"Stay here," he nodded toward the chair I'd occupied earlier and he and Bill went back inside their sensory deprivation chamber.
Sit, Lissa. Stay, Lissa. Heel, Lissa. I was getting used to it by now. I picked up a weekly news magazine lying on a nearby table. On the front cover was a photograph of weeping parents and the inside story covered the continuing disappearances of schoolchildren in Britain and Wales. Now there were seven reported missing or dead. The first three bodies had been found—that's what Bryan told me in London, anyway. I didn't have time to read the entire article; Tony and Bill came out of their private office so I dutifully stood and followed along behind them.
"We have one more place to go tonight," Tony said while the driver steered us away from the underground parking garage. This building had been another with no signs, just like the one in Kansas City. One more place turned out to be a dorm room at Georgia A&M University, about sixty miles northeast of Atlanta. A campus security guard escorted us to the room in question. The other inhabitants of the dorm were asleep or otherwise engaged—I heard quite a bit of snoring, some computer tapping and a tiny bit of sexual activity. The targeted dorm room was located at the end of a lengthy, tiled hall. Keys rattled as the security guard unlocked the door for us.
Lissa, tell me what you smell, Tony sent when we stepped inside the room. The room was quite small and very empty, with naked mattresses piled onto two built-in beds. Someone had come to clean the room; disinfectant permeated the other scents.
Who cleaned? I asked.
Campus housekeeping services, Tony replied. Can you get anything?
One of the people inside the house was here, I sent. There's a faint scent of someone else that I didn't find at the other place.
Not the one who owned the shirt?
No. Just one from the house and the new one, I sent.
"Fuck," Tony said aloud.
Why don't you let me go up and down the hallway, just to see if I pick anything up? I suggested.
Fine. See what you can do. I'll hold these two off, Tony agreed. He and I held our silent conversation while Tony looked through the room, peering under mattresses and looking inside closets. There wasn't anything there for him to find.
"Is there a restroom nearby?" I asked the guard.
"Down the hall on the left," he jerked his head in that direction. I thanked him and walked out the door. Knowing it would be quicker if I turned to mist, I zoomed down the hallway, sniffing as I went until I came to the end on the right side and crossed over, coming back down the left. I was nearly to the room we'd been investigating when I caught the scent. I misted under the door, finding a young man with blond hair typing on his computer. I misted beneath the door again, noted his room number and turned to myself.
Room 318 is the other scent, I gave the information to Tony the moment I walked inside the dorm room. Tony pulled out his cell and made a call before giving the security guard brief instructions. Tony's backup arrived in less than half an hour. The security guard wore a confused look as Tony, Bill, and three new agents walked down to room 318 and knocked on the door. Tony pushed the security guard to the door when the young man answered.
"What do you want?" The boy's voice was sullen.
"We have a fire on the first floor. Nothing to worry about, we just need to evacuate the building for a little while," The guard lied. The young man stepped into the hallway and all three agents were on him immediately. He resisted a little, which resulted in two black eyes, various bruises, several bumps and multiple contusions. I hoped he was in on whatever it was and hadn't been just a casual friend. He was in for a long night, either way.
The young man's computer equipment was confiscated and he was hauled out in handcuffs while several students opened doors to see what was going on. The guard ordered all of them to return to their rooms as we escorted the young man out of the building.
Dawn was coming in less than two hours and we had an hour drive back to Atlanta. Tony ordered Bill to ride with us, although he was itching to go with the one they'd just arrested. Bill told the security guard he'd be in touch and we left—Tony didn't say a word during the entire trip to the hotel.
"Lissa, I have guards posted outside and they know not to come in," Tony informed me as I climbed into bed just before dawn. "Bill and I need to do some interviewing."
I had a feeling the interviewing might involve intense questioning at the very least. Amazing, isn't it, what people will stoop to if you back them into a corner? Nodding instead of arguing, I allowed Tony to cover me up in bed. I was out the minute dawn hit the horizon.
* * *
"Father, we have not been able to track Sebastian," Radomir kept the worry from his voice as he stood before Wlodek's desk. He and Russell had just completed another fruitless search for the Council's missing Assassin. Sebastian had abandoned all three of his residences and none of the vampires he'd associated with in the past had seen or heard anything. It was as if Sebastian had systematically erased all evidence of his existence. Russell stood at Radomir's side, concerned that Wlodek might become furious. Wlodek hadn't maintained his position as Head of the Vampire Council by being a benign leader. Wlodek cursed, first in Greek and then in Latin, followed by a few other languages. "Charles!" he shouted after the cursing fit was over.
"Yes, Honored One?" Charles was at the door to Wlodek's study in a blink.
"Pull Gavin off his assignment. He's the only one that might be able to track Sebastian. Russell, you will take Gavin's place in Barcelona."
"Of course, Honored One," Russell gave a slight nod. He'd never acted as an Assassin before. This would be a first.
"Charles will give you the information," Wlodek waved Russell away. Russell was quite relieved to get away from the tension-filled room, although he kept the mask in place and didn't show it. Charles went with him, handing a folder of information over. Russell was on his cell phone immediately, calling for the Council's jet.
* * *
Saturday, April tenth heralded a cool and cloudy evening when I awoke, and I'd had dinner and a shower by the time Tony knocked on my hotel room door. He didn't offer any information and I didn't ask when he said, "Lissa, pack up, baby. We need to be at the airport in an hour." Biting my lip to keep some retort from escaping, I gathered my clothes and toiletries, packing them into my bag as best I could in the least amount of time. We'd spent nearly a week in the Atlanta area but had come up empty as far as tracking the vampires and the humans from the house we'd visited the first night. Tony already had his bag ready so I followed him, Bill and two other agents as we made our way through the carpeted, tastefully bland hallway of the hotel.