“Yeah, I probably would,” Beth admitted and smiled at the idea as she thought, especially if that boyfriend was Scotty. She would have taken every opportunity to slip out to see him, she thought, and then glanced around the empty yard and frowned. “I wonder where the dogs are?”
“Waiting in the kennels for me to feed them,” Odilia explained, and added, “I’ll have to do that and let them out before we try the samplers.”
Beth shrugged. “I’ll help.”
“Thanks.” Odilia sounded surprised, but smiled as she opened the garage door for her to enter.
“How did you get stuck on garage duty?” Beth asked as she led the way through the building to the door leading to the kennels and cells.
“I wondered that myself when I arrived and Mortimer assigned me to it,” Odilia admitted as they passed into a hall with a door on the left and cells lining the right side. She paused at the door on the left, pushed it open and waved Beth in as she continued, “Donny has done it the last couple of days, and I was surprised when Mortimer said I’d be doing it today, but . . .”
Beth had entered the kennels as Odilia talked, her gaze sliding over the excited dogs waiting to be fed, but when the other woman stopped talking, she started to turn in question, only to pause at a sharp sting in her side. Glancing down with confusion, she peered at the dart there and then shifted her bewildered gaze to Odilia. She saw the dart gun the woman held just before the lights went out.
“So you think one of the cameras from a convenience store by the apartment might have caught footage of whoever set up the bomb on Rickart’s car?” Scotty asked with interest.
“We hope so,” Mortimer said. “Magnus took Rickart with him to the store to get copies of the film footage from all four cameras. I asked Magnus why all four and why not just whatever one, or ones, might be pointing toward the parking lot, and he said—”
“—because we might get the license plate number or a closer image of the rogue as they were coming or going,” Scotty said, nodding.
“Hmm,” Mortimer said. “You two think alike.”
Scotty shrugged mildly. “We’ve worked together a long time.”
“Well, I appreciate your coming to help out and bringing your men,” Mortimer told him solemnly. “Even I am learning off of you, because I would only have had them get film footage from the cameras that might have got the parking lot. I will know better in future.”
Scotty smiled faintly, but then asked, “When do you expect Magnus and Rickart back?”
Mortimer glanced at the clock and pursed his lips. “They should be there now. But I am not sure how long it will take to copy the footage.” He considered it briefly, and then said, “At a guess, maybe an hour or an hour and a half, depending on traffic.”
Scotty stood up. “I’m going to go tell Beth, then.”
Mortimer nodded. “If you are not back by the time they return, I will send Donny to get you, or text you.”
“Thank ye.” Scotty left the office, headed for the stairs. Halfway there, however, he detoured into the kitchen. Beth hadn’t eaten for twenty-four hours. She could probably use more blood too, he thought and shook his head. It seemed that lately all they’d done was recover, eat, and feed . . . well, and make love. The thought made him smile. It was making love. He was pretty sure he loved her. She was a special woman, kind, generous, giving, brave, smart, sassy. He even liked the sassy. Maybe the truth was, he especially liked the sassy. A lot of people found him intimidating for some reason and few would dare to sass him, or say anything they feared he wouldn’t like. Magnus was one of those few, and it was why they’d been friends so long. Beth also had no fear doing either, and he liked that, Scotty thought as he checked the refrigerator for possible snacks to take to Beth.
His gaze landed on the cheese and he grabbed it, collected a couple of plates and quickly sliced off several pieces for each. He then found the leftover apple pie from the night before and cut a wedge for each plate. He put both on a tray, grabbed a couple of bags of blood and then poured two glasses of milk. He knew Beth would probably prefer coffee, but there wasn’t any made at the moment, and he didn’t know how to make it.
He’d have to ask Sam to show him how, Scotty decided as he gathered the tray and headed for the stairs. If Beth liked coffee, he’d learn and be pleased to surprise her with it when she woke. The idea of waking her with a kiss and a cup of coffee made him smile and think of lazy mornings in bed . . . and not-lazy mornings in bed, as well as a future full of both. Scotty seriously regretted that he’d been so stubborn and foolish for so long. He’d nearly lost her because of it. Thank God she’d been willing to listen to him and was giving him the chance to make up for it.
That thought had his smile widening as he moved down the hall to her bedroom. With his hands full, he used his foot to “knock” at the door, and then waited . . . and waited. Frowning, he lifted his foot to “knock” again, and then—concerned that Beth might be sleeping—Scotty shifted the tray to balance on one flat hand, freeing the other to open the door himself. He turned the knob, pushed the door open and started into the room, only to pause when he saw that the bed was empty. His gaze slid to the open bathroom door and the empty room beyond, and then he turned and headed back downstairs a lot faster than he’d gone up.
Scotty looked into the living room first and, finding it empty, started going from room to room. He checked in Mortimer’s office last. The head of the North American Enforcers glanced up from the paperwork on his desk, his gaze landing on the tray, and his eyes widened.
“That looks good,” he said, straightening in his chair. “Beth sleeping?”
“She’s—I can’t find her,” Scotty said rather than what he’d originally intended, which was “She’s gone.” He really didn’t want to say that. He had that bad feeling again and was afraid to give voice to it.
“She is not in her room?” Mortimer asked with a frown, standing up.
Scotty shook his head. “And not anywhere on the main floor. I didn’t check the other bedrooms upstairs, though.”
“Could she have gone to your room to surprise you?” Mortimer asked.
Scotty considered that briefly and then shook his head. “I told her I’d go back to her room after I finished talking to you. But I’ll look and see,” he said, turning away.
“While you do that, I will call down to the gate just to make sure she did not take a car and go out anywhere,” Mortimer said.
Scotty didn’t respond other than to nod as he hurried back to the kitchen to set down the tray. He jogged upstairs afterward, checked his room and then checked every other room on the upper floor as well, including double-checking her room again, before heading back downstairs. Mortimer was just coming up the hall from his office when he stepped off the stairs.
“Not there?” Mortimer asked.
Scotty shook his head. “The gate?”
“No. No one has left since Magnus and Rickart.” Pausing, Mortimer turned to look around, and then said, “If you want to check the garage attached to the house, I’ll check the basement. If we do not find her inside, then we will check the yard and the outbuildings.”
Nodding, Scotty turned to head into the kitchen and the connecting door to the attached garage. It didn’t take him long to assure himself she wasn’t there, and then he went down to help Mortimer search the basement. Finding nothing, they headed outside.
“The dogs aren’t out,” Scotty commented as they started across the back lawn. It didn’t take more than a glance to see that the yard itself was empty.
“Odilia is probably feeding them,” Mortimer said. “You check the outbuilding and I will look in the front yard.”
Nodding, Scotty continued on his way as Mortimer broke off and turned to walk around the house. Beth would be in the outbuilding, he told himself. She had to be. There was nowhere else to look for her.
He didn’t see anyone when he entered the building, not even Odilia. Frowning, he scanned the vehicle bays, glanced into the offices and then opened the door to the hall that led to the kennels and cells. A quick look showed him that the cells were empty, and he was reaching to open the door to the kennels when it swung toward him. Backing up, Scotty frowned in disappointment when he saw that it was only Odilia.