Henri - 23

 

 

Around two in the afternoon, Taegan called Henri to tell him he'd be a little later than expected for dinner because a patron had pushed back their meeting by half an hour. The call went to voicemail, so he figured maybe Henri was showering and didn't hear the phone after trekking around shopping. So he left a message. When Henri didn't return his call after twenty minutes, Taegan tried again. Still no answer. Now Taegan was getting concerned. He was about to give it another shot when one of his employees told him a regular customer wanted to talk with him. Torn, but knowing the woman wouldn't take no for an answer, Taegan hurried into the gallery.

 

It only took five minutes to deal with her, then he was back in his office and on the phone again, muttering, "Where the hell are you?" When he reached Henri's voicemail for the third time, Taegan hung up and called Ransom. After explaining why he was worried, Ransom immediately said he'd go to the apartment.

 

"If that bastard got his hands on Henri…" Taegan spat out angrily. Getting no reply from Ransom, he hung up. I have to find out. Not that Ransom won't tell me, but… He stepped out of his office long enough to let his manager know he had some important calls to make and didn't want to be disturbed. Then, locking the office door, he teleported to Henri's apartment.

 

Taegan landed in the living room a second later. He heard Ransom's voice coming from the kitchen and prayed that Ransom was talking to Henri—even though he didn't hear any reply.

 

Ransom was standing next to Henri at the counter, one hand gripping Henri's shoulder in an obvious attempt to keep him from moving. Taegan took one look at Henri, asking, "What the hell happened?" It was apparent something had from the congealed blood on Henri's temple.

 

"Stupid happened," Henri replied in disgust. "I was loaded down with the stuff I bought. Put one bag down to get the door unlocked and the alarm turned off. Picked it up and brought everything in here. I'd set the last bag on the counter when I sensed someone behind me. Like an idiot, I turned to see who it was and got cold-cocked."

 

"You left the fucking door unlocked?" Taegan said in disbelief.

 

"Yeah." Henri wriggled free from Ransom's hold, grimacing as he did. "But it's not all bad." He smiled triumphantly. "I know where Xavier's holed up, thanks to the fool who tried to abduct me. Seems like Xavier didn't tell him what he was dealing with. The guy thought knocking me out was enough."

 

"You came to when he got you—wherever?"

 

"Yeah. I was groggy, but I managed to get a look at the place before I took things into my own hands, busted him in the jaw and beat a hasty retreat. Oh, by the way, check the bathroom. He's in there. Not Xavier, but his man."

 

"You brought him back with you?" Taegan said, while Ransom left the kitchen.

 

"Figured it was safer than leaving him there to tell Xavier I knew where he was hiding out."

 

"And that is?" Taegan asked.

 

"I'm not sure, but it should be easy enough to find, I'd think." Henri mentally sent him an image of what looked like an abandoned, two-story building with blue, Art Deco trim. "That's what I saw just as I regained consciousness and he pulled around beside it. At that point, all I wanted to do was get out of there."

 

"Let me see," Ransom said, returning to the kitchen. "Oh, our friend won't be going anywhere for a while. He's cuffed with his arms around the toilet."

 

Henri gave him the same image he'd shown Taegan.

 

"That's the General Laundry building, or what's left of it after Katrina," Ransom told them. "That girl did a number on it. Now it's just sitting there, abandoned. Of course, finding Xavier in there won't be easy, but we will."

 

"Now?" Henri asked.

 

"No, tonight, when it's dark. That'll give us a definite edge," Ransom replied. "I'll call Allyn and Miranda as soon as I get back to the station—which I'd better do now."

 

"You want to meet here?" Taegan asked. He was quite willing to let Ransom, who had the experience, take charge of the operation.

 

"Sure. Say around nine. Oh, you might want to have a talk with the man in the bathroom. He could know where in the building Xavier is hiding." Giving them a salute, Ransom took off.

 

"Before we do that," Taegan said, "let's get you cleaned up."

 

"You don't like the bloody but unbowed look I have going?" Henri asked wryly while he dug through one of the bags from the dollar store for a wash cloth.

 

"Not really," Taegan told him. "It's rather frightening—and not in a good way."

 

As Henri washed up in the kitchen sink, Taegan went through the other bags, putting away their contents. "Steak for dinner, I presume."

 

"That was the idea, before all this happened." After drying his face, Henri asked, "Better?"

 

Putting his hands on Henri's shoulders, Taegan nodded. "Yeah. Looks like a minor abrasion now and that'll be gone soon." He blew out a breath. "It scared the hell out of me when I couldn't get hold of you."

 

"Can't say I was too thrilled with what happened either, except for the fact we now have a pretty good idea where to find Xavier."

 

"Presuming his man didn't let him know he'd found you."

 

"True. Shall we go ask him?"

 

"In a second. First…" Taegan kissed Henri hard. "The next time you decide to leave your door unlocked…don't."

 

"I wasn't planning on doing it this time. The guy just got lucky is all. He must have spotted me somewhere between my leaving the gallery and here, which means Xavier has to have seen the interview with Williams and sent his people out looking for me."

 

"It's the only explanation that makes sense. It was a long shot, but it seems to have worked."