Shadow Falls After Dark: Eternal Part 39

"He said he'd call."

Her phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket. "Speak of the devil."

"So you're admitting he's the devil," Chase said with a touch of humor.

She cut him a smarta.s.s look and answered the phone. "Hey, I was wondering when-"

"Where exactly are you?" Burnett barked.

"About fifteen miles outside of Fallen, we were just heading toward Houston."

"Where?"

Della recalled the street signs she'd just seen. "We're in the twenty-nine-hundred block of Howell Street."

"Hold on," he said, then she heard him say to someone else, "They're close." And then, "Della, do you know where Cooper Airport is?"

She looked at Chase and he nodded.

"Yeah. Chase knows. What's wrong?"

"We put a man on the plane with Damian Bond. Ten minutes ago, he realized the guy sitting in that seat is only a lookalike. He confessed to our agent that Damian took an earlier flight, a smaller plane that should be arriving at Cooper airport in fifteen minutes. We're pretty sure it's flight ten-twenty-six on Token Airlines. We're already in Houston. Even flying it's going to take us twenty to get there. You might make it in ten if you ditch the car and fly. Both of you should have just gotten his mug shot on your phones."

Della heard both of their phones ding. Chase looked around for a place to park.

"Stay away from any major streets," Burnett continued. "It's not quite dark enough, and I don't want you getting spotted."

"We won't," Della said.

"And don't ... do not ... confront Damian. Just follow him. He carries a Glock and he likes using it. You got that?"

"Yeah," she said.

"Do you understand, Chase?" Burnett barked.

"Yeah," Chase answered, and he grimaced as he pulled over in a drugstore parking lot beside a patch of trees.

Perfect for taking off.

The line went dead. Della pushed a b.u.t.ton and stared at Damian Bond's face. Ready or not, here we come.

Nine minutes and thirty seconds later, they landed in a wooded lot a half block from the airport. It was the first time since being Reborn that Della had flown that fast. If she wasn't so worried about what they were about to do, she would have really enjoyed it.

The sun had completely faded, only the corner of the western sky held a touch of color to bid the day good-bye.

They didn't speak. No time. If the plane came in early, their last lead to finding Natasha and Liam could be gone. Her blood zinged through her body, preparing to do whatever it took to keep Damian in their sights.

She ran her hand through her winded hair as they headed out of the woods toward the one-story airport.

"Look." She spotted the lights of a plane already on the ground and rolling in to the airport.

"That's probably him," Chase said. They hurried their steps, trying not to call attention to themselves as a couple of cars pulled into the airport parking lot. Walking into the building, which was mostly gla.s.s, there were about two dozen people standing around waiting for pa.s.sengers.

Della noted a mom and her two red-haired kids. Burnett's idea of just following Damian seemed like a good one, the last thing she wanted was someone innocent to get hurt.

Following Chase through the crowd, she could see the plane through the gla.s.s doors. Pa.s.sengers were disembarking and waiting at the foot of the steps for their luggage. But so far, she hadn't seen Damian.

She pulled out her phone again to study his face and then slipped it back in her pocket.

"There's Daddy," said the woman with two kids who'd moved up to the gla.s.s. "Wave at Daddy."

Della glanced at Chase. "We just follow him," she whispered. "I don't want trouble here."

"I know." He glanced at the woman, obviously knowing exactly what Della was thinking.

"There," he said and her gaze shot to the were walking out of the plane. The light on the outside of the building pointed toward the plane, giving Della a good view. Early thirties maybe, Damian wore jeans and a black jacket, probably to cover his gun. His dark hair was slicked back, reminding her of some mobster. His eyes were too far apart. His mouth too thin. A woman walked out of the plane at the same time, and their suspect, not exactly a gentleman, cut her off to make the steps first. No doubt, he was as ugly as he was mean.

"Let's pull back," Della said, afraid he would spot two vampires and know they were onto him. Sure he'd smell them, but if they weren't too close he might not suspect they were here for him.

They moved behind the crowd, but Chase stayed between two groups of people so he could keep an eye on their suspect. Della s.h.i.+fted a little to the right behind an older lady so she too had a line of vision. The pa.s.sengers started moving inside. The noise level in the mostly gla.s.s room grew as people greeted each other.

"s.h.i.+t!" muttered Chase.

"What?" she asked, looking at him and realizing that he wasn't even looking at Damian, but behind them.

Della twisted and saw exactly what had him panicking. Two police cars screeched to a halt in front of the airport. Their lights whirled around giving everything and everyone a blue cast.

"Did Burnett call the police?" Chase seethed.

"I don't think so," Della said as she watched four officers rush inside the building.

Della grabbed her phone to call Burnett, but before she could dial, a woman screamed. A child cried out.

Then a gunshot.

Chapter Thirty-nine.

The bullet ricocheted off something metal and binged around the room.

"Police," screamed one of the four officers behind them. "Get down!"

"Drop your weapon," ordered another.

Everyone plummeted to the floor. Della and Chase went down on their haunches, both prepared to launch off if needed. Then he put his arm around her, holding her down, and preventing her from seeing. Refusing to be blocked, she knocked his arm away.

Damian and one other man stood in front of the gla.s.s wall. Both of them had guns. But Damian had something the other didn't. He held the red-haired baby girl dressed in pink, about the same age as Hannah. He pressed his gun to the screaming child's head as the mother on the floor sobbed.

"You don't want to do this," called one officer.

Della again noticed the other guy with the gun. He wasn't supernatural. Did Damian have a human accomplice? Then she noted how the two guys shot each other puzzled looks.

c.r.a.p. What were the chances they had two criminals on one plane?

Damian looked back at the officers. "Drop your guns or I'll blow this kid's head off."

The mother's sobs rang out with others' screams. Della's heart clutched and she felt her canines extend and her eyes stung from the oncoming brightness.

The other guy just stood there, gun out, but appearing stunned. Della glanced back at the officers, wondering which of these guys they were after. Had Damian's crimes become a human problem, or were they after criminal number two?

"Keep your head down," she heard Chase whisper, but she could barely hear him over the screams of the crowd.

She lowered her head, but cut her eyes up, still able to see what was happening in front.

"There's four of us," said one of the officers. "And it's not going to end well."

Damian gave the baby girl a cold look. "Yeah, and we know who it's going to end badly for," Damian said and lifted his head as if to sniff the air, no doubt picking up on their scents.

"He knows we're here," she muttered in an almost silent whisper.

"Yeah, but he doesn't know who we are yet," Chase whispered back. "So keep your head down. We'll have a better chance of overtaking him."

Feeling her blood fizz in her veins, she could hear her heartbeat hitting her ribs as if it wanted to escape. The child's screams had her wanting to attack.

"Drop your guns or the kid dies!" yelled Damian, but he was busy looking around the crowd for them instead of focusing on the cops.

The mother screamed again and Della saw someone holding the woman back. But no one was holding Della back.

She tightened her calf muscles, ready to lunge, but Chase must have felt her slight movements. His arm came back down on her.

"Not yet," he said in her ear.

But Della didn't see any choice. She saw Damian's finger go for the trigger. Bolting up, she dove for him, praying she got there in time.

Still airborne, she saw Criminal Number Two turn his gun toward her.

Chase dove in front of her.

The gun exploded.

Chase! Her heart stopped, but she couldn't. She had to save the baby first.

Seconds felt like minutes. She grabbed Damian's right arm and twisted until she heard it break. He dropped the baby, but the mother bolted over and caught it. Damian's gun clanked to the floor and Della kicked it and heard it skid across the tile. Then with force propelled by fury, she shoved him to the ground. His head hit the hard floor with a thud.

Another gun went off.

More screams exploded. People started scrambling.

The police rushed forward. Della stepped away as they reached Damian.

Her heart stopped midbeat as she turned to look for Chase.

People were everywhere, falling over each other to try to get out. The cops had the other guy on the ground. Another two were standing over Damian.

She s.h.i.+fted her gaze from left to right.

Right to left.

She couldn't find Chase.

Tears stung her eyes. Where was he, d.a.m.n it?

She felt someone step behind her, but her nose said it wasn't Chase, so she ignored the presence and continued to look for him.

But then the scent hit. Not Chase, but another were.

"Are you here to help? Or part of the problem?" a voice asked behind her.

Turning her head, she saw one of the officers. She'd been so tense earlier she hadn't picked up on his scent.

But a quick glance at his forehead confirmed what her nose had already told her. He was half were, half human.

"To help. I'm ... we're with the FRU." Della turned back to look for Chase, feeling her panic climb at frightening speeds.

The officer grabbed Della by the arm. "Then you need to show me your badge."

Before Della could cut him a sharp look, a growl sounded behind her. "Release her."

She swung around, pulling out of the were officer's grip. Her eyes landed on Chase, and only then did air get to her lungs.

"You okay?" she asked. Then she cut her eyes down and saw blood high up on the arm of his s.h.i.+rt. "You're hit!"

"Just grazed," he said, still glaring at the officer.

"I still haven't seen a badge," the were in the uniform said.

The officer could strip naked and howl for all she cared. All she cared about was Chase. And not trusting his a.s.sessment of his injury, she reached up, found the hole in his s.h.i.+rt, and ripped it open to see for herself. He hadn't been lying. The bullet had just grazed his forearm.

He'd dove in front of her. He'd taken a bullet for her-put his life at risk. Her heart started pulling in about a dozen different directions, as did her emotions. She wanted to slap him for doing something so stupid, she wanted to kiss him because he was okay.

"Happy?" he asked, looking down at her.