Three hours later, a determined Tariq strode into the conference room, his boot-clad feet making no sound on the plush carpet. He took the command seat at the head of the massive, rectangle table. Around it sat five of his seven masters, each with their particular area of expertise. He nodded a greeting to each before leveling his gaze on his Second. “Lay it on me.”
Enrique swiped a thumb across the glass-topped desk and a keyboard appeared. He typed a command and a 3-D holographic image of Illuminator Inc. shimmered into view, hovering over the center of the table. Another typed command had the image doing a slow rotation so each side of the building could be seen by all the table’s occupants.
“When the message came in, I took the liberty of discovering what I could about Illuminator Inc. Trying to find the owner is like playing an elaborate shell game. Every time I think I’ve tracked it down, I turn over another empty shell.
“What I can tell you is they came on the scene about eight years ago. Within two years they’d exploded into an international sensation. The corporation is privately held. Their main product seems to be those monstrous lighted display ads you see taking up a good portion of the skyscrapers downtown. They also create laser light shows to order. Thor?” Enrique tossed the verbal ball to the massive, blue-eyed blond who looked like a modern day Viking.
“Their computer system is highly encrypted. So far I haven’t been able to get through the firewall. I’m still working on it but assumed you wanted me to use a delicate touch, correct?” Thor asked.
Tariq hesitated before nodding in the affirmative. What he wanted to do was order Thor to blast through the firewall, secrecy be damned. However, his code of honor wouldn’t allow it. Instead he asked, “What’s the problem? Usually hacking into systems is child’s play for you.”
Thor grinned. “Whoever created this one knew what they were doing. It’s a veritable minefield of traps. Get passed one and there’s three more. One wrong step and the system kicks up an alarm. It’s almost like the things sentient. It’s a hell of a challenge.” From the gleam in his eyes, Tariq knew Thor was enjoying himself.
“Did it occur to either of you to simply call the company and get the directory?” Isis, the one female master asked derisively.
Thor winked at her. Enrique scowled. Conall answered. “I did. The prompt only directs you to the individual departments. The offices are closed on weekends so there’s no operator assistance. The company’s website doesn’t list any individual—not the employees, the officers, the owners, or board of directors, if there is one. Whoever runs the place is keeping a very low profile.”
“I’ll say. The only info I could find is that the company is own by a trust,” Enrique acknowledged.
“Do you think this may be a Felini holding?” Tariq asked Alvaro.
“Sounds like it. The things they could do with light energy was years beyond our technology and would certainly explain a lot,” Alvaro answered.
Darth, so nicknamed because of his love of the Star Wars’ fictional character, asked, “Who or what is a Felini?”
Tariq tuned out while Alvaro answered. He’d already heard all he needed to know. His best computer expert had hit a wall, literally. Like it or not, looks like he had to wait until Monday morning to corner his prey. His fists clenched with the urge to hit something.
He tuned in to hear Alvaro saying, “Felini males are aggressive and territorial. Their warlike ways is what destroyed their world. Some of them managed to escape. They came to earth looking for a place they could settle in peace. Despite this, the older ones are very tradition bound and resistant to change. I can’t believe they allowed one of their females to come into a known vampyr bar, given how they feel about us.”
“What about the coin?” Tariq said abruptly.
“What coin?” Enrique asked.
Tariq cursed, realizing he’d forgotten to tell him about it. Quickly he explained. “I searched the street cams to see how and when Reyna arrived.” His fingers flew over the keyboard as he pulled up the security footage and shot it to the empty white wall. Tariq fast forwarded, froze the frame, and then zoomed in. “That’s how she gained entrance. She presented one of our ambassador coins to the guard at the door. Someone gave Reyna their coin.”
“One of the workers found a gold coin in the debris in your suite. I didn’t realize it had any significance,” Enrique said.
“If we have it, someone is missing theirs. I want to know how Reyna came to be in possession of it. Check and see who we’ve issued passports to recently,” Tariq ordered.
“I’ll handle it,” Darth said. Immigration control was his area of responsibility. The coins were non-transferrable and not to leave the receivers possession the entire time they remained in Tariq’s territory. “Disciplinary actions?” he asked, already pulling up the list on his tablet.
Tariq hesitated. The penalty for violating his laws was stiff. However, without the person give Reyna that coin he’d have never met his blood mate. “First find the responsible party. Let’s see what they have to say for themselves. Then we’ll discuss consequences.”
Thor motioned to the screen. “If I may?”
“Go ahead,” Tariq said.
“Now that we’ve gotten a good look at your Heart’s Blood, let’s see how she arrived at the club. Maybe she drove and used one of the parking garages,” Thor said.
Tariq scowled. Every one of his vampyrs knew what his Heart’s Blood looked like. He’d blasted an image of her into their minds.
Darth noticed and grinned. “No offense, boss, but the image you gave us earlier was a bit…” He paused, obviously trying to choose the right word.
“Distorted?” Thor muttered the suggestion.
“Crazed?” Isis added, with a quirk to her lips.
“Unrecognizable,” Darth finished calmly, though his eyes twinkled with suppressed mirth.
Tariq groaned aloud. He’d been positively manic at the time. Now he didn’t know what image of his Heart’s Blood he’d projected to his clutch. No wonder he hadn’t gotten any results.
Darth laughed and the others joined him. “It’s all good, boss. We understand. Finding one’s Heart’s Blood tends to have an unsettling effect on a man.”
“She left the coin behind. Did she leave anything else?” Isis asked.
“Not that we could determine. Of course, Tariq did a number on his quarters. It’s a wonder we found the coin intact,” Erique said wryly.
Darth motioned to Reyna’s image, still on screen. “I don’t see any of those fancy bags ladies bring to clubs dangling from her wrists. Where’s she keeping her keys, her money?”
“They’re called wristlets and ladies drink free before ten on Fridays. If she’s a regular, she’d know,” Isis informed them.
“I don’t think she’s been here before,” Tariq said, remembering the emotions he’d picked up from her last night. “Whatever her reason for coming, she definitely didn’t want to be here and was counting down the seconds until she could leave.”
“Gotcha,” Thor said triumphantly, capturing their immediate attention. Thor spoke while he typed. “Using the time stamp on The Gladiator’s security feed, I check the street cams surrounding the nest and found this.”
On the screen, a black four-door sporty sedan with dark tinted windows came into view. It crept down the street toward the club before coming to a stop at the curb a block away. The rear passenger door opened and his Heart’s Blood’s long slender legs stepped out, followed by the rest of her. She tugged uncomfortably at the dress, a scowl on her face. Reyna said something to the occupants of the car, nodded resignedly, and closed the door.
After glancing in both directions, Reyna trotted across the pavement to the other side as soon as there was a break in traffic, and strode briskly toward the club. Behind her the passenger’s window lowered and the female inside stuck her head out and yelled something.
“What’s she saying?” Tariq asked.
“Rewind it, Thor, and slow it down,” Darth instructed.
Thor complied.
“Remember…one hour…sixty minutes, not a second less,” Darth lip read.
On screen Reyna didn’t acknowledge the reminder. She merely squared her shoulders and kept walking. The car stayed at the curb.
“They sat there another forty-five minutes, watching, before driving away,” Thor said.
“Making sure Reyna kept her word?” Tariq wondered aloud. “It would explain why she kept checking her watch.” She’d done so again when he’d commanded her to dance with him. Is that why she’d capitulated? Her hour hadn’t been up?
“The car’s registered to a Delany Rogers. I ran the tag,” Thor said.
Finally, a lead. “I want to know who Delany Rogers is, where she lives, where she works, and what her association with Reyna is. See if you can discover the identity of the other woman in the car. I—”
The unit in his ear beeped. Tariq held up a hand, signaling he had an incoming message. He pressed a button on his earpiece. “This had better be good.”
“Master, sorry to interrupt, but I think the woman you’ve had us searching for just appeared in the club,” one of the bartenders stated.
Tariq stood so fast his chair flipped over. He ignored the stir his actions caused and focused inwardly until he found a lock. Then he vanished.