Page 54 of Captured

What? Tell them Henry Smithson had given a lovely spray of roses and a diamond necklace to her little sister and that was wrong somehow? Who would believe her, beyond Dimitri? And what would he do? He was a demigod... did that mean he’d just break heads first, ask questions later? Knowing Dimitri, he’d make some sort of scene, and that was no good. Right now, Henry had no idea that she knew Dimitri as anything more than a bodyguard. Based on what he’d done to her last boyfriend, if he knew the truth, Henry would probably…

Her phone buzzed again.

There is a small fisherman’s port on the south side of Miranos, west of the main town, which I assume is where you are. Be there in an hour, or I will happily send another gift to your sister. She’s not you. She might not enjoy it as much.

Lauren’s eyes flared wide. She turned back to the water. It was too far to go to on foot. She’d never make it, and she didn’t have time to waste.

Would he hurt Maddie? Was he actually even sending her things? He’d gotten Alexi’s number, after all. Had he somehow gotten hold of Maddie’s as well? Could you fake texts and photos? Probably. But that wasn’t the point. The point was it would be easy for him tostartharassing Maddie, as easy as it had been for him to harass her. Her parents wouldn’t stop it, might not even see the problem. In the end, only she could stop it.

And she would stop it, one way or the other. It was long past time for that.

She keyed back a response, clear and concise. She did have a way to stop this, of course. And in the end, it was so simple. It’d always been the simplest course. Just not the easiest. But there was nothing she could do about that now.

She started moving up the street again, her hand shaking as she clutched her phone. Dimitri was making his call, but how long would that last? If he went looking for her, he’d start with the bathroom, then go outside to the courtyard. Only then would he circle around, so if she moved fast…

The rover was right where they’d left it when they’d bounced into town, both of them so full of passion and possibility, it had made her heart hurt.

Oh, what a difference a few hours made.

She got into the rover and turned the key.

Thirty-Six

Dimitri leaned back in his chair. The ONSF speedboat was almost at the main marina, and there were no signs of it being followed, according to Cyril. The Smithson yacht was almost to the southern tip of Greece at this point, with no indication of putting in at port anytime soon. They hadn’t confirmed that Henry was aboard his yacht, however, which didn’t sit well with him. There were literally dozens of privately owned yachts in the area, and Smithson could easily have commandeered any one of them, while his yacht sailed merrily along to some other port of call.

But that wasn’t going to be an issue. The speedboat was heavily armed and boldly marked with the ONSF letters. If it was delayed or attacked in any way, Smithson would have a battle on his hands.

“Where’s Lauren?” It wasn’t Cyril on the line, but Stefan. “We’ve been monitoring unusual call activity into her phone.”

“Calls?” Dimitri frowned, his gaze skating to the back of the restaurant, registering how long Lauren had been gone. “Her phone hasn’t rung since we arrived here. She spoke with Nicki and Emmaline, texted her sister, but that was yesterday.” He stood, throwing money down on the table. “What kind of calls?”

A few quick strides took him to the back of the restaurant, where the bathroom door stood slightly ajar—the room empty inside.

“The number has been scrambled, that’s why the concern. You say she’s had text communication with her sister?”

Dimitri opened his mouth to reply, but a different voice sounded on the other end of the phone. The no-nonsense snap of Nicki Clark. “I’m sure she has. What’s wrong?”

“That was well handled.”

“Focus on your own American,” Stefan said coolly. “Can you access the phone?”

Dimitri stepped outside and swept the courtyard with his gaze. Shit. “I can’t access the woman right now.” He turned back into the restaurant as a familiar rumble caught his attention. His attention sprang to the cobblestoned alley that led to the street.Shit!

“She’s on the move.” He bolted through the courtyard and into the alley, but he knew it was too late. He scanned the street, identifying two dozen people he knew. “What was in those texts? Her sister texted her?”

“We’re confirming that now. Secure Ms. Grant.”

“Working on it. Call me when you can say something useful.”

Dimitri stowed the phone and stalked up to the first table he could spot, men and women he’d known since birth. Not a minute later, he was racing toward their rover. He tossed his phone on the seat and reached in his pocket for another device, a cell phone not unlike Lauren’s but keyed to the same feed as his sat phone. It had only one function.

A small screen flared to life, a green dot in its center, moving fast. Based on her trajectory, there could be only one place Lauren was heading. But what was she doing going to the fisherman’s pier?

The phone beside him buzzed three minutes later. By this point, he’d cleared the town limits, and he had Lauren’s rover in his sight. He also had a pistol and knife on his body, but no other weapons. There was a locked gun case in Lauren’s rover, but it held only the one weapon, and he didn’t have time to stop at his house.

He picked up the phone. “Report.”

Stefan launched in. “No texts from the sister. She’s on the phone with Nicki, said the last she heard from Lauren was yesterday. No communication since then. Nicki confirms Lauren’s assertion that Maddie’s phone number was private, used by her and the sister alone, but it’s not unreasonable that Smithson discovered and cloned it at some point, as close as he positioned himself to the family. Once Lauren pinged that number, tracking it back to her on Miranos would have been simple enough.”