Page 50 of Bishop's Flight
“Good idea.” Carwyn watched her.
She was sinking into herself. Hiding her feelings again. It wasn’t the first time, but it still pissed him off. He knew it was how she processed ideas, pulling threads of knowledge, tiny scraps of information, and instinctive observations to make the intuitive leaps that made her so good at finding the lost. She had the uncanny ability to put herself into the mind of both the monsters and their prey.
It wore on her, and yet he knew she wouldn’t stop.
Carwyn knew she felt responsible for Lucas’s kidnapping, as if her mere existence had tempted Zasha Sokholov into bringing their twisted games to America.
They pulled into the Del Marco Casino and walked through the delivery entrance to the private elevator where they were stopped by a guard.
“Please wait.” He touched his earpiece. “I have two guests arriving. Both night crew.”
Carwyn frowned. “Pardon me, but Rose and Agnes—”
“Sir.” The man held up a finger. “I’ll wait. Names?”
“Carwyn ap Bryn and Brigid Connor,” Carwyn said.
The guard repeated their names into the microphone. He was wearing gloves, and it was still nearly ninety degrees outside.
Carwyn cocked his head and examined the human, who was covered from the turtleneck he was wearing under his dress shirt to the gloves to the long black slacks.
Brigid murmured, “There’s been a breach.”
“Yes.” The humans were taking extra precautions against vampire influence, and the private elevator had added security when before a passcode had been enough until guests reached the vampire floors.
“Cleared.” The man opened the elevator with a different passcode. “Thank you for your patience. They’re expecting you in the head office.”
“What happened?” Brigid asked.
“Nothing to be concerned about, ma’am. Enjoy your time at the Del Marco.”
With another curt nod and a punched-in code, the elevator doors shut and the compartment began to move.
No sooner had the elevator begin to go up than Carwyn’s phone rang. “It’s Lee.” He answered. “What’s going on?”
“I’m in the panic room. Three cars showed up outside the house and set off my alarms. I’m locked in here until you tell me it’s safe.”
“You changed all the codes the night we moved in?”
“Already overridden, and I couldn’t find a master code in the system. I’m secure for now unless they have a vampire who can rip through metal doors.”
Carwyn could rip through metal doors, but he didn’t tell Lee. It took a very old earth vampire with an affinity for metallic matter to rip through steel, and he doubted they would send one after a computer programmer.
“We’re at the casino and there’s increased security. It’s likely Agnes and Rose’s people, but I’ll check and make sure when we get to their office.” The elevator doors opened and Bernard was waiting for them. “Lee, hang on.”
“I’ll wait.”
Carwyn put the phone on mute. “The cars at our house. Your people?”
Bernard nodded. “Increased security.”
“Understood.” He unmuted the phone. “Lee, they’re friendly.”
“Got it. Just wanted to make sure. I thought I recognized the guy who was walking to the front door.”
Bernard said, “Miguel was heading up the detail. If your assistant has any questions, he can ask Miguel.”
“Lee, the man you recognize is Lucas’s personal guard. We’ve worked with him. He might be a good resource as you’re going through the boy’s devices.”
