Page 91 of Betrayed in Blood
“I remember.” He squatted so he wasn’t towering over her. “Cressa and I want to take you someplace safe. Your escape plan, remember?”
She put a hand to her mouth and tapped a finger against her lips. “Yes. I have money hidden in the craft room.” She laughed, but it didn’t sound right. “I hate crafts, but Christopher never knew that. It was a perfect place to hide stuff.”
“We can come back for that later.” Devon ran a hand through his hair and glanced at me. “Right now, I want to take you to where Cressa and I live. You’ll have your own place where you can recover.”
Her eyes, still unfocused, skittered around the room like she didn’t remember where she was. Then she looked up at me. “Cressa? What are you doing here?”
I turned to Devon. “I think she’s been drugged.”
“Probably easier than mesmerizing.” He moved toward the walk-in closet while I tried to pull Mom up.
It was harder than I thought. She had no motivation, and while she didn’t resist, it was like moving dead weight.
Devon came out with a long raincoat and slip-on shoes. “This will be enough to get her out of the house.”
I took advantage of her refusal to stand and slipped the shoes on. Then Devon helped get her to her feet, and we each took an arm to slide the coat on. Then Devon picked her up.
Mom let out a small cry before leaning her head against his chest. “I’m just so sleepy. Where’s April?”
“She’s at a party right now, but she’ll be coming, too.”
We moved out of the bedroom, striding back the way we’d come. I stopped where the vamp was slowly coming around, pulled out my dagger, and stabbed him in his other kidney.
I tapped my earbud. “Team Two, what’s your status?”
“Almost done.” Harlow’s response was quick and professional.
“We need a pickup in the second-floor hall.”
A minute went by. “He’s on his way.”
Russell showed up in seconds and picked up the vamp. “I’ll leave him with the other one I zip-tied and gagged in a back closet.”
Devon nodded, and we moved. Our exit strategy was to meet at Team Two’s point of entry. We waited for Harlow, who came from a different direction than I’d expected.
“I thought I’d check the other rooms while we had time. There were other files in the entertainment room, so I grabbed them, too. You’ll need to determine if they’re important.”
I studied his face and his wide grin. “Did you take his baseball card collection?” Christopher had a framed collection of six baseball cards on his desk that was worth a lot of money—or so he always said.
“He won’t miss it.”
I shook my head. Harlow was a thief. What did I expect? Since it belonged to Christopher, Harlow was correct. Dead men didn’t take their possessions with them, and Mom wouldn’t care.
When I closed the back door, I hit the earbuds again. “Teams One and Two headed for the back exit. The package has been obtained.”
We’d barely reached the back gate when an SUV pulled up. Jacques jumped out and opened the back door. Devon laid Mom on the back seat, and she curled up.
“She’s probably been drugged, but we’re not sure,” I said. “Keep an eye on her.”
Jacques nodded then jumped back in, and Bella took off. They would park a block away and wait for their second delivery, assuming we could grab April.
Harlow leaned against the back wall and pulled several folders from under his vest. “What do you want me to do with these?”
“Get them to Trudy, then return to base position.” Devon nodded to Russell, and the vamp followed Harlow to where Trudy had parked at the end of the alley. Effectively, Harlow, Trudy, and Jamal were done for the evening. However, they would stay in position with Russell as watchers should anyone try to exit the back gate. There would be two two-man teams positioned close for any cleanup required.
I hit the earbud. “Teams One and Two clear. Phase one complete.”
ChapterTwenty-Seven
