49. Arrest Warrant
Chapter 49
Arrest Warrant
Sierra Escondida Police Department—The same night
T ig grumbled to herself. Why had San Francisco taken so long to approve the warrant? San Diego acted immediately—probably thanks to Quentin—but their northern neighbor took four nights. It made her want to pick up the phone and shout at their lodge master.
Marcus finally dropped off the approvals around midnight.
While San Francisco sat on their hands, Ari successfully stole the vial of vampire blood the Mordida Gazette had sent for testing, wiped all the research from the lab’s computers, and even messed with the DNA machine a bit to make the device malfunction. With any luck, the lab would report the problem and the Gazette would have to retract their article. Even if the lab remained silent, Ari’s theft also eliminated any further tests they’d considered running. Tig passed the vial on to Cerissa, who analyzed and compared the results to her V-DNA database.
The blood belonged to Petar.
If Tig was right, and Callistus was the murderer, then he could have extracted the sample before staking Petar. But why was he trying to expose the Hill’s secret? As much as she wanted to know the answer, the reason didn’t matter now. Once she got her hands on him, the town council would put him on trial. The why might come out then.
The next night, rather than take Zeke’s plane, her team drove two vans loaded with gear to Poway and slept the day at the Rustic Ranch Inn, a sprawling, elegant resort next to a golf course. Shortly after dusk, they rendezvoused with Quentin and his team in the living room of Tig’s hotel suite.
“Welcome, everyone—we appreciate the help,” she said, facing the San Diego team, which comprised Quentin, Indigo Onasis, and Gina Marcello, the last of whom carried a high-powered sniper rifle hidden in a golf bag.
Perfect.
Zeke and Liza were there, too, along with Ari as a last-minute addition. Jayden passed out plot maps of Callistus’s house as Tig continued. “Our goal is to get Callistus into custody with no loss of life. Two mortals live with him.”
“How do we know the bloke’s home?” Quentin asked.
“Our computer expert has hacked into Callistus’s security cameras. He hasn’t gone anywhere for the past two nights. Jayden monitored the cameras during the day, and while Gabriel left for a short time and returned with groceries, Kaitlyn hasn’t been out of the house since we started monitoring a week ago. So it’s an educated guess she’s still there, too.”
“Cameras?” Quentin said. “That’s going to make it bloody difficult to get into position.”
“Ari will cut the cameras before we move into place.”
Quentin squinted. “You sure your bloke can do that?”
“Yes,” Tig said.
“And, uh, chief?” Ari said. “I planned on cutting the internet, not just the cameras. Make the whole thing look like an outage. They’re so far out in the sticks, their provider is notorious for frequent outages.”
Would that work? She wasn’t sure. “What about phones? Couldn’t they access the cameras over their smartphones even if you cut their cable internet?”
“I should’ve been clearer. I’m doing both.”
“Okay, that works. Ari will stay with the vans—”
Ari frowned. “Why don’t I ever get in on the fun? You let Cerissa—”
“New York was a unique situation. You’ll stay with the vans and make sure the surveillance cameras remain off. If we’re able to get any mortals out, I’ll send them to you.”
He sniffed in her direction. “Fine. I know when I’m not wanted.”
“Everyone else, you have your assignments.”
So many things were outside her control. Then she thought back to Petar’s last words to her: With misdirection, I manipulate you to look where I want you to look, so you don’t see what’s really happening.
Then the idea hit her. She’d planned this as a straight knock-and-go warrant, invade his house, flash-bang distractions, the whole move-move-move for her crew, not knowing what the actual risks were inside.
But what if she could misdirect the occupants to look in the wrong direction?
“Wait. I’m changing the plan slightly. You have ten minutes to pick apart my idea, and if you can’t, we’re on our way.”
Verdant Ridge Highway—Forty minutes later
T ig parked a half-mile from Callistus’s winery, with the San Diego crew in the van behind her. She had line-of-sight to the driveway’s apron that led to the house in the back and waited for the key part of her revised scheme to arrive. When the pizza delivery guy finally got there, the bribe he demanded took all the cash Tig, Jayden, and Liza had brought with them. Zeke wasn’t any help—all he had on him was credit cards and two solid one-ounce Liberty gold coins, worth twenty apiece when he acquired them and now valued at over four thousand dollars. She’d heard the story of how he carried them for luck—and so he’d never be without funds when he traveled.
She didn’t need Zeke’s coins when three hundred dollars would do the job. The money had to be in cash. She couldn’t get the guy to accept a charged under-the-table bribe for the use of his car topper—a lighted bar with the delivery logo—as he was afraid she’d later cancel payment with the credit card company, plus he couldn’t explain a tip that high to his boss. Jayden and Zeke made the equipment swap, mounting the magnetic panel signs and the Fast Pizza Delivery topper on the white undercover van while Tig paid the delivery guy.
He counted, then pocketed the cash. “You’ll, uh, bring that stuff back to me, right? ’Cause it costs a lot more than three hundred bucks, and my boss—”
“Don’t worry. You’ll get it back.” Tig turned to Ari and jerked a thumb at the stranger. She didn’t need a civilian getting hurt in the middle of a SWAT intervention. “Keep an eye on him.”
“Hey, I’m a computer consultant, not a babysitter.”
“You wanted in on the action, didn’t you? Raise your right hand.” She swore him in, having him repeat the oath after her. “There. I hereby deputize you. Now, your first task: watch the civilian and keep him safe. And quit bitching.”
He narrowed his eyes and stuck out his chin. “Fine. But I want a cooler job next time. And a gun.”
Tig snorted. Yeah, sure. Right after she did the paperwork and put Ari through the required firearms tests.
Once Jayden and Zeke finished outfitting the roof and side panels of her plain white undercover van and placed other necessary props on the passenger seat, she told Ari to cut the cameras, then dispatched all six members of her combined teams to their predesignated locations on Callistus’s property.
Jayden went with Zeke to guard the back door. Quentin and Indigo took the sides—if there was no door on either end of the house, they’d watch the windows instead. Liza would fade into a spot behind the cypress trees with a clear shot at the front door, and Gina, the last Mariner’s Lodge member, was out of sight on the vineyard high ground carrying her rifle and had a view of the front door, too. With a quick jog, the rolling hills allowed her to reposition and cover the back patio.
Everyone had radios with earpieces. They’d all be able to hear one another other.
Five minutes later, Tig received a radio report from Liza that they were all in place. Before leaving, Tig reminded Ari yet again to stay put and keep an eye on the civilian, then waved goodbye. She drove the van to Callistus’s entrance and made the left turn across the highway, keeping her speed low so she didn’t spook him as she traveled down the long cobblestone driveway. She stopped with the van’s passenger side closest to the front door, carefully picking her position so she didn’t cut off line-of-sight for either Liza or Gina, then slid the gearshift into park and honked the horn.
When no one opened the front door, she honked again, two short beeps .
The doorknob turned, and a woman peered out.
Kaitlyn .
“Who the fuck is it?” That sounded like Callistus.
Kaitlyn glanced over her shoulder. “Pizza delivery.”
“Did you order a pizza?”
“Not without asking you. I know better. Hey, Gabriel?” Kaitlyn yelled. “Did you order a pizza?”
A faint “no” came from the back of the house.
“Wrong address,” Callistus shouted. “The guy probably wants the asshole who lives on our other side. These delivery idiots are always missing their driveway. Get rid of him.”
Tig exhaled, not realizing she’d been holding her breath. The ruse worked, and the darkened windows kept Callistus from seeing her, assuming he’d gotten off his ass to look. When Kaitlyn stepped to the passenger window, she framed her face with her hands to peer inside. Tig rolled down the driver’s-side window instead and motioned for Kaitlyn to come to her. That way, the van would be between Kaitlyn and the front door.
Not moving, Kaitlyn wrinkled her button nose and stared through the darkened glass. Tig motioned again to come over to her side. The mortal woman shrugged and walked around the front of the van, glancing back at the open door as she walked, brushing her brown hair over her shoulder and looking uneasy.
Those eyes knew fear.
When she reached the driver’s side, Tig handed her the box from the passenger seat. “Pizza delivery.”
Kaitlyn reflexively wrapped her fingers over the edges. “We didn’t order pizza.”
With her wallet in one hand and handcuffs in the other, Tig flipped open the wallet to reveal her police ID and badge. “Don’t say anything. We have a warrant for Callistus’s arrest. We don’t want you or Gabriel caught in the crossfire.”
Kaitlyn gasped and stepped back, dropping the box. “He’ll explode. If I don’t warn him, he’ll blame me—”
“If you say something, you’re giving him time to get a weapon.” Tig stretched to grip Kaitlyn’s wrist and fastened on one cuff. “We want to take him in peacefully. Where is he in the house?”
“I can’t—”
“You can. We’ll protect you.” Tig opened the van door, sliding out of her seat, and finished fastening the handcuffs. She put Kaitlyn in the back seat, then picked the pizza box off the ground and tossed it onto the seat next to her. “Stay here and stay down. Now where is he?”
“Living room. He was watching a football game until the internet cut out.”
Tig caught Liza’s gaze and gestured to let her know all was proceeding as planned. “And Gabriel?”
“He was in his bedroom last I saw him.”
“And the dog?”
“In the backyard.”
Tig had warned Quentin in advance about the poodle. They’d brought along one of the dart guns she used on mountain lions but loaded the cartridge with the lowest tranquilizer dose available. With the poodle in the backyard, they had one less thing to worry about. She radioed the information to the team.
“Roger,” Quentin replied. “Dog’s been contained.”
She directed her next order at Kaitlyn. “Get down on the floor. Now.” Tig closed the van door and locked it with a click . She didn’t like leaving Kaitlyn anywhere near the line of fire, but after their conversation, she didn’t trust Callistus’s mate enough to send her on her own to join Ari. Then she keyed the radio and used the prearranged codes for locations inside the house. “We’re going in. Callistus at one; Gabriel at two.”
With the front door open, she sent Liza through first, a Glock 19 with a thirty-three-round extended magazine in the vice mayor’s hand, and for once, Tig skipped her favorite SIG Sauer in favor of the extra ammo the Glock offered—although she carried the SIG Sauer as her backup gun, and followed Liza in. “Callistus,” Tig called out. “Police. We have a warrant for your arrest. Don’t move.”
“Clear!” Liza yelled from the living room.
Tig continued to cover the hallway. Now she had a choice to make. Bring Liza back into the hallway and head to the bedrooms together or follow her to the kitchen.
“Someone’s moving in the back patio,” Jayden snapped over the radio.
That solved her quandary. Tig gestured, telling Liza to head toward the patio. Based on the building plans Jayden downloaded from Poway’s planning department’s website, Callistus’s home exited in the back through a combined kitchen and dining room. “Go.”
“Freeze,” Liza shouted.
What the hell?
Tig caught up with her in a whoosh . Standing by the kitchen stove, Gabriel held a gun pointed at Liza, aiming across the granite peninsula blocking Liza’s path.
Liza had her Glock pointed at him. “Don’t make me shoot you. Drop your weapon. Now, asshole.”
Gabriel glanced at the kitchen window—probably to see if Callistus had escaped yet—and Tig made her move. She slid between Liza and the mortal in a heartbeat, gripped his gun, used the weapon as a handle to pull him across the countertop, then twisted it from his hand. “On the ground,” she whispered harshly as she dragged him to the floor and forced his arm behind his back. He struggled but couldn’t do a thing against her strength. “Liza, I need your cuffs. I left mine on Kaitlyn.”
Liza handcuffed Gabriel from behind. “If you move, sucker, you’re dead.”
“Stay with him.” Tig scrambled to the back door and peered out.
Fuck . Callistus had Jayden in a neck lock, a long kitchen knife against his belly, wedged underneath his ballistic vest. Had he double-layered his stab-proof vest below it? Dammit. She couldn’t recall him putting on the extra vest.
And that blade looked sharp.
Zeke’s arms were in the air, the barrel of his Glock pointed at the sky. “No need for anyone to get hurt, Callistus. One way or another, you’re comin’ with us. Let the captain go, and the council will likely consider—”
“Shut up, you idiot. If you don’t want this mortal dead, you’ll drop your gun. Now.”
“Take it easy.” Zeke bent at the knees and slowly lowered the gun to the ground. “No need to get riled up.”
While Zeke created the distraction, Tig whispered into her mic to Gina, “Do you have the shot?”
“Not yet. Zeke’s in the way.”
Damn the Ancestors!
“Zeke, step back, I have this.” Tig exited the enclosed patio, letting the screen door close automatically, and stepped onto the concrete walkway, holding her gun in the air. “Callistus—”
He swung to face her, holding Jayden as a shield. “Toss me the keys to your van.”
“I’ll have to reach into my pocket.”
“Slowly.”
She slid her hand into her pants pocket and removed the keys using two fingers.
“All right. Toss them to me.”
“Let Jayden go, and I will.”
“Toss them, or I stick this knife in his gut.”
Tig tossed them. It wasn’t just that he was her mate—she’d have done the same thing to save anyone on her team.
Callistus picked them out of the air, looked at the electronic key fob, and nodded. “I’m taking him with me.”
“I still don’t have a clear shot,” Gina whispered in her ear.
Tig ground her teeth. Even with Callistus turned partially to her, Gina couldn’t fire from her perch, not without shooting Jayden.
Stall. Stall. Stall.
“You can leave, Callistus, but I can’t let you take anyone.”
He snarled at her. “You don’t have a choice in the matter. I’m in charge. Me.”
What happened next occurred so fast Tig almost missed it. Jayden tucked his chin under Callistus’s forearm, protecting his neck. A distracted Callistus must have loosened his elbow grip, enough for Jayden to wedge beneath it. Then he stepped back, ducked, and twisted, bringing his fist down between Callistus’s legs, clocking his balls.
“Fuck!” Callistus shrieked.
The defensive maneuver nearly worked, except Callistus grabbed Jayden’s shoulder with one hand to stay upright and stabbed the knife into Jayden with the other, then pulled the blade out.
Jayden grunted, gripping his stomach as he collapsed onto the dry lawn.
“Jayden!” Tig screamed.
From behind Callistus, a gun fired before Tig could raise hers. Point-blank, Quentin shot Callistus’s knife hand, and the killer dropped the weapon, which landed point down, burying itself in the flower bed. Without taking a beat, Quentin aimed his gun lower and kneecapped Callistus, shooting out each joint. Callistus wailed and toppled over on the walkway.
Tig didn’t even wait for Quentin to finish aiming his Glock at Callistus’s heart. She whooshed to Jayden and lifted his hand from where he pressed it to assess the damage.
Except there was no blood.
“Son of a bitch,” he moaned, leaning on the grass, clutching his stomach again. “That hurt like being punched in the gut by a battering ram.”
She held on to his back, supporting him. “Callistus didn’t cut you?”
“No.” He rocked forward. “The bodysuit…Cerissa gave me…stopped the blade. Fuck!” He rocked back against her hand. “I’m going to have one hell of a bruise.”
“Should we get you to an emergency room?”
“I don’t think so. Let’s see how I’m doing”—he heaved a breath—“after I down a vial of your blood.”
She eyed him before nodding. “Deal. I’m just glad you’re not bleeding.”
He rocked forward. “Fuck. That still hurts.”
Tig caught Quentin’s gaze. “Cuff Callistus and read him his rights.”
Quentin cocked his head. “Should I leave the silver bullets in him, luv?”
“Up to you. For all I care, you can use his own knife to dig them out.” She meant it, too, but she also knew they’d follow police procedure and excise the silver with an appropriate tool. She hooked an arm around Jayden’s waist, helping him to stand. Over the microphone she said, “Gina, you can join us. Callistus isn’t going anywhere but to jail.”
Then Tig started handing out orders as she let Jayden lean on her. “Zeke, grab the keys to the van and take Kaitlyn to where Ari’s waiting. Liza, after Zeke takes Kaitlyn out, please dump Gabriel in the back seat and lock him to the eye bolt so he can’t move about. Quentin, once you have the silver out of Callistus, you and Indigo can put him in the sleep pod in the back of the same van. The lid has the combination of the lock written on the top. Thank you for your assistance.”
He gave her a lazy salute. “We’re even now, mate.”
Tig laughed. “I’m not keeping score, Quentin. We’ll help each other when we can.” Tilting her head in Callistus’s direction, she added, “That’s the only way we survive dirtbags like this one.”