Chapter 29

A Hell of Orphaned Failures

Weirdly, I was completely calm on my way back to my car. Maybe the conversations with Holly had just zapped up my emotional quota for the day. I eased into the driver’s seat, and after the door slammed sat there in silence. No one thing was filling my head. In fact, I couldn’t have said whether I was really thinking about anything. Holly’s insight had been both strangely comforting, and completely alarming. But in the end, I was no closer to deciding whether or not I wanted to be with Ira.

My cell phone rattled to life on the dashboard, and I flinched. I put my hand to my heart, and shook my head to clear it.

“Shit,” I sighed. Reaching for my phone, I flipped it open.

“Regan? Oh, thank God.” Milly sounded close to tears, and I frowned.

“Mills what’s wrong?”

“I…” she trailed off. When she spoke again her voice was quiet. “I think I’m being followed.”

My hunter senses slammed into being, and I could hear the sound of shrieking and gravel crunching in the background of her call.

“Where are you?”

“The park,” she said, voice calmer now. “I was out for my Sunday run, and I just, I dunno. I got the creeps, like someone’s watching me.”

“Trust your instincts, Milly,” I said instantly, jamming my keys into the ignition. “I’m on my way, keep talking to me. Are other people at the park?”

“Yeah, parents with their kids.”

“Get closer to them,” I told her. “Make sure other people can see you.”

There was no answer.

“Milly?

“Hello?

“Milly!”

I made it to the park in record time, and thanked any god that was listening I didn’t get picked up. Screaming into the parking lot, I threw on my e-break and vaulted out of the car.

There was no trace of Milly as I dashed into the park. I didn’t see her on the walking path, and a quick scan of the faces in the place didn’t reveal anything. Small children babbled in the sandbox, older siblings crowed as they raced across the equipment, their parents chatted with each other on park benches. But Milly was nowhere to be found.

Keeping a grip on my panic, I strolled up to one of the moms.

“Excuse me,” I said. “Have you seen a tall girl long dark hair around here?”

“Oh, sure.” She lifted her finger toward a bend in the running path. “Last I saw her she was taking that corner, there.”

“Has she come back around?”

“Not yet.”

I sprinted in the direction she’d pointed me.

A little kid wandered into my path, and I sailed over him rather than slow down. I rounded the corner and stopped, eyes scanning everything. A small maintenance shed sat on the inside of the curve. I couldn’t help but think someone with supernatural speed could grab a person and be gone with no one the wiser. My heart began to beat a little faster.

Close to the edge of the path I noticed a streak of black rubber. Crouching, I ran my fingers lightly over it. It looked like the mark made by the bottom of a shoe, and I racked my brain as I tried to decide if Milly’s shoes had black bottoms. The mark was oddly shaped, as if the wearer had been swept off her feet very fast.

“Fuck!”

I shot to my feet, and headed in the direction the marks were pointing. Bushes and trees began again not too far from the edge of the path. It didn’t take me long to find the broken branches and trampled grass.

A chirp came from my pocket, and I quickly found my cell.

“Espy, please tell me you have something.”

“Her phone GPS was active,” Esperanza said. “But I lost the signal before it stopped moving. I’ve emailed you a map and coordinates.”

Instantly I was running back toward my car. My black computer case was stashed in the trunk. I never went anywhere without it. Pulling it out, I snapped the button and waited impatiently for it to load. When it finally booted, I rummaged through the pocket on the case until I found the chord that would hook up to my phone. Then I had to wait for the internet to dial out.

“C’mon, damn it!” I cursed when it took too long.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. You don’t have time to act like a civilian, I told myself. Milly’s counting on you.

Finally my connection loaded and I brought up my email with frantic keystrokes. The map had the phone’s last location highlighted in red, with a margin of error and direction it’d been traveling marked in the notes. Helpfully, Espy had marked a few possible locations, some caves and an unused cabin or two.

I saved everything from my email to my hard-drive, threw my laptop in the car, and got back in myself. But as I was racing towards the city limits I knew I couldn’t cover that much ground by myself. And that’s how I found myself dialing a number I thought I’d forgotten.

“Regan?” Harley’s surprise was evident in his voice. “Didn’t think I’d be hearing—”

“I need your help,” I said without preamble.

“Do you?” he said. “So, what, I’m only good enough to talk to when you want something?”

“A girl’s life is in danger,” I said. “I need you to help me find her.”

“We’re not in the saving people business, Regan.” He sounded honestly perplexed.

“It’s Milly, Milly Parker. She’s my best friend.” My voice threatened to crack, but I reigned it in. “A vampire with a hate-on for me has taken her, and I have to get her back. I can’t loose this one, Harley, okay? I need your help, please.”

There was silence for a beat, and then he said, “Where are you?”

Close to the tree line, I pulled off the road and parked. Harley’s truck would be better than my bug for deeper in, so I waited for him in case I got stuck. I would have to give him all the intel anyway. I got out my computer and brought up what Espy had sent me. When Harley showed up I’d never been so glad to see him.

“This is where her GPS last broadcasted.” I showed him my computer. “I figure we can rule out the caves. Zo doesn’t strike me as the type to know about them.”

Harley nodded. “We can skip these, too.” He tapped the screen. “When I was researching this area for my own case, I was looking for good places to stash people. These are winter cabins for snowbirds, so probably have security. Here, or here, would be a good bet. They’re both abandoned.”

“Okay, we’ll split up, and—”

“No way,” Harley said. “If this vampire hates you that much, you’re not going in without back-up.”

“The whole point of calling you in was to cover more ground,” I protested.

“Look, they’re not that far apart.” He touched the screen again. “We’ll hit the closest one first.”

We didn’t have time for this. More time had ticked away while I’d waited for Harley, and Milly could be dying.

“Fine,” I snapped. “Let’s just go.”

I gathered up my stuff and leaped into his truck. We bounced along the dirt path, kicking up clouds dust even as I kept urging him faster. My hands flexed around my sword, which I realized was probably still stained with Ira’s blood. If luck was with me he wouldn’t be the only vampire decorating my blade. If luck was on my side Zo would be there when we found Milly. And then she would be nowhere.

Hold on, Mills, I prayed. I’m coming.