Chapter 49 Nico
NICO
Two weeks. That was what we had left. The full moon would be here in half a month.
Each day that passed seemed to go faster than the one before it.
Luis hadn’t made any headway yet, and it was taking all my mental energy to keep Maddy from getting too worried.
She was so scared for her parents, and I knew I needed to be strong for her, to give her something to lean on.
The problem was, I was equally worried. I couldn’t show that, though, and it exhausted me.
Felipe and Sebastian came over that afternoon to talk about the safe houses where Maddy’s parents and Abi were being held. Luis had left behind pictures and even blueprints he’d managed to get from the city planning offices. As we talked, the same problem kept surfacing.
“We all die,” Sebastian said, flopping back onto the couch.
“Not necessarily,” I said.
Sebastian pointed at the pictures. “Okay, fine. We don’t all die. Only, like, eighty percent of us die. Then they put a bullet into the hostages and vanish. Great. Then the twenty percent of us who survive can live the rest of our lives with the guilt.”
Felipe spun the pictures back and forth. I couldn’t tell what he was doing. I nodded at him. “Do you see something there?”
He frowned at one of the blueprints for a few seconds before looking up at us. “So… we’ve basically come to the conclusion we can’t do this, right?”
“Yes,” Sebastian said.
“No,” I said at the same moment, shooting Sebastian a glare.
Felipe held his hands up to calm us. “Okay, no need to come to blows here. What if we get help?”
I sighed and gestured to the outside world with my right hand. “We already have that. Even with Javi’s guys assisting, it’ll be a bloodbath.”
Felipe closed his eyes for a minute, and I had the distinct feeling that he felt like he was talking to an idiot. I crushed my lips together to keep from calling him out for it.
When he opened them, he looked calm and clear-headed. “I realize Javi has aligned himself with us. Wolves are great. I’m talking outside the box. What about other shifters?”
Sebastian and I both froze. The thought hadn’t occurred to us at all.
Honestly, I didn’t think any other shifter clans would want to help us.
The royals had been werewolves. From the stories, they’d been pretty one-sided when it came to who they associated with.
Would any other shifter breeds give a damn?
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “Who do you have in mind? Who else are we trying to get killed?”
“You guys are still thinking brute force,” Felipe said.
“What if we went the stealth route? I know some reptilian shifters in Alabama. They can shift into snakes and lizards and stuff. They aren’t powerful, not like wolves or bears or dragons or anything.
They don’t shift often because of how vulnerable they are when they do.
Imagine going from a full-sized man to a three-foot-long snake. Not a safe place to be, right?”
“Get to the point, Felipe,” I said.
“The point is that they can get really small and sneak into these safe houses. Once they’re inside, they shift back and boom.
” He slammed a fist into his palm. “We immediately have guys on the inside. We split their defenses, startle them, and throw them off balance. Then, and only then, we go in—full-bore special-forces takedown. Kick in the doors, the whole nine yards.”
Hearing him describe it sent chills up my arms—in a good way. The idea had merit. More than that, it was the best any of us had come up with after days of planning. Could it actually work?
“These friends you’ve got? What would it take for them to help us?” I asked.
“Leave the negotiations to me,” Felipe said. “If you think we can use them, I’ll hit the road this afternoon and head up that way.”
I thought it over, then nodded. “Do it. Any help is better than no help. The plan has value. Whatever they want—within reason. Make the deal, and see how soon they can get some people down here to us.”
“Sweet.” Felipe stood up. “I’m going to head home and pack a bag.”
I walked Felipe out and returned to the living room to find Sebastian sitting on the couch, arms crossed, staring into space like he wanted to beat the shit out of the air itself. I walked over and looked down at him. “What’s up with you?”
Sebastian gave an angry shrug. “I wish I was doing more.”
“There’s no more you can do, man.”
He gestured toward the front door. “I didn’t have any snake shifter friends. The best I can say is I got laid by a chick who claimed to be a deer shifter once. Christ, I’m such a fuck up.”
I’d never heard Sebastian sound so dejected and self-deprecating.
I knew what was causing it. His guilt about Abi was growing.
Every day she was still in the hands of the royals, he seemed to be falling deeper into a despair that was similar to Maddy’s.
The falling out the two had after Abi disappeared hadn’t helped either of them.
I was getting tired of them avoiding each other.
I was exhausted enough with what was going on without having to navigate this too.
“You need to talk to Maddy,” I said.
Sebastian shook his head. “She won’t want to hear anything I have to say.”
I sat on the couch beside him. “You are holding a shit ton of guilt, bro. That’s not healthy.
You aren’t doing yourself any favors by beating yourself up.
” Sebastian didn’t answer. I sighed, my frustration increasing.
“You and Maddy were becoming friends before all this happened. I know you avoiding her is probably hurting both of you.”
Something I said must have broken through. The hard angles of his face softened, and his shoulders slumped. “Do you really think so?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll talk to her. I promise. Soon.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
“Ugh, I got it. For real this time.”
I gave him a decisive nod. “Cool. I’d have you do it right now, but she’s out shopping with Dad and Mateo.” I jabbed my finger into his arm. “Next time, though.”
Sebastian gave a rueful shake of his head and grinned at me. “Yes, Father.”
I smiled back at him, knowing we were okay. “All right, get the hell out of here. I’m tired of babysitting you.”
“Yeah, yeah. I need to get some work done on my yard anyway.” Sebastian gave me a quick hug before leaving.
Not long after, Luis called with another update. I didn’t have huge hopes, but as soon as I answered the phone, I could hear the excitement in his voice.
“Nico? Is Maddy there, too?” he asked.
“No, she’s out with Dad and Mateo. She told me she was going stir-crazy and needed to get out. Thought it was safer for her to go with two of them. What’s going on?”
“I think I’ve found something. Well… I guess I’ve found the lack of something. I can’t find any record of Gabriella Karson’s death.”
“What?” Chills ran up and down my arms. “No record at all?”
“No. I sent requests for records to every coroner and funeral home in and around Tampa. Took three days alone. Nothing. I got a hold of a guy I know of who ran a nationwide search. All I found were two matches. There’s a Gabriella Karson in Kansas who was ninety-seven and died of a stroke.
Another was an infant in south Texas who died three days after she was born due to severe birth defects.
One hundred percent not Maddy’s birth mother. ”
“Holy shit,” I whispered, starting to believe that my theory might actually be right.
“It gets better,” Luis said. “I can’t find her name in any registries anywhere.
The last place her name pops up is on an application for The University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine.
She never registered or attended. She vanishes without a trace at about the exact same time as the David Samuels murder. ”
“Did you try name changes? Those are recorded.”
“Right, but if she changed her name, she didn’t do it the legal way.
No records there. I even took the time to do what you guys did and searched every name combination I could come up with.
Nothing came up that was the right age or race.
I even went so far as to use facial recognition software on that yearbook photo.
Nothing. It’s like she dropped right off the planet.
I’ve never seen anything like it. If Kenneth really did help her disappear, the guy was fucking good.
He was hidden well, but I was still able to find traces of him. This is a whole different level.”
You’d do anything for the person you loved.
I thought about what I’d do to keep Maddy safe.
How many hoops I’d jump through, the bribes I’d pay, the people I’d blackmail.
I’d have done anything for her to be safe.
I was certain Kenneth would have done the same if he’d loved Gabriella the same way. “What’s your next play?” I asked.
Luis sighed. “I’m still digging. If there is anything to find, I’ll get it. Anyway, I need you guys to think about something.”
My brow furrowed. “Us? What do you need?”
“Well, I was thinking last night that the one lead we never really pursued is still sitting right in front of us—Maddy’s adoptive parents.”
“Luis, they’re captured. How can they help us?”
“They are held hostage, but their house isn’t.
Those two people are the only ones who had contact with Kenneth, and I’m betting they may have had contact with Gabriella too.
They lied to Maddy about a lot of stuff.
I think you guys should go to their house and see what you can find.
Old records, letters, anything that might give us some more information. ”