Herald the Night

Chapter Sixteen

Luke knew something was wrong the second Abriella flew out of the elevator door. Her face said it all. His concerns were confirmed when he caught a glimpse of Lily right beside her. He”d never in all his time knowing the young doctor seen her so ashen and distraught. Abriella made a beeline for Taz’ office, jerking her chin toward Luke with fire in her eyes.

“Gendry, with me. Now!”

He moved without thinking, eating up the distance with a lengthened stride as Abriella blew through the office door without even knocking. He cringed as the tidal wave of colorful swearing erupted immediately after. He nudged Lily and Bell deeper into the cramped space and hurried to shut the door. It wouldn”t do much to lessen the intensity of Taz’ reaction, but A for effort. At least, he hoped.

“Taz, enough! I need everything you can find on the most recent call and text. All the data from the video too.” Abriella punched in a password on the phone and set it in front of Taz before promptly turning to Lily and engulfing her in a tight hug.

“What the fuck,” Taz muttered under his breath as he retrieved the phone with a scowl.

“Tranquila, mi corazón.” Abriella tightened her grip, and that”s when Luke realized it wasn”t a typical hug. She had Lily’s arms pinned to her sides and whispered the words over and over again into Lily’s ear. She was trembling so hard, it was visible from where he stood. Her breathing was erratic and shallow, with a soft keening whimper on every exhale.

“Oh, fuck…”

Luke snapped his gaze toward Taz, finding him with a pair of chunky headphones on his head as he played a video on one of his screens. He hadn”t even seen him wire the phone into one of his computers.

“What?” Luke stepped around Lily and Abriella to get a closer look. At first glance, what he found made very little sense.

“Here, listen.” Taz shed the headphones and held them out. He lifted his hand and pointed to the screen. “These are the things we made at the pottery class. Theo”s, mine, Lily’s.”

Once Luke had the headphones situated over his ears, Taz pressed play on the clip. A raspy man’s voice echoed in his ears. He wasn”t prepared for the loud muzzle blast. With a brief flash, he was briefly transported back to deserts and jungles and military bases the world over. He shook his head and forced the imagery from his mind with a shaky breath, even as his pulse jumped.

“Again,” he mumbled, fluttering his fingertips toward the screen. “Play it over.”

Luke was mentally prepared for the second viewing of the clip. He scanned the screen, desperately trying to decipher visual clues as he honed in on the sounds. It was barely fifteen seconds long, but the threat was clear, especially considering what had happened the day they were at the pottery class. His jaw set as he stripped the headphones off.

“Abs, talk to me.” Luke stepped back as Taz began his work. He had no frame of reference, but his best guess was that Taz had pulled up a cell tower triangulation map.

“She got a phone call. Many calls. When she answered, she heard the audio from this video.” Abriella tucked Lily’s head under her chin. Given that Lily was considerably taller than Bella’s petite frame, the position looked uncomfortable and cramped, but Lily didn”t seem to mind. If anything, she folded in on herself, becoming even smaller.

“And then?” Luke squinted at Taz’ screen. “Got a timestamp for me?”

“The last call connected at eleven-oh-five. Text sent eleven-oh-eight. Metadata has the video recorded at the same time as the call. Different device.” Taz worked in hyper speed as his fingers clattered over the keys.

“Si, she got the call, and then the text happened.” Abriella gently ushered Lily toward the stool in the corner of the room. Thankfully, she seemed slightly more coherent, even if she was still incredibly tense. The concerning, disjointed nature of her breathing had at least evened out.

“Different devices make sense. Look at the camera angle,” Luke said, pointing to the screen. “The gun enters screen right, angled in from five o’clock. The camera is at seven o’clock. Someone else recorded the video while the call was connected. We’ve got at least two unsubs.”

“Address for the pottery shop,” Taz barked, holding up a Post-It note while still typing with one hand. Luke snatched it up. “Go get the security footage. I”ll text you any more information that comes up.”

“Th-Theo? Is he…?” Lily’s voice was barely a whisper.

“We’ll send an officer and contact the Secret Service.” Abriella ran a hand over Lily’s hair. “He will be okay, mi amor.”

“I”m taking Gallagher. Stay on the comms.” Luke pivoted toward the door with a renewed determination. As he strode through the bullpen, he tapped his knuckles on the newer agent’s desk. “Grab your radio. We’ve got a case.”

He stepped behind his own desk, grabbing the over-ear headset and receiver before clipping them in place. On autopilot, he unlocked the drawer of his desk and pulled out his firearm, checking the clip before tucking it into the holster under his left arm. By the time he was done, Gallagher was beside him, chomping at the bit. The man was nothing if not eager. Fresh-faced and grinning ear to ear. Hopefully, Luke wouldn”t regret his decision to include him on this excursion.

Two hours and a lot of frustration later, Luke was ready to strangle the next person who spoke to him. The pottery shop was a bust—the security footage was overwritten every twenty-four hours and the clerk who was working the day the pottery pieces were picked up could only remember that the “dude” was “old, white, and stunk like cigarettes” when he came to pick up the clay pots three days earlier. The owner of the shop fired the kid on the spot for not even bothering to ask for ID before handing over student work.

None of the other surrounding businesses could offer any help either. Either they had no security cameras, or the cameras they did have weren”t facing the right direction. Luke dropped into the driver’s seat with a growl and slammed his palms on the steering wheel as soon as they finished at the last establishment. This was the worst part of the job. Chasing ghosts to dead ends was the epitome of frustrating. It was doubly so when the targets were people he cared about.

“Hey, no worries. We can head back to HQ and see if they—”

Luke’s cellphone cut off the affable, entirely too optimistic agent in his front seat. He was grateful for the well-timed interruption. The young guy didn”t deserve to bear the brunt of Luke’s temper, and he was perilously close to lashing out without just cause.

“Gendry,” Luke barked into the phone.

“I”m sending an address. I can”t do a live trace on the number without breaking half a dozen laws because we don”t have a warrant yet. But I did get a location from the metadata on the video.”

“Taz? Thank God. I”ve got nothing over here. Is Abriella there? Am I clear to check out the address?” Luke fastened his seat belt and tucked the phone between his ear and shoulder so he could start the car.

“That’s where it gets fishy. I have an address, and there”s zero information on file. None. No bank records, no ownership records. Nothing.” The line went muffled for a moment, as if it was covered by a hand. Luke could make out Taz’ hollering on the other end, but couldn”t decipher the words. After a moment, he came back on the line. “Abs says all clear on checking out the address. Scope it out, knock on some doors, no fuckery.”

“Right. How much of that was paraphrased?”

“All of it. Go. Be careful. Love you.” The line went dead. Seconds later, his text pinged and he opened it to a location pin. He pulled out into the street as the navigation called out the first directions. They were surprisingly close, all things considered. Luke may or may not have bent a few traffic laws to shorten the time, too.

Fifteen minutes later, they were parked across the street from a dilapidated single-story home that had seen much better days. The lawn behind the chain link fence was overgrown with weeds and brambles. The windows were covered on the inside by thick drapes that made the dust accumulation on the glass even more evident. Luke’s brows shot up as he examined the property.

“We gonna check it out?” Agent Gallagher perked up in his seat. “Looks haunted.”

“That”s one way to describe it. Come on.” Luke checked all the mirrors for any signs that might be red flags. His ability to judge situations and scan for threats was bred in the military and transferred well to the agency afterward. It was a habit he would likely never drop. He did another scan of the street under the pretense of checking for traffic before crossing. All the cars along the street were empty, and he clocked an alley behind the row of houses as they crossed. It appeared empty, but he made a mental note of it anyway.

His focus honed on the property as they reached the gate. It wasn”t latched, and squealed as he nudged it open with the toe of his shoe. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end the closer they got to the porch, and the sensation of being watched crept higher up his spine with every step he took.

“Watch our six,” he hissed under his breath as he glanced toward each window flanking the door before approaching it. Taz was right. Everything about this felt fishy. He lifted his hand and struck the door with his knuckles. The second knock fell flat as it swung open on its hinges. He immediately spun to the side and called out for his partner agent to take cover. His gun was out of the holster and in his grip before he even completed the motion.

“On three, Gallagher.” Luke waited for visual confirmation, nodding once as he held up his hand and signaled the countdown before pointing to the open door. To his credit, despite being so new to the agency, the young man moved seamlessly into the house, and effortlessly fell in step as Luke took point and they cleared the vacant, darkened room with a swift sweeping motion. Another series of hand signals had Agent Gallagher breaking left as Luke continued down a narrow hall to clear the other half of the house.

He was wound tight and padded cat-like through the dingy home, heel-toe, heel-toe, ready to adjust his stance at a moment”s notice. The slow, measured breaths puffed out of his lips as he kept his firing arm steady and swept through three more rooms before coming upon the back door. He scanned the backyard through the glass pane, and called out only once he was satisfied he’d cleared his sector accurately.

“Clear!”

Moments later, the answering call from Gallagher came from elsewhere in the house. Sweat prickled over Luke”s brow and ran down his spine under his suit and shirt. It was oppressively stifling in the house, and the sun baking down on it outside had turned it into an oven. He turned his attention to thoroughly searching the premises for anything that might be helpful. There wasn”t much to see, and without a proper warrant, he wasn”t eager to start digging through cabinets and drawers.

“Hey, Gendry. Over here!”

Luke followed the voice and found himself in a small living room, complete with a lumpy couch and a rickety, dust covered coffee table. What he found on the table stopped him dead in his tracks.

“Don”t touch anything,” Luke warned as he pulled out his phone. He stepped closer to the table to line up his camera. They were supposed to find this. It was too intentional not to be a message. The uncomfortable sensation of being watched returned with a vengeance as he took a picture of the table. A pile of pottery shards stood on the left, with two little pots standing to the right of it, still intact. The pots from the video.

“We need to get out, and close the scene so it can be processed.” Luke took more pictures from different angles and pulled up his text thread with Abriella. He attached all the images and pocketed his phone before retreating toward the door. “Something isn”t right about this.”

“Haunted, man. I”m telling you.”

Luke was about to reply when his phone pinged. Expecting it to be Abriella, he swiped the message to open it without a second glance. When he did look down, he was startled to see an unknown number with only one message in the thread. He blinked in confusion when he saw Connor”s name at the top. It was sent as a group text to the both of them.

Unknown: What happens to curious cats?

Luke’s brow furrowed even deeper when a link popped up on the screen. Despite what his technologically savvy partner would say, he clicked the link. A recording of a previously live video on YouTube popped open on his phone”s browser. It was blurry, jerky, and pixelated. The person holding the camera was moving across a lawn. And then the camera swung upright and things became clearer.

His blood ran cold as he recognized Theo seated on a blanket beside a soccer field. Anna was right beside him. The camera panned left and Toby came into view practicing with his team. The view shifted back toward Theo again. That’s when the man behind the camera spoke.

“Eeny.” The video zoomed in on Theo’s face.

“Meeny.” Anna became the focal point of the image.

“Miny.” The view flashed erratically before focusing on Toby.

“Moe.” Again, the screen blurred as it panned to the left before the focus shifted back on Theo. The distinctive sound of a gun safety disengaging registered over the video’s audio before the clip ended.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Luke minimized the screen and searched for the timestamp. Half an hour ago. It was posted half an hour ago. He had to believe that if something had happened, they would have heard about it already. He clicked his radio on and hurried toward the front entrance of the house.

“Break, break, break! This is Agent Luke Gendry. I need eyes and a location on Theo and the Montgomery children immediately. Patch it over to the Secret Service. This is a 10-33, emergency situation. Armed suspect within proximity half an hour ago. Over.”

He nearly leapt from the steps but thankfully stopped short, holding a hand out to halt the agent racing up beside him. Shock made his world slow down before speeding it up again. His car was still sitting across the street, but it was clear at a quick glance that it wouldn”t be driving anywhere. All four tires had been slashed. He searched the street, but it was just as empty as it was before. Too empty. Eerily empty.

“Agent Gendry. We’re going to need back up and a scene processing team at our location. Come in.”

Abriella’s voice over his radio filled him with relief. “Copy. We’re on the way. Check six. Over.”

“Wilco. Over and out.” Luke backed them up toward the door and only exhaled once they were off the street. While the house didn”t feel that much safer, it was better than standing out in the open. There wasn”t much they could do until backup arrived. With trembling fingers, he forwarded the link to Taz. It was all out of his hands now. And that feeling was a terrible one to grapple with. Helplessness was a dangerous thing for someone who spent his life protecting others.