Page 25 of Darius

Imagining her route, Darius straightened his spine. “Her apartment is east of the bank. She must have gone to her place to work. She could have had everything set up there to function without any hassles.”

“Smart, Darius.”

Everyone clustered around Bram’s computer as he typed furiously. Darius continued to prowl around the room. He needed to do something.

“I’ve hacked into the building’s system. Does she go in the front door usually, Darius?” Bram asked.

“The back. She has a parking space on the rear side,” Darius reported. “Her vehicle is a red Honda Pilot.”

Bram clicked in the time-stamped video, starting the replay slightly after Mara had left the work. Then he ran the recording as fast as possible.

“There!” Donovan said, pointing to a brief flash of red that appeared on the screen. Her spot wasn’t in a direct path, but the camera caught a small sliver of crimson paint as Mara’s vehicle angled briefly into the recorded shot.

Soon, Mara appeared on the screen as she walked to the door. Through the glass entry doors, they could see her stop and juggle her mail before disappearing inside. Her apartment was on a floor higher than the camera, so they couldn’t get eyes on her inside the building.

Darius headed for the door. “I’ll head over to the complex to check on her.”

Bram had forwarded through the recording again. “Wait, Darius. What if she leaves? We’ll know in a few minutes if she should still be there.”

A few people entered and left. It was prime work time. Most people were at their jobs, Darius assumed. A van with a mobile delivery sign in the window pulled up and illegally parked at the curb. A man exited from the passenger door with an insulated food bag slung over one shoulder and entered the building.

He returned a few minutes later with a visibly lighter carrier and drove off. Interestingly, the van drove away from the curb but didn’t leave the area.

“Hey. Why would that guy drop off food and then stop on the edge of the apartment lot? That doesn’t make any sense,” Titus pointed out.

Twenty minutes later, according to the time noted in the corner, as Bram advanced the tape, the van exited the lot.

Bram scrambled to locate other cameras and caught the van as the large vehicle circled the block and entered the alleyway behind the building. They parked next to the service dock. Bram switched back to the building’s security cameras to catch three men, dressed in coveralls with the logo of a local building maintenance service, exiting the van. They unloaded a cart equipped with what appeared to be cleaning supplies on either side of a center section concealed by a curtain. Leaving the driver behind, the men wheeled the cart inside.

Fury welled up inside Darius. He swung a fist at the wall next to the screen and embedded his hand deep into the sheetrock. “Watching this and knowing this already happened… That I let her down….”

“Bram’s going to find them. We will get her back,” Marcus promised. His face was etched with grim determination.

Marcus turned to Titus. “I’m going to send men to pick up Carina in case this is an attack on more than Mara. Can I set up a protection zone at your place?”

“Of course. I’ll head to Alessia now,” Titus said and dashed from the room. From the usually fun-loving man’s expression, Darius guessed he was already in contact with his mate. Marcus walked to the edge of the room to set the plan into action and notify Carina.

Darius had never been one to panic. Stoic even in the worst of situations, Darius struggled to hold on to his emotions as he watched them dare to take his Little girl. He fought the helplessness that threatened to cloud his judgement. He would need to act soon and had to stay in control.

“Alessia is at home. Titus’s security has his mansion and grounds on lockdown. My men are escorting Carina to stay with Alessia,” Marcus reported before focusing back on the display in front of the others.

A short time later, the cart and men emerged from the loading dock entrance. They loaded the obviously heavier transport device into the back of the van and drove away. If the men had stashed Mara inside that metal box on wheels like they suspected, she hadn’t struggled to get away. The cart hadn’t rocked, and nothing had emerged from that curtain.

“Fuck!” Darius yelled, his rage rekindling with every passing moment. “She wouldn’t have gone with them willingly. Just like at Nightfall, she would have fought. They must have drugged her! That’s why I can no longer feel her!”

No one disagreed with him. Darius’s heart sank as he took in the concerned looks they exchanged. He struggled to control his emotions. He wouldn’t be able to help her if he didn’t focus.

“She’ll need your strength, Darius. Save your anger to deal with them,” Alaric said quietly from the secluded spot he’d occupied since arriving at Bram’s office. Darius wrestled his emotions back under control. He felt the clan leader’s mental power bolstering his own. He nodded at Alaric to signal his thanks.

Darius clenched his fists to his sides but said nothing further. Alaric was correct. Alaric was always right about these situations. Soon, these foolish men would pay. Slowly he wrestled his anger into a box to release later on the men who’d provoked his violent side.

Bram broke the weighty silence. “Let me see if I can get the plates this time.” He switched the monitor to a split screen showing a series of traffic cameras and a map of the city with a red dot to represent the van’s progress as the van passed each camera.

“Luckily, I caught one cellphone being used in the area behind Mara’s building while the van was there. I’m triangulating phone traffic from the cell towers they’ve passed thus far, and I believe I have identified our guys,” Bram reported as his fingers danced around the keyboard.

“Can you get any hint of who he called?” Donovan asked.

“I’m tracing the number the driver contacted. One thing I can tell for certain is that the number isn’t on my list from Enzo’s operation or any of his associates. Of course, you guys keep killing off his thugs. Keeping up with the latest changes in personnel is challenging,” Bram said.