Missing: 29 1/2 hours. New York 6:30 a.m. - Umbria 11:30 a.m.
Benjamin sat in the Bentley, his eyes unfocused, staring at nothing. Roughly, he scrubbed a hand across his chin several times.
What the hell just happened!
Benjamin's heart pounded so hard against his chest his starched shirt fluttered slightly. He broke out in a cold sweat and started to shake. Undigested coffee burned a hole in his stomach. Raising a nervous hand, he turned the ignition off.
He had nearly witnessed the end of his life.
Gripping the steering wheel with both hands, Benjamin lowered his forehead while the adrenaline dump worked its way through his system. Someone almost killed him. He was seconds away from becoming a crime scene chalked outline. Should he call 911? His gut told him no. No one would believe him anyway. A nagging voice he had pushed to the back of his mind wouldn't be silence now. It told him he had spent too many years denying what he knew was true.
He raised his head and reached for the door latch to open it. Disbelief and denial battled for his emotions. Benjamin got out of the car on wobbly legs and made his way to the spot where the man had stood with a gun raised in his hands. The man had swung the automatic around and was about to pull the trigger when the woman's hand came down from overhead with some kind of weapon and stabbed him. The man went up in a cloud of smoke. The woman bent over the dust for a minute, and then she turned to look at him.
There was no mistaking her eyes. It was Olivia. She had reinvented herself again, but he recognized her. How could he not?
Benjamin stood over the pile of clothing covered in fine gray ash. He picked up a stick and pushed it around. A whiff of rotting flesh and death caught in his nose and he held his breath for a moment. He hooked the pants on the end of the stick and shook them, then did the same thing to the black shirt. His pockets were empty and the gun was missing. Olivia had probably taken it when he saw her lean over.
Olivia.
Regret was a hard road to travel. He had relived that last day with her a thousand times. Initially, he had been pissed. Of course. But now, he wished he had given her a chance to explain. Her letter had answered some of his questions. But the betrayal had hurt. Every time he remembered seeing that Cole guy plastered up against her, he was angry again. Over time, the anger had lessened though, and now he spent too many sleepless nights wishing he hadn't given into it. Maybe he should have fought for her. She had asked him not to contact her, and he had respected that request. He didn't want to admit it, but that was due to his stubbornness more than anything else.
And now today she had shown up at his house, in his backyard, after almost four years. Why?
Benjamin's world shifted off its axis.
Olivia had driven something into that man's heart. He couldn't believe he was considering it, but most likely that wasn't human--it was a vampire. Humans don't go poof when they die. Had he come to kill me? Benjamin wondered. Why would anyone want him dead? Perhaps Ethan knew what was going on. Benjamin hadn't spoken to him in years, but it was time to break that silence.
Benjamin carried the clothing remnants on the end of the stick and dropped them in the trashcan, mostly because they stunk. He climbed back into the car and pulled his cellphone out of his leather briefcase. He scrolled through his contacts, found Ethan's number, and placed the call.
"Benjamin," Ethan answered.
"Good morning. How are you?"
"Fine. You?"
"Good. Listen--have you seen your mother recently?"
Benjamin waited out the silence; he knew Ethan would need time to process the fact that he was calling. When Ethan eventually answered, his voice was punctuated with caution, "No. I haven't. Why?"
"When was the last time you saw her?"
Ethan evaded the question. "Why are you asking?"
"There was an incident at my house this morning and she was here." Benjamin swore he heard Ethan suck in a quick breath, then he proceeded to explain what happened in his backyard. Ethan didn't seem shocked when Benjamin suggested the man that Olivia killed was a vampire.
"You're saying she took the guy out and he went up in ash?"
"Yes. All that's left is a pile of clothes covered in gray dust. And before you ask, she took the gun and emptied his pockets too."
"You're sure it was her?"
"Yeah. She's taller and thinner, and has dark hair now, but there's no mistaking her eyes."
Benjamin imagined Ethan nodding his head. He finally answered Benjamin's original question. "No, I haven't seen her. Look, man, I'm going to be straight with you-this isn't good. If I had to take a guess, she's been sittin' on something and things are out of control now. Someone is after your ass, most likely because you were involved with her before. She probably found out and took care of it. Honestly, I don't know where she's been. She told my sisters and me not to look for her."
"She told me the same thing."
"Let me make some calls and get back to you. I'll do some digging and see what I can find out. Meanwhile situational awareness is paramount."
No shit, Ben thought. "Okay, thanks, Ethan," he said and hung up. He turned the ignition over. Dread slid its icy fingers into his spine. He always thought someday he and Olivia would have a chance to work things out between them. Now his regret became a crushing fist around his chest. What if he never got that chance?
*
Ethan disconnected the line and considered how he should handle the situation. He decided to try to connect with her telepathically first, then he'd make a call.
Ethan sat in his patrol car on Noriega Street and closed down his senses to the world around him. He opened his mind as he had done hundreds of times and reached out for Olivia. He tried to find that intangible link he shared with his sisters and mother. Concentrating, he strained to feel her presence. It had always been easy to locate her in the past, but lately it had been impossible. He finally caught the elusive connection and tried to tap into it. All he found at the other end was a hard, blank wall. She was blocking him. Ultimately, he gave up in frustration and picked up his phone.
"'Yeah," Cole answered the phone.
"Hey, would you tell me if Madison suddenly showed up?"
"Shit," Cole spit out.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. What's going on?"
"Look, I can't talk now. I'm about to get on a plane. As soon as I land, I'll call."
"Is everything alright?"
"I don't think so. I gotta go. I'll call."
"At least tell me if she's okay."
"I can't tell you what I don't know."
"Understood."
"Just let me get back and I'll tell you what I know."
"Alright," Ethan said and hung up the phone. Time to start running Madison and her aliases through the system.
*
Cole stood in LaGuardia airport waiting to hand his boarding pass to the airline attendant when he realized he never asked Ethan why he called and asked about Madison. That could only mean one thing. Something else had happened.
"Dammit," he huffed out. With the layover in Cincinnati he had eight hours to sit on the damn plane and wonder.
*
Missing: 30 ½ hours. New York 7:30 a.m. - Umbria 12:30 p.m.
Madison sat in the back of the tired, stuffy bus consumed in thought. She had just checked the vamp's incoming phone log and found several calls beginning with 001-390-, the prefix used to call Italy from the U.S.. Her stomach dropped when she realized her suspicions were confirmed; Erdo had sent the vamp. The trip had been an utter disaster. It took everything in her to keep the tears from falling. Her body quaked, and she rocked back and forth in her seat overwrought with worry and remorse.
Oh God. What have I done?
Ethan tried to contact her moments ago and she shut him out. Maybe she shouldn't have. She was afraid if she opened that connection she wouldn't have the strength to close it again, and he would use it to find her. That would cause an even bigger problem. But now she went into full panic mode. Had something happened to him or the girls? She lowered her head, her fingers interlocked, pressing against her scalp. No, no, no! Had Erdo hurt him or the girls? He had sent a vampire to kill Benjamin--had he sent an assassin to Cole, too? Her breath hitched.
She left Mariposa in Erdo's hands.
Screams of horror filled her head. He would use Mariposa to punish her for leaving the castle. The torture he would inflict would be unimaginable, because he knew she could take it. She squeezed her eyes closed to hold the tears back and trembled as she cried silently.
How could she have been so selfish? She made the trip hoping to pass a message on to Ethan through Cole, and to put closure in her relationship with Benjamin. Before she left, it seemed like the best way to handle things. She was lonely and desperate to know how her family was doing. With her pending coronation, she panicked. Believing she would never be alone again after she was crowned, she had gone to Mariposa and asked her for her help. Now...she was afraid to imagine the damage she had caused.
She leaned back in her seat with her eyes closed, cursing herself once again for putting everyone she loved in danger. She calculated how long it would take to get back to the castle and counted twenty hours. Not wanting to make matters worse, she decided to act rashly and wait to find out exactly what Erdo had done.
Missing: 37 hours. New York 2:15 p.m. - Umbria 7:15 p.m.
Madison ducked into the small storeroom adjacent to the bathroom at the bus station and pulled her small duffel bag out from inside the mountain of toilet paper. Stepping into a stall, she rummaged through the bag to make sure her passport and money were still there. Satisfied, she disassembled the gun as Ethan had shown her. Walking out into the station's florescent lights, she deposited the pieces into several different refuse bins.
Madison found a taxi waiting outside. She opened the car door and climbed in. "LaGuardia, please," she told the driver. She was running on autopilot now, numb from anxiety.
Missing: 39 hours. New York 3:00 p.m. - Umbria 8:00 p.m.
The Queen's only focus was on getting back to the castle. The tormenting hours of fear and concern had torn her down and stripped her strength. At security, she was pulled aside by TSA for secondary screening. When she looked at her ticket, she saw the SSSS at the bottom. An agent swabbed her bag for explosives, opened it and inspected it by hand, then patted her down after passing through the metal detector. Madison didn't complain. Her flight left in an hour and all she could think about was getting on the plane.
Missing: 48 ¾ hours. Umbria 6:45 a.m.
The wheels of the Airbus touched down in Rome and she was tempted to use her speed to exit the plane. She gulped large breaths and tried to calm herself. It was an hour and half car ride back. She couldn't lose it now. She had to keep it together. Ninety minutes more. That's how long she had to wait to find out how much the trip had cost.