The Unmasking

Part 5

Mr. Blackbourne POV

That beauteous, fascinating, reckless creature was going to be the death of me some day.

The painful jealousy that squeezed my heart as Ms. Sorenson moved closer to the suspect was surprising to me, even though I fully understood her intentions. The moment she signed the letter “V” I knew Volto had finally been circumvented. Still, the rage I felt at the sight of his hands exploring her intimate areas was excruciating. That pain was nothing in comparison however, when my heart froze over in uncharacteristic terror the moment I realized that the man she was distracting for us became aware of her true purpose. Her beautiful green eyes widened in surprise, and then terror when she jerked them from mine to his as he picked our bird up and restrained her in a vise-like hold. He was about to bolt, and was taking Ms. Sorenson with him.

I threw orders to Sean to call Victor and tell him to get out on the roof to be our eyes with a look and grabbed both Mr. Korba and Mr. Taylor by the scruff of the neck before they could run heedlessly after our bird. It was a good thing I did too, because at that moment the power was tripped and we were immersed in darkness. Sean's normally calming voice powered obscenities over the screams of chaos around us as we moved in unison out the front door to my awaiting car. I flipped my phone over to Sean who was already in the passenger seat and he opened Sang's app so we could track her location using her cell's signal. His face became grim, the phone's light accentuating his features in the lesser light of late evening.

“She's headed east Owen, toward the highway.”

Mr. Taylor swore and Mr. Korba groaned in the back. The street behind us from the front of the residence led out to a maze of suburban cross streets that would take forever to navigate before we reached the highway. The likely escape route Volto had taken was via the back road behind the property. Sean put Mr. Morgan on his own speaker phone as I quickly debated what our best plan of action was.

“Someone has Sang. They're driving off in a tan station wagon, fast, heading east on Haggen Road.”

Deciding, I put the car into drive and cringed as I moved us forward over the short hedges trimming the grass area that surrounded the house. Dr. Green had the audacity to chuckle knowingly as I moved from the grass yard to a loose gravel strewn parking lot, growling softly at the sharp ticks from gravel peppering off the finish. I sighed as wheels at last found pavement and glared at the good doctor, daring him to continue his silent ribbing. He wisely sighed, but seemed unapologetic as he checked my phone and barked at North to calm the hell down. Mr. Taylor punched at the upholstery and I glanced behind me into the backseat, choosing to ignore the vandalism of my car's interior...for now.

“Did anyone get a look at his face?”

The looks on their faces denied the question. What an opportunity lost. I pressed down on the accelerator and flew down the road, asking Sean with an angling of my chin towards the phone he still held in his hand if I was still heading in the right direction.

“Owen, stop the car!”

Tires screeched as I pulled the car to the side of the abnormally quiet lane. I looked forward for any sign of our target vehicle and frowned at the seemingly abandoned road ahead of us. Sean held the phone up to me, but craned his neck to look behind us through the back window. Sang's signal was right on top of our own blip on the map.

Mr. Korba exited the car in a huff and scanned the area around us. We followed suite, searching for any sign of our bird. Nothing, except...

I spotted a faint light in the dark brush on the side of the road. Walking quickly through the undergrowth, I bent to cautiously pick up the dusty pink cell phone laying face up in the dirt. Being careful not to mess up any fingerprints that may have been left, I lifted it and steeled my features at what I discovered. A message had been typed into the text field of an unsent text. I held it up for the others to see.

JUST LEAVE HER ALONE-OR ELSE 

                         V