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"How did he even know Lisette was in trouble?" David asked

"I suspect he was following her"

"Why would he do that?"

"She, Roland, and Sarah captured hiated him"

David’s eyebrows nearly met his hairline "I assume he let them"

"Yes"

"Why?"

"I don’t know Not yet"

"What did they ask hi Ami They wanted to knohy"

David’s face filled with purewith her on your roof"

Utter disbelief led with the menace "How did I not sense his presence?"

Seth shook his head "He’s learned to mask it in some way I didn’t even sense it hts, I would not have known anything about it"

Judging by his expression, the idea that Zach could coe unsettled David as much as it did Seth

"Apparently," Seth went on, "Ami can detect his presence and joins hioyle duty up there"

"In her condition?" David said with disapproval

Seth snorted "She’s as sure-footed as a cat and has exhibited no dizziness thus far I don’t think we have any worries there"

David grunted "So he can nature"

"Yes"

"What is Ami’s interest in hi that a lot lately "I think that’s the biggest puzzle of all"

David frowned "You don’t think it’s roht"

"I agree" David pondered the mystery for sori onto the long drive caught his ear He looked toward the front of the house the same time David did

Arolled down so the driver could lean out and punch in the security code

The music of Miles Davis floated to their ears

"Chris," they said in unison

Reordon always played Miles when he was stressed

The car seeht Chris could have walked and reached the house faster The engine stopped His car door opened and closed

"Does Chris ever sleep?" David asked as they followed his progress up the walk and through the front door

"Not ate"

Footsteps approached from the hallway

"You ever been to his place?" Seth asked

David nodded "Looked like a typhoon hit it"

"Coht here"

"We know," they said

He dropped a briefcase on the floor and flopped down in the chair next to Seth, across the desk froo?" Seth asked

"Very well" He opened the briefcase, drew out a folded piece of paper, then leaned forward and spread a map out on the desk "Both mercenaries headed for the same rendezvous point here" He pointed to an area on the outskirts of Chapel Hill "They remained there until daybreak, presumably to ensure they weren’t followed by immortals or vampires, then headed here on wheels they must have stashed somewhere because they moved much more quickly" He pointed to an isolated area between Mebane and Saxapahaw "Again, they waited, then were probably taken blindfolded by someone they met there--if the mercenaries stayed true to what they did before--to what I believe is the PMC’s base here near Burlington"

He reached into his bag again and drew out an iPad "Here’s a satellite i it up for them

Seth set the tablet on the desk so David could examine it, too, and leaned forward "Did one of your new contacts send you this?"

"No I’ their involve Chris still labored under the ass-load of guilt piled on his shoulders after discovering that his former contacts and their spouses and children, had all been either tortured to death or shot execution style by the last ht in an attee But one of the things that made Chris indispensable to the Immortal Guardians was his ability to recruit contacts in very high places Contacts who had been invaluable in the past "Chris--"

"I know I’ll get there I will If I thought lives depended on it noould risk it in a heartbeat," he said