little bitch. I know the address of the place she's holed up in, though. I can give it to you, but you'd better hurry if you want to get to her first. I gave that address to Jack last night, and he seemed keen to extricate her, if you know what I mean. He could be there now." He looked at me expectantly, as if he thought I should thank him. I didn't. Instead I left him tied to that chair and climbed the steps and opened the trapdoor and stepped out into the barn. I took my phone out of my pocket and dialled Fergus.
"S'up brother?"
I spoke rapidly. "Jack knows where Rebecca is, Fergus, and he may be planning to attack any minute. You know what to do. I'll be back as soon as I can. I need to finish my conversation with James here."
"Thanks for the heads up. We'll sort things out from this end. By the way, I managed to pinpoint Jack's mobile number by tracking James' calls over the past few days thanks to Eric's phone and my spectacular skill with all things hackable. I should be able to locate his base in another few hours. See you later." He hung up.
I replaced the phone in my pocket and headed back into the underground room, once again shutting the door behind me. James must have heard at least part of the conversation because he'd reverted to looking puzzled.
"You are going to tell me everything you know about Jack," I said coldly.
"Do you know what Jack is?" he asked me, enunciating slowly, as if he were speaking to a small annoying child.
"Yes. How many vampires does he have with him?"
He paled. "So you do know. I'm glad. Now you'll understand why I can't tell you anything."
"You think?" I spoke softly, menacingly.
"You don't frighten me," he stated inaccurately. I could smell his fear as it seeped from his pores. I contemplated extracting information from this frightened man, and I knew it wouldn't take long. But I suddenly became tired of him. He'd pretty much served whatever purpose he'd had, and I wasn't sure he'd know all of Jack's details anyway. I couldn't imagine anyone like Jack confiding much in this idiot. Plus I had to get back to the Colborne house as soon as I could, and that was a good ninety minute drive. I wondered if I could leave him here and come back later, but decided against it. Who knew when I'd be able to return. I didn't want him to starve to death - that would be cruel. Instead I stepped toward him and grasped his neck and crushed it just at the base of his skull. His eyes rolled back in his head and all movement stopped. If he wasn't dead, he would be in a few minutes when his brain starved of blood and oxygen and the cells began rapidly dying in their millions. It was a kindness, really.
I was out of that barn, with everything locked up nice and tight, in under two minutes.
Rebecca
I was sitting next to Fergus when that call came. We had gathered in the dining room to eat lunch, and also to review Oliver and Simon's pretty impressive collection of weaponry. I was sure the vast majority of the objects that lay with glittering menace on the table had never been approved for use by any sane person in any normal country. They seemed to radiate death in all kinds of grisly forms. I was starting to rethink my opinion of Oliver.
Too civilised? I think not.
I watched Fergus' expression change as Angus spoke, and it felt like my heart lurched in my chest. Fergus kept his voice even as he spoke, but I could see the uneasiness in his eyes. As soon as he had disconnected the call he turned to Marcus, who, predictably, was seated next to Julia.
"Jack knows where Rebecca is, and he could be arriving any minute," he told his brother impassively. Julia's eyes widened.
"We need to fortify this place as best we can, then," stated Marcus. "Your firearms and ballistic vests haven't arrived yet, have they?"
"Nope," admitted Fergus. "They're due later this afternoon . We have three shotguns from the estate, our coats, and this lot," he waved his hand at the collection on the table.
"I think we
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