Page 27 of By The Moon

“I think he might have been interested in you for some time and you finding your mate made him act.”

“And we have a second location. Just a name so far, which is fairly common, so I’m going deeper.”

“What’s the name?” Louis stopped searching completely and focused on Key.

“Victoria Lane, of which there are eight in this city alone and we all know how far you guys can travel. Give me a few more minutes to narrow it down. He’s good at hiding his tracks, but not that good.”

“Keep searching, Louis. We might find something useful here.”

Louis watched Gray for a few seconds, then tried to contact Jerome.Jerome? Where are you? Is Skylar with you?When he got no response, his shoulders sagged. “Shit.”

“We’ll find him. There is nowhere Skylar could have taken him that we won’t find.”

“I’ve narrowed it down to three potential locations. That’s the best I can do. Two aren’t on Victoria Lane but are close to it and that’s why I think it’s this Victoria Lane and not any of the others. These two streets are mentioned as well.”

“Three locations to scope and access. Got it. Send the info to our phones and we’ll go there now.”

Louis’ phone pinged and he quickly read the message. Victoria Lane, Sandy Lane, and Cromwell Lane. All three were close together. “Should we check Victoria Lane out first?”

“I’m getting more people involved. We’ll hit all three at the same time in case he owns more than one and has them rigged.Last thing we want to do is trigger an alarm and he grabs Jerome and disappears.”

“I never thought of that.”

“He has your mate. Your focus is on getting him back.” Gray stared at his phone then nodded. “We jump in five.” He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “Always wanted to say that.”

“Gray. Please.” Louis closed his eyes. His mate had been kidnapped and Gray was doing this?

“We’ll find Jerome and bring him back to you.”

Kelvin walked in and pulled his shoulders back, rolling his head from side to side. “We’re all going to Victoria Lane?”

“We are and I have teams ready to hit the other two locations now. Ready to go?”

Louis checked the pictures Key had sent. “I’ll go in through the front.”

“I’ll take the rear.” Kelvin shoved his phone in his pocket. “Let’s go.”

Louis appeared outside the front of a rundown one story house on Victoria Lane. The porch was sagging, the paint hanging in strips in several places. Gray appeared in front of him and nodded. They moved toward the house, Gray hopping up onto the porch and searching it, before opening the door. He glanced back at Louis when the door opened easily. “Eyes and ears open.”

Louis followed him inside, gun in his hand, and scanned the living area they stepped into. There was furniture, but it clearly had seen better days. Dust covered everything; cobwebs hung all over. The rug on the hardwood floor was dirty and Louis was certain he’d seen things jumping in it when he’d stepped on it.

Grimacing, he carried on forward, trailing Gray, keeping an eye out behind them to ensure no one sneaked up on them. The place was dark, but not dark enough that Louis couldn’t see. The street light outside did little to help. The curtains had beendrawn and Louis didn’t want to touch them considering how bad they looked. The place had been empty and left this way for some time.

“Why this place?” he whispered.

“Not sure. It clearly isn’t being lived in. Decoy?”

Kelvin entered the room. “All clear here.”

Gray pulled his phone out and checked it, frowning as he read the messages. “Nothing in the two other locations.”

“Key doesn’t make mistakes.”

“I know, so Jerome must be around here somewhere. Tell your mate to keep searching.”

Kelvin nodded and stared off for a few seconds. “He’s on it.”

“There’s no way us accessing his computer tripped something that told him we were in his house?” Louis watched Gray who shook his head. “Are you sure?”

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