe it just seemed that way. I’m pretty sure I was happier then. Not that I don’t have a lot to be grateful for now. It’s just that this life also brings with it a lot of headaches. Like hiding my true heritage, being shoved into the spotlight as Aldo’s sole heir, and this crazy hot and cold thing- I won’t call it a relationship because I’m not sure if that’s what it is- with Nik.

I lie there listening to his soft and steady breathing. He’s sound asleep and I’m jealous. I wish I could just block everything out and drift off. It’s strange being in the same room with him like this. I’ve never slept alone with a guy before and even though we’re in separate beds, the significance doesn’t escape me.

I roll onto my side and stare out the window through a crack in the heavy drapes. A sliver of light cuts across the foot of my bed. It’s a bone chilling night in the city. There are no clouds in the sky and fortunately, no snow on the ground. The heavy glass of the window blocks out the street noise below. The silence in our room is deafening.

As hard as I try, I can’t ignore Nik’s presence, not even with my back to him. I’m not sure how long I lay there fighting the urge, but eventually I surrender to the need for his touch. I slip out of my bed and crawl into his, sliding beneath the covers before I can change my mind.

I curl my body around his, snaking my arm across his bare stomach as I bury my face in his shoulder. My fingers trace the hard lines of his abdomen and I pause guiltily when I sense that I’ve woken him.

“Don’t stop,” he whispers huskily.

My hand trembles at his words. I’m not sure what I was thinking or how far I want this to go. I just wanted to be close to him, to take comfort in his arms. As if reading my thoughts, his arms tighten around me. Here, with Nik, I feel safe, like nothing can hurt me, like nothing else matters.

“Hold me?” I ask quietly.

He kisses my forehead softly. “Always.”

**********

“There he is!” I lean forward in my seat, pointing excitedly. The thrill of the hunt is kicking in. It may be a different kind of hunt, but the exhilaration is the same nonetheless. “Don’t lose him!”