“But they couldn’t have,” she assured him and pointed out, “It’s not like we drove here in a car they could have followed. We didn’t even fly out of an airport where they could have checked the flight we were on. We flew straight from the Enforcer house on a private plane to that landing strip twenty minutes from here. So how did they know we were coming to the Enforcer house here in Vancouver?”
Scotty frowned as he considered that and then suggested, “Mayhap they read that ye were going to Vancouver from yer mind.”
Beth shook her head. “I didn’t even know I was coming here until I got back to the house after the accident,” she reminded him. “Mortimer told me what the assignment was and where just before we got on the plane. The only people around were you, Donny, Mortimer, and me. And we took off from the house. We didn’t go anywhere someone could read me after I learned.”
Giving him a moment to think about that, Beth turned and opened the refrigerator to check the contents. Spotting the pizza box inside, she grabbed that as well as a bag of blood.
“As far as I can tell,” Beth continued as she carried the pizza box and bag of blood to the counter and set them down, “nobody could have followed us.”
“Except perhaps someone connected to the North American Rogue Hunters,” he countered. “Anyone working for Mortimer could have found out about this trip easily enough.”
Beth opened the pizza box and verified that it was her favorite—pepperoni, mushroom, onion, and tomato—and then turned to retrieve a plate from the cupboard as she agreed, “True. I don’t think I’ve pissed off any of my coworkers yet, but it’s possible. Except that doesn’t seem likely.”
“Why?” he asked at once as he watched her transfer a couple of slices from the box to the plate.
“They wouldn’t have the time,” she said dryly. “As shorthanded as he is, Mortimer’s had us all working overtime and running here, there, and the other place,” Beth assured him. Seeing the uncertainty on his face, she added, “But it would only take a phone call to Mortimer to see if one of the other hunters is in the area . . . and trust me, he’ll know,” she added dryly, moving to set the plate of pizza in the microwave. “He knows exactly where every one of us is at any given moment.”
“He can’t possibly ken where each o’ ye are at all times,” Scotty said with disbelief as she closed the microwave door and pushed the button labeled Reheat. “Mayhap he can find and follow yer vehicles with the GPS trackers in them, but if ye’re no’ using the SUV—”
“The Council supplies us with cell phones,” Beth interrupted. “We’re to carry them at all times whether working or not. That way they can reach us at all hours and everywhere if there’s an emergency. They can also track us with some kind of app . . .” Beth shrugged and explained, “I didn’t care if they tracked me so didn’t pay close attention to exactly how they do it. But one call to Mortimer and he can tell you who, if any, of our hunters are out here in BC right now.”
“They can track yer phones?” Scotty asked with interest.
Nodding, Beth picked up the bag of blood and leaned back against the counter as she added, “There’s also a program they put on each phone that allows them to see whatever your phone’s camera sees, and even hear what’s said near it. I think it can get copies of your text messages, and allows them to listen in on phone calls too. But Mortimer says they don’t activate it unless a hunter goes missing. I’m not sure that’s true,” she added dryly. “But I’d like to think so.”
“Really?” Scotty murmured, and she could see his mind ticking that one over. From his perspective, as the head of the UK hunters, it would probably seem like a handy little program to have installed in hunters’ phones.
Beth wasn’t sure how she felt about it all herself. In situations like this, it was certainly handy to be able to immediately discount the hunters she worked with from being here in BC and possibly behind the attacks on her. But privacy was something in short supply today. The advent of bugs and cameras and even computers had played havoc with that particular commodity, and she had to wonder how much knowledge was too much, and if they all wouldn’t be happier with a little less of it. It was the fruit of knowledge of good and evil that got Adam and Eve kicked out of paradise, after all. Maybe knowing everything both good and evil that went on in the world wasn’t that grand a thing.
“I’ll call Mortimer.”
Beth merely nodded and popped the blood bag to her fangs. She was pretty sure her attacker wasn’t anyone she worked with. But she wasn’t positive.
Scotty got through to Mortimer right away, but was still on the phone with him when the bag at her mouth finished emptying. The microwave began to beep, announcing it was done, as she tore the bag away and tossed it out, so she retrieved the pizza and moved to sit at the kitchen table to eat.
“Mortimer checked and said we’re the only hunters in the whole province of British Columbia right now. There isn’t even anyone in Alberta at the moment,” Scotty said with a frown as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.
Beth merely nodded as she chewed the bite of pizza she’d just taken.
“He also says we’re the only ones who knew he was sending us out here.”
Swallowing, she added, “And Matias.”
“Aye, but he was here in Vancouver so couldn’t have caused the accident with the truck, or had the knowledge read from his mind at the accident site.” He frowned and then added, “I’ll have to ask Donny if Matias was inside during your attack or—”
“Matias would never hurt me,” Beth interrupted at once.
“Oh, aye, because he wants ye in his bed,” Scotty muttered.
Clucking her tongue with irritation, Beth shook her head. “No, he doesn’t. He is just teasing about that. It’s his way of trying to make me see him as a man and not the boy whose diapers I changed and whose snotty nose I wiped,” she explained with a faint smile. “Everyone treats him like a child still and he’s struggling to be seen as a man . . . with everyone.”
Scotty’s eyes widened slightly as if that possibility hadn’t occurred to him, and then he relaxed and murmured, “Oh.”
Beth took another bite of pizza, shifting her mind back to the “accident” and the attack. After swallowing, she heaved a sigh and pointed out, “It seems obvious that the crash and the attack tonight can’t be connected.”
“Aye, it would seem unlikely that they are,” Scotty admitted, not sounding pleased.
She understood that. It certainly would have been easier if they were connected. Then there would be only one person out to get her and not two. But . . . maybe there still was only one, she thought suddenly.
“Since no one knows I’m out here,” Beth said slowly, considering a brief thought she’d had earlier, “maybe the attack tonight wasn’t directed personally at me.”
“What?” Scotty stared at her with bewilderment. “Who was it directed at, then? The mortal? It wasn’t her head he was trying to cut off.”
“No, but I was thinking, maybe it could be an immortal who’s newly gone rogue and was looking to kill just an immortal female, or even just a hunter, and I happened to be there tonight,” she pointed out. “The only other option seems to be that it was someone with a beef against me who just happened to spot me at the club and decided it was a perfect opportunity for some revenge.”
Scotty scowled, and Beth got the feeling he didn’t deal well with not knowing what a situation was.
Shrugging, she finished off her pizza while he mulled over matters, and then stood and rinsed her plate. Beth set it in the dishwasher with the other dishes, and then dried her hands on a dish towel and turned to head for the kitchen door. “I’m going to bed.”
“I’ll come with ye.”
That brought her to an abrupt halt. Turning, she peered at him blankly. “What?”
Scotty eyed her determinedly as he crossed the room. “Ye’ve been attacked twice now, lass. Whether it’s by two different people, or one somehow managing to track ye here, ’tis clear ye’re no’ safe. Someone should be with ye at all times until we sort this out.”