Page 4 of The Union
“Wait, Jack.” Ray held out his hand. “I need you to do something for me. I need you to get the money they’re paying me for Mason.”
“Seriously?” I shouted. “You’re probably about to take your last breath, and all you can think of is cold, hard cash?”
Ray snarled, inhaling a deep breath of crisp air. “My family needs it. I owe some people half a mil.”
Steven regarded me with questions in his green eyes.
I shrugged. “My uncle has a terrible gambling addiction. Who are the people, Ray? The Mafia?”
Jack grabbed the back of his neck. “Please tell me it’s not the Irvings.”
I held my breath. That family owned several casinos, including the largest casino in Montana. The Irvings weren’t the type of people to fuck with. The Mafia was a cakewalk compared to them.
Ray winced. “Talk to Noah.”
Steven squatted beside Ray and held his hand. “Look, Ray. Do some good here. Tell us who you’re working with. Is it Camden Industries? Intech? If so, we could be looking at a worldwide humanity crisis. Camden Industries builds weapons for the Department of Defense, which could mean they want to build super soldiers. It’s been tried before by someone who wasn’t working with the human government, and that turned into a war. We lost many humans to the genetic experiment. What we’re facing now will be much larger and harder to control if the DOD gets involved. We can’t risk human lives to turn them into someone like me.” He mashed his lips together, seemingly holding back his anger. His patience was admirable given his son had just been kidnapped.
“Tell him, Ray,” Jack pleaded.
“You’ll never see your son again,” Ray said to Steven while glaring at me.
Jack briefly closed his eyes.
Restraint was a monumental task on my part. My dad had always said never hit a man while he was down, unless the man was a vampire.
Steven’s fangs shot out. “Careful, Ray. If you live, you might not like what you’re heading into.” Steven’s caustic tone cracked through his placid veneer.
Jack sighed. “Please, brother.” He sounded frightened. “Where are they taking Sam?”
I hated to think of what would happen if we couldn’t find Sam. Steven would go on a rampage, and I would be right beside him with my heart shattering into a million pieces. More importantly, the little one growing inside me would suffer more. A child needed both parents. Even still, humanity? If we were right, and Sam’s kidnappers wanted his DNA, then humans, including my family and me, were in trouble. Fuck, they could use me as a guinea pig, especially if they learned I was pregnant with a Mason baby.
Steven rose, his black shoulder-length hair blowing in the raging storm. “I can’t read Ray’s mind. My powers are nonexistent.”
My eyebrows pinched together. “Sam’s didn’t work either.” I couldn’t even begin to speculate on a reason. Nevertheless, it was rather strange that the three most powerful vampires had lost their abilities in a blink of an eye. Maybe the helicopter emitted some kind of radio or sound waves that interfered with their abilities.
“Ray,” Jack snapped in a harsh tone. “Tell us something. Where’s Noah?”
“Jack, get your car,” Steven said. “Ray isn’t going to talk.”
Jack hesitated for a second, frustration and despair washing over him.
Ray’s eyes fluttered shut briefly. “I don’t know where they’re taking Sam. Noah is in Chicago. He’s expecting me to call him.”
“Go,” I said to Jack. I was starting to fidget. I wanted to strangle Ray and save him at the same time. The selfish part of me thought Ray might be able to help us find Sam. My moral side had to spare his life. After all, he was my dad’s brother, my uncle, and Ray had a wife and kids. I knew what it was like to lose a father, and I didn’t wish that on my cousins, no matter how much Ray could get under my skin.
Jack finally dashed off to his car, which was about a football field away.
I stepped over Ray, knelt beside him, and grabbed his hand. “Uncle Ray, you’re not that bad of a person. I understand you have a gambling addiction, but think about what it would be like if one of your kids was taken.” I had to find some way to get through to him. He loved his kids and his wife, and despite the idiotic things he’d done, he was a good dad. “Who are you working with?” If he didn’t have a clue where Sam was, he had to know who his benefactor was.
Ray sucked in a large breath. “The guy from Carly’s company.” His breathing slowed.
“Lester Worthington?” I asked.
Tears leaked down his cheeks, and suddenly my heart was breaking for him.
“Talk to Noah,” he whispered. Then his eyes widened as he stiffened.
The car engine blasted through the buzzing in my head. “Ray.” I tapped his face.
