Chapter 21 (Adam Novus Chronicles - Book 1)

“No signs of forced entry,” Marcus said as he went around Nina’s room, sniffing the air. If the situation wasn’t so serious, I would have probably made some lame joke about it.

I called him immediately after trying Nina’s phone; that led me nowhere as the call went directly to her voice mail. It was a long shot, but I had to try. For all I knew, there could be a perfectly reasonable explanation for all the things that were out of the ordinary in the house. Arguably, the odds were a million to one of that being remotely possible. Yeah, yeah, I know; a moment of desperation and all that.

He came soon after, with Esmeralda and an entire contingent of security experts that installed all those high-tech gizmos, which proved to be uniquely inefficient, all things considered. They were very professional, even knowing that they had all been mustered in the middle of the night. Like busy little bees, they were looking for clues and dusting for prints, but I did not think that would get us anywhere.

“I detected the scent of human blood and gun oil, exactly the same as in the two previous scenes. Julius called me last night to tell me what happened at Xavier’s house. It is the same crew.” Marcus confirmed what I already knew, but did not want to say out loud. The images of the dead thief and the occult dealer Xavier, flashed before my eyes, with their chests opened and hearts removed.

“We will find her Adam, those who took her will get what’s coming to them,” his wife said, trying to comfort me.

I did not need comfort—I needed a target. I needed someone I could vent on all this fury that was building inside me from the moment I realized Nina was taken. Considering what her kidnappers were capable of doing, and to think that Nina was in their hands… made my blood boil. Nevertheless, I reined in my temper, not wanting to make a scene that would impede the search in any way.

“If you would come to your office, we have retrieved the surveillance video,” the head of the security detail approached us and pointed with his hand.

The people who broke into my home took the computer that held all the security videos, one of the first things I checked while waiting for Marcus to arrive. Fortunately, there was another copy held off-site; connected through the high-speed internet that was a part of the package, and installed a few days after the security team left as an additional level of asset protection.

I thought that so many cameras and backups were overkill since I couldn’t see a situation where I would ever require a recording of myself and the house interior. Fortunately, Esmeralda insisted, justifying it with an opinion that I should always have a recording of my business space, in case I was ever sued for some reason or another. That had become more of a thing than in the previous decades. It seemed she was right (once again) and I was wrong.

The security guy pressed a few buttons on his tablet as soon as we entered, and a video started playing on a big flat screen.

There were three of them, dressed in all-black tactical gear with balaclavas covering their faces. They didn’t trip any intruder alarms but entered the security code that was supposed to be a more intrusion-resistant entrance system than a regular key… yeah, right.

From the second they entered, a few things were obvious to me. First, they were fully familiar with the architectural plan of the building, and second, they were a well-practiced team that had worked a long time together. That seamless cohesion of movements and situational awareness can only rarely be achieved by civilians. These three had military training and not the kind that ordinary grunts receive. It was easy to spot the tell-tale signs while they covered all the angles with the guns that they held in their hands; slicing the pie like highly trained Operators.

The video had full audio, courtesy of highly sensitive microphones on the cameras, but they did not say a word, coordinating their movements with hand signals.

Nina is a werecat, with senses that far surpass that of normal human beings, so she must have heard something, or smelled the scent of strangers in the house. The door of her apartment suddenly opened, and I saw her run out, far faster than one would expect from such a small girl. I admired her bravery, but she should have exited the house through a back window and then called for help, not rush in like some sort of a superhero. When I get her back, I’ll need to have a stern conversation with that girl.

They were expecting her, not pausing for a second before they opened fire. My fists clenched… expecting inevitable, and then I exhaled a sigh of relief when I realized the guns held tranquilizer darts, similar to the ones used on lions or elephants. Nothing more than a flying hypodermic needle propelled from the gun by compressed gas, filled with some sort of a sedative or a paralytic, with a tuft of red fibrous material at its end.

All three managed to shoot her in the blink of an eye, but she still succeeded in hitting one of them in the face. That accounted for the scent of blood Marcus sniffed out earlier; she must have got him right on the schnozzle. Unfortunately, that was all she managed, before whatever was in those darts knocked her out.

What followed was an exercise in efficacy. From the way they bundled her up in a freaking rug, and then carried her to their nondescript van parked outside, to the way they ransacked the entire place. There was some petty cash in Nina’s desk, but they were not interested in money, nor the few valuables laying around. On the other hand, any piece of intelligence that was in the house was carefully packed and transferred to the van. They were in and out within five minutes, in the same way a professional crew would rob a bank or a jewelry store.

The last thing of interest was a recording of their van, as it was slowly driving down the street. The high definition shot of the license plate made a few security technicians excited for a few minutes, before they retrieved a report that it was stolen a day before.

The time stamp on the video told me one thing, if I hadn’t made the stop at the diner, and lost all that time giving a statement to the police, I would have been home when all this was going on. Things would have turned out quite differently for them, as in—I would have killed all three of those SOBs, and Nina would’ve been safe. However, if the target was Nina all along, then they knew I wasn’t home at the time of the break-in. The tranquilizers they used to knock her out, only affirmed the last theory.

“Shit,” I hissed through my clenched teeth and ran outside, following a hunch.

“What the hell are you doing?” Marcus asked me a minute later, while I was lying on the street, looking at the underside of my car.

“Searching for this,” I answered, rising to my feet, and showing him a small black rectangular box in my hand. It was a freaking tracker, with a strong magnet on one side.

“So they precisely knew where you were… smart,” Marcus said, looking at the thing in my hand. “What do you think they were after?” he asked, with a frown on his face.

“I think we will find out soon enough. This was a leverage kidnapping and that only happens when the perpetrators want something. I bet it won’t be long before they contact me. Listen, call Julius, and ask him to come here; this all started with him, so he is the only connection I can think of.”

The old vampire nodded, taking out his cell phone to dial the number.

I gave the tracker to the security people, but similar to the license plate, I suspected it would lead to nothing. That was proven true within a short time, when the rushed technician gave his preliminary findings. Off-the-shelf parts cleaned of any prints, which would explain a faint scent of industrial-strength cleaner I smelled on the device.

We returned to my office only to see Esmeralda grilling the head security guy.

“How the hell did they manage to break inside?! You told me this was the best system on the market, and they walked in as if they owned the place?” She said quietly, looking at the man who showed a great amount of common sense by not being confrontational and lowering his eyes when faced with her fearsome gaze.

“I'm sorry, ma’am; there was a security breach on our side. One of the people that were involved with installing this system is nowhere to be found. His apartment was broken into and we were unable to locate him since yesterday. We are already changing all the passwords and lock combinations on every location we are securing for you.” He said, almost pleading with his voice for her to understand that he was not to blame for what happened.

“That’s a bit like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted,” she said dismissively. “My people will contact you to do a thorough inspection of your company, and any other security weakness you overlooked.”

The man submissively nodded, and his Adam’s apple wobbled up and down.

“Adam,” She said to me when she noticed that we had entered my office, “if they want money, we will pay any amount. Nina’s safety is paramount.”

“Thank you, it means a lot,” I replied, feeling that a great weight was just lifted off my shoulders. The thing was, if (however unlikely) they were really after the money and asked for more than five figures—I simply did not have it. I was counting on her and Marcus to add to the pot if it was needed; having her offer without me begging for it was a relief.

Nina and Esmeralda became well acquainted in the last few months. I even took her with me on a few of our customary weekly Sunday dinners at the clan house. While vampires and werecats are not very close to one another, there wasn’t any open animosity between the species. Besides, Nina’s exuberance was contagious, and in a way, Esmeralda took the girl under her wing.

I took out my phone, mentally preparing myself for the conversation I was about to have. It would wake up a sleeping lion… a werecat anyway.

“Hello, Mrs. Bast…”

It would be safe to say that the conversation that ensued was not pleasant and possibly damaged my hearing to some degree. How in the nine circles of hell do you inform a mother that her daughter was kidnapped, in a reassuring way? Not that I didn’t try, but most of what I got in return were incoherent screaming and death threats; not necessarily addressed to me.

Esmeralda took the phone from my hands after I stumbled through the explanation, murmuring about men in general and their obsession with the technical side of things. From what I could hear from her side of the conversation was that Katarina Bast managed to calm her feline temper and that she was on her way here… great.

One of the technicians said that we should consider calling the police and that almost got him lynched by his boss. I guess he was new because the supernatural community was big on staying under the radar and keeping your mouth shut no matter what. Considering who was his employer, the young man just had what is scientifically known as a brain fart. All the nuances of his error were explained to him, outside the house. Aside from the fact that the cops were statistically inefficient in cases of kidnapping, the particularities of this case would have most likely brought down the FBI on all our heads; a potential FUBAR of unimaginable proportions.

Nina’s mother came soon after; no doubt making her driver break every speed limit in existence. The turbulence of her wild emotions announced her long before she entered my office.

“How could you allow this to happen? You gave me your word Nina would be safe here!”

She was ready to tear me a new one, figuratively and literally, considering the claws she would have if she turned. I wouldn’t blame her… she was right. I did make that promise; clearly, a case where my mouth wrote a check my ass was unable to cash. She was projecting such anger while trying to mask the sheer overwhelming panic that was bubbling under the surface of her emotions.

“I am so sorry, Mrs. Bast,” was all I could quietly say. All excuses and promises would have been an insult considering how she was feeling.

“Calm yourself, Katarina, you know well that if there was something Adam could have done to prevent this—he would,” Esmeralda said, hugging the distressed mother who for a moment had almost lost control of herself. She would have either turned and attacked me or crumbled and cried her eyes out. It took her a minute, but then she collected herself and looked at me again.

“Find my daughter, Mr. Novus; I told her that staying here was a mistake, but she wouldn’t listen. Whatever it takes—find her and bring her back to me.”

There was so much that was unsaid in those words, delivered in a blood-chilling tone of voice. Arguably, she didn’t make any direct threat… but it wasn’t needed. Her emotions were plain to read; and all of them promised gruesome and grim things to anyone involved with her daughter’s disappearance… including me.

Julius arrived soon after that, worried and visibly nervous; feeling guilty for what happened, even if it was not his fault. Marcus had told him that we suspected that the same people responsible for the theft of his Grimoire and the murder of his descendant Xavier, were the ones that took Nina.

“Adam, if I knew that offering you this case would have led to this—”

“Stop right there Julius, you had no way of knowing that they would target me. This one is not on you, but on the bastards behind this.”

He visibly relaxed. “If I can help in any way, just say the word.”

The fact that he came here so fast, while the blow of Xavier’s death was so fresh, told a lot about what kind of a person the half-demon was.

The next visitor to my house was what I was waiting for, even if I did not exactly know in what form contact would be established.