“Happy?” Asherah asked Cael tersely.
“What about him?” Cael asked, nodding his chin toward the man slumped against the wall in the first cell on the other side of Sarita.
“He’s bloodless. Can’t do a thing. Now let’s get out of here,” she said, heading back up the aisle toward the door they’d entered through. “These guys give me the willies.”
Cael hesitated, but then turned and followed Asherah out.
By Domitian’s guess he was little more than a couple of minutes away from the cottage when something large swooped out of a tree on the side of the path and landed on the trail in front of him. It brought him up short, and he started to crouch into a fighting stance, and then recognized the man in front of him.
“Thorne,” he said with surprise, straightening. “What are you—?”
“Did you call your people?” he interrupted, trying to glance around Domitian as if expecting there to be someone behind him.
“No. They moved the phone,” Domitian admitted, his voice heavy with disappointment at having failed.
“Did you search for where they moved it to?” Thorne asked with a frown.
“Of course, I searched,” Domitian said impatiently. “And then I read the mind of one of the men guarding the front door and learned that Dressler had it moved to the labs the minute he realized we were on the island.”
“How did he know you were on the island?” Thorne asked with concern. “I thought I took care of the cameras . . . unless the bastard has some I don’t know about.”
Domitian shook his head. “I do not think you need worry about that. Unfortunately, the man with gills washed up on the shore today. They deduced that his broken neck meant he didn’t die of natural causes,” Domitian said dryly, and then frowned as he noted that Thorne was trying to look around him again. Shaking his head, he continued, “They put one and one together and made two. Two being we had made it here.”
Thorne cursed violently.
“Yeah. That means a change of plans. I’m going to take Sarita and swim for the mainland or another island, whichever we reach first. I need to get her away from here. From there I’ll get the information to my uncle at the villa.”
“Your uncle?” Thorne growled. “I thought some special police force was after El Doctor. What is your uncle doing here?”
“Uncle Lucian heads up the special force,” Domitian said soothingly. “He’s rented a couple of villas in Caracas and taken a couple more on Isla Margarita in the Rancho de Chano area for himself and the rest of the hunters while here.”
Thorne grunted and then tried to look past him again.
Growing tired of the game, Domitian turned sideways on the edge of the path so he had a clear view. “What the hell are you looking for?”
Thorne stared up the dark, empty path and then asked worriedly, “Where is Sarita?”
“What?” Domitian asked with alarm. “She’s supposed to be at the cottage. You were supposed to be keeping her th—”
“She’s not there,” he interrupted on a growl.
“What do you mean she’s not there?” Domitian snapped. “You were supposed to be watching her. You—”
“I was watching her. I sat in the living room almost the entire time you were gone.”
“Almost?” he asked grimly. “Almost the entire time?”
Thorne winced. “I only stepped out for a minute. Maria called me, I thought perhaps there was a problem, but she just wanted to tell me that the guard on the beach had been doubled. She feared El Doctor suspected something. The women were upset. I took just a moment or two to calm them and then went back inside to continue waiting. I thought Sarita was still in bed until MacNeil and a bunch of his security men showed up.”
“What?” Domitian hissed, glancing down the path toward the cottage.
Thorne nodded. “They barged in, scaring the hell out of mother and Maria and started searching the place. I ran upstairs to try to warn Sarita, but when I opened the guest bedroom door, she was gone.”
“Wh—?”
“Just shut up and listen,” Thorne snapped. “MacNeil was right behind me and saw the room was empty. He started cussing and swearing and then someone called him on his radio. I didn’t hear what was said, MacNeil pushed me out of the room and told his men to take me downstairs to the living room with the women while he took the message and then slammed the door. But he came downstairs a few moments later and said to tell you that they have Sarita and if you want her to live, you are to give yourself up by midnight.”
“What?” Domitian gasped with dismay. He then shook his head. “Well, then why the hell did you keep looking behind me? Why did you think she was with me?”
“I was sure he was bluffing,” Thorne said on a sigh and then rallied and said, “And I still half think he is. Aside from being a trained police officer, Sarita has years of martial arts training under her belt. Her father made her learn to defend herself after her mother’s murder. He was afraid to lose her like he did her mother.”
“I know,” Domitian said quietly. Aside from it being in his reports, she had mentioned the martial arts training herself.
“And she’s smart,” Thorne added firmly. “I just cannot see her getting caught on her own. It must be a bluff. She is probably on her way back here right now. You just missed each other on the path. Where are you going?” Thorne finished when Domitian turned abruptly to head back the way he’d come.
Domitian did not pause or slow down, he simply said, “To turn myself in.”
“Wait.” Thorne hurried after him. “You have a little over four hours before you have to do that.”
Domitian paused and thought briefly, and then sighed and nodded. “Si. I will look for her first. If I find her I will free her, but if not, I will turn myself in at midnight.”
“What about getting word to your uncle?” Thorne asked with dismay.
“I have no way to call him and have no idea how long it would take me to swim to Isla Margarita. I will not risk trying to swim there and return with a team in time to save Sarita. I must be here at midnight to turn myself in. We are on our own.”
Fifteen
“Your name is Sarita.”
Sarita turned from watching Asherah and Cael leave and glanced warily at the men in the cell across from the one she was in. She was quite sure the man who had spoken was one of those three, but had no idea which one. They all looked very alike. All of them wore identical black leather outfits as if they belonged to a biker gang. They also all had dark hair and similar facial features. They were obviously related, but the two on the ends were a little smaller than the man in the middle. Not a lot, they were all big men, but the two on the ends just had very muscular shoulders, while the one in the middle had incredibly muscular shoulders. Sarita dubbed them Biker #1, Biker #2, and Biker #3 in her mind.
“Sarita Reyes,” the man in the middle, Biker #2, said now.
“You are Domitian’s life mate,” the man on the left, Biker #1, said with interest.
“You sacrificed yourself for him,” the one on the right, Biker #3, added.
“You—”
“Okay, let’s just slow our ponies here, boys,” she said finally, interrupting Biker #2. Propping her hands on her hips and using her best constable scowl, she said, “Yes, my name is Sarita Reyes. Yes, Domitian thinks I’m his life mate. But no I didn’t sacrifice myself for him.” Raising her eyebrows she suggested, “Now how about you guys mind your own business and stay the hell out of my head? Hmm?”
“Domitian does not think you are his life mate,” Biker #2 said solemnly. “He knows it . . . and so do you.”
Sarita scowled at the suggestion, but before she could comment, Biker #3 said, “And you did sacrifice yourself. Knowing he could not see them, you tackled the men coming up along the side of the house . . . sacrificing yourself so that he could escape.”
“I’ll take that as a ‘no, we won’t mind our own business and stay out of your head, Sarita,’ shall I?” she asked dryly, and then snapped, “And I did not sacrifice myself.” Scowling, she added, “I mean, it wasn’t supposed to be a sacrifice. I was supposed to kick their butts and join Domitian to head back to the cottage. And I did kick their butts. I just didn’t expect Bigbird to fly in and carry me off like an eagle snatching up a bunny,” she finished irritably, because, really, that hadn’t been fair at all.