Page 39 of Protector Unmatched

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Pearce took his time driving to the apartment building. He needed to give Enya sufficient time to scope out the building to get a clue from which unit the kidnapper had called. She’d told him over the phone that she planned to enter each apartment invisibly and do a very quick check. Even if it took her only one minute to go through each unit, it would take her more than half an hour to inspect the entire building, including the basement if there was one.

A block away from the property, Pearce pulled into a parking spot along the curb and switched off the engine. Then he turned to Daphne, who already had her hand on the door handle.

“Wait.”

She looked at him.

“Ground rules first: you stay behind me at all times, and if I tell you to do something, you’ll do it without protest. Agreed?” His first priority was keeping Daphne safe, his second extracting her brother—if he was indeed inside this building—without bloodshed.

“I understand.”

Pearce rolled his eyes. He wasn’t born yesterday. “I didn’t ask whether you understood. I asked whether you agreed.”

“Fine. I’ll do what you say.” She opened the door. “Has anybody ever told you that you’re bossy?”

She got out of the car, and Pearce did the same, then looked across the car’s roof to where Daphne stood waiting for him on the sidewalk. “Last night you liked bossy.”

She blushed at that, but didn’t retort. He sidled up to her and took her arm, ushering her along. “Just stay close, okay?” he said in a softer voice. “I don’t want you to get hurt, and we don’t know yet what we’re walking into.”

He hoped he’d have better intel as soon as Enya was done with searching the building. Under other circumstances he would have done it himself, but with Daphne in tow, he couldn’t very well make himself invisible and walk through walls. And leaving her behind in the safe house hadn’t been an option either: Daphne would have never agreed to let him go alone. He knew her well enough by now. So he hadn’t even tried to persuade her to stay at the house.

Now all he had to do was stall until Enya joined them.

Arriving at the building, he looked at the names on the doorbells, then turned to Daphne. “Have a look through these names. Do any of them sound familiar?”

She gave him an odd look. “Are you saying I might know the kidnapper?”

He didn’t think so, but he needed to buy time without looking like he was twiddling his thumbs. “I just want to cover all our bases.”

He motioned to the doorbells again, and Daphne came closer and scanned them. She lifted her head and shook it. “Nope. Don’t recognize any of them.”

“Okay. How about the neighborhood? Has your brother ever mentioned it?”

“If he has, then I don’t remember it. Though it’s not too far from where he lives, maybe ten minutes by car.” She looked to the door. “So, how are we gonna get in and figure out where the kidnapper called from?”

Pearce smiled. “Easy. Let’s ring a few doorbells.” He pressed several random doorbells, then waited.

A few seconds later, a voice came through the crackling intercom. “Yes?”

“Delivery,” Pearce said.

A door buzzer sounded, and Pearce pushed the door open. “Ladies first.”

Daphne walked inside ahead of him. He followed and pulled the door shut behind him, then heard footsteps from the stairs.

“Act normal,” he whispered to Daphne, and took her hand.

The moment they turned the corner to where the stairway was located, they came to an abrupt halt. Enya was coming down the stairs.

“Hey, guys,” she said. “I already looked around.” She made eye contact with Pearce, and he understood. She’d swept the building invisibly.

“Did you find my brother?” Daphne asked.

Enya nodded.

“Oh my God! I can’t believe it. How?”