Page 19 of Ascension of the Pack

‘Lucy,’ he answered warmly. ‘Dead bodies or kidnapping today?’ His tone was jovial.

I winced a little. Like Amber, I guess I needed to ring him sometime just to chat, but for today… ‘Kidnapping, actually.’

‘Damn.’ He whistled.

‘Yeah. Though technically that’s better than a dead body, right?’

‘Certainly for the person kidnapped,’ he quipped. Cops tended towards black humour; it was a coping mechanism forthe grimy underbelly of humanity that they had to witness and deal with every day.

‘Definitely,’ I agreed drily. Better Daniella was kidnapped than dead.

‘What happened?’ Steve turned brisk and professional.

I matched his tone, keeping emotion out of my voice as I recounted the grim tale. ‘One of my wolves got kidnapped from her place of work. She finished her shift, stayed a little late to help someone, then was kidnapped as she walked out to her car. A white transit van came by, someone got out, used some kind of net on her as she was shifting and hustled her into the vehicle.’

There was a beat of silence. ‘Well, I can tell you something that Manners can verify – the net sounds like something the brethren use. Supposedly they developed the nets with the seers’ help to confine and subdue a violent dragon shifter.’

Brethren. Damn. I worried at my lip. Had Geneve somehow got wind of our heist plans? Was she behind the kidnapping? But why kidnap Daniella of all people? Why not aim for me or Greg? Daniella was only twelfth in our pack and though she was in our battle core thirteen, she wasn’t exactly up there in the ranks. Nor had there been a ransom demand. I was missing something, but what?

‘What’s her name?’ Steve asked.

‘Daniella Hardcrest.’

‘Age?’

‘Thirty-five.’

‘Address?’

I rattled off the mansion’s address.

‘Occupation?’

‘Nurse. She works as a locum, picking up shifts as and when she wants to. She was working at Wexham Park Hospital last night until 1am. She was snatched at 1.49am.’

‘She was taken from Wexham Park Hospital?’

‘Yeah. I’ve already spoken to one of their security team, Dwayne Brown. We isolated the relevant CCTV footage but I couldn’t read the vehicle’s registration number because the footage was too grainy to make out the plates in the dark. I’m hoping you can use local surveillance cameras to track down a clearer image of the licence plates if you follow the van from the hospital.’

‘Okay, I’m on it. Leave it with me, Lucy.’ His tone was faintly warning.

‘Yeah, yeah,’ I muttered, not intending to do so in the slightest.

We rang off, both determined to find Daniella – one way or another.

Davidwas sitting at the security console looking morose, not that I blamed him in the slightest considering the circumstances. He was wearing neat slacks and a shirt, but the buttons were done up wrongly and his tortoiseshell glasses were resting askew on his nose. He was flustered; whatever was or wasn’t between him and Daniella romantically, they were certainly friends.

He looked up when I walked in, his eyes hopeful. I hated that I had to quash that hope. ‘Sorry,’ I said. I’d tell him quickly, like ripping off a plaster. ‘She’s definitely been kidnapped, and it looks like some brethren may have taken her – or at least someone using brethren methods of extraction. They used a magical net to subdue her.’

His jaw clenched. ‘Fuck,’ he said tightly.

I think that was the first time I’d ever heard the reserved man swear. ‘Yeah,’ I agreed. ‘I’m sorry it’s not better news. I’ve got a friend on the case, Inspector Steve Marley.’

He looked at me in surprise. ‘You involved the Connection?’

I shrugged. ‘They have access to resources I don’t have. I promise you I’ll use everything at my disposal to get her back home and safe. You have my word.’

He nodded, his eyes dull. ‘So are you going to call off the heist tonight?’

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