Thirteen (Otherworld 13)

"Then lower that gun," Karl growled.

"I will, just as soon as you step back, sir. I don't want to hurt her, but my orders are to bring back the child. We have a doctor outside, ready to deliver the baby if anything goes wrong."

"You son of a--"

"I do not want to hurt your wife. Please just step--"

A shot. Hope staggered with the blow, feeling it hit her, pain ripping through the back of her skull.

Back of her skull? No, that wasn't possible. She was facing the . . . She looked at the man's face. The shock on it as he stumbled out of the way. Out of Karl's way. Karl pitching forward. Karl falling.

Another shot. Karl's body jerking. Jerking as the bullet hit him. That was it. The only reaction. No flash of shared pain in her brain. No slamming fist of chaos.

Karl hit the floor. Hope leaped out, screaming, and dropped beside him. She saw the blood on the back of his skull. Saw the bullet hole. She saw it and she searched desperately for the faintest hint of chaos from him. One hint of pain. One hint of fear. One hint of anything. Anything.

But there was nothing.

Nothing.

THIRTY-EIGHT

I called Benicio to tell him about Giles's new target as we left the plane. He told me that Hope and Karl were at their condo, which wasn't surprising, given the hour. There were five bodyguards already there--two on sleep-shift next door--since Jeremy and Jaime were still in Dallas--and three in the condo itself. Benicio would get them all on duty hustling Hope back to headquarters.

"Karl isn't going to like that," I said. "He'll want to take Hope and run. Protect her himself. Is Elena on her way back? Karl listens to Elena."

"The jet just left Dallas. I'm going to try to persuade Karl, but if that fails, I'll have Elena head straight to the condo."

"I'll go over and talk to him."

Silence on the other end of the line. Across from me, Cassandra arched her brows.

"Yes, I know he doesn't respect me the way he does Elena, but I might be able to talk to him. Worst case, we'll hang out on his doorstep until Elena arrives."

We split up. Adam stayed with me, and Cassandra and Aaron went back to headquarters.

The three Cabal-owned condos were part of a gated community, and our driver hadn't brought the access ID, so he dropped us off a block away. To get in, we hopped a four-foot fence. Apparently, around here, they were only worried about trespassers with vans for robbing the places.

When we got to the house, Adam double-checked the number. The place was pitch-black.

He rapped on the front door, then rang the bell. No voices answered. No footsteps either.

"Gone," he murmured. "Karl must have been too tired to argue."

"Damn. We're never going to get a cab out here at this hour. Really wish someone had let us know before we got out of the car."

A white SUV marked Security turned the corner. Adam and I ducked around the side of the condo as I called Benicio.

When I told him there was no sign of Hope and Karl, he sighed. "Too many pokers in the fire, and too many fires. They must have reported in to the security center. Let me check. Perhaps they're still close enough to come back for you two."

I hung up and we waited. When I heard buzzing, I looked down at the phone still in my hand, then at Adam.

"Not mine," he said.

He edged toward the front of the condo with me right behind him. The security truck had disappeared. We could hear the sound better now. It wasn't a phone vibrating--it was one ringing, set on an annoying buzz tone. We followed the noise to the front door, where we could hear it right on the other side.

I quickly texted Benicio. The phone stopped buzzing. Two seconds later, mine vibrated with Benicio's incoming call.

"That was you," I said. "Shit."