Allyn and Ransom – 26

 

 

"You hit it on the head," Ransom said as soon as Allyn answered his phone.

 

"Dawson was wearing something red?" Allyn asked sleepily.

 

Ransom chuckled. "Did I wake you?"

 

"You did, but that's okay. Was he?"

 

"Yes. But so were over half of the people who went to the gala. It seems the clothing theme was, get this, red and white to match the boat."

 

"Were they clutching at straws with that theme?" Allyn chuckled. "So the fact he was wearing… What?"

 

Ransom snorted. "A red and white striped blazer and a straw hat. Him and a lot of the other men. I'd say our kidnapper had a variety to choose from and Dawson was just the luck of the draw."

 

"Other than the fact a lot of the people were older, you're probably right."

 

Ransom made an abrupt change of subject, at least in Allyn's opinion, asking what his plans were for the day.

 

"I'm heading out west until Friday morning."

 

"Ah."

 

"I have an ulterior motive, beyond protecting the wolves. I know if I stay here, I'll be phoning you every half hour for updates. That would drive both of us crazy."

 

"I'd stop answering after the first couple," Ransom retorted with a laugh. "So go play defender and try not to get your fine ass shot by some hunter in the process."

 

Allyn smiled at the 'fine ass' comment. "I'll do my damnedest not to. If by some miracle there is a break in the case, call me?"

 

"You bet. Okay, I have to hang up now. Duty calls." Ransom paused momentarily. "I meant it about being careful. We have plans, and I for one do not want them to get screwed up."

 

"Nope. Won't happen. I'd rather get screwed than screw them up."

 

"Allyn!" Ransom guffawed. "I'll see you Friday?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Be careful," Ransom said one more time before hanging up.

 

Always am. And now I have even more reason to be.

Allyn and Ransom – 25

 

 

Ransom flagged down the waiter; they paid the check, tipped him, and took off. Arriving at the shore, Ransom looked questioningly at Allyn. "You really want to do this?"

 

Instead of replying, Allyn unlaced his shoes, toed them off, and stuffed his socks into them. Then, tying the laces together, slung them over his shoulder.

 

"Kids," Ransom muttered, doing the same.

 

The water was comfortably cool, the sand underfoot oozed between their toes. Allyn was almost tempted to go farther out, except for the fact he wasn't dressed for it and he wasn't about to tempt fate when he knew there were deep drop-offs in places. Unexpectedly, one drop-off was very close to him, as he found out when his foot hit the edge of it. Only Ransom grabbing him kept Allyn from taking an unexpected swim.

 

"You could have drowned," Ransom declared, not releasing his hold.

 

Allyn turned in Ransom's arms, saw the worried look on his face, and murmured, "But I had you to save me."

 

"Damned good thing, too. I'd hate to have lost you just when I've…" Ransom gazed at Allyn. "Just when I've found you again," he said huskily.

 

Allyn felt his heart lurch. "You…you mean that, don't you?"

 

"Yeah, I do. It's why the idea of you being anywhere near to that bastard…" Ransom hugged Allyn tightly.

 

"We weren't going to talk about that. Remember?" Allyn murmured.

 

"I know. I can't help thinking about it though." Ransom released Allyn, only to put his hands on Allyn's shoulders instead. "If he gets hold of you…"

 

"Ran, I'll be fine. I'm not the youngster I was way back when." Allyn smiled. "Appearances to the contrary, I do know how to take care of myself. He's just a man. Crazy, evil, but just a man."

 

"That kind of thinking can be the death of you," Ransom replied sharply before softening his tone. "For things to work out the way we're planning, you must remember, this man is dangerous—very dangerous—and clever. He is not someone to be taken lightly."

 

"Understood," Allyn said, feeling suitably chastened, even though he was fairly certain Ransom hadn't meant to do that.

 

"I'm not trying to lecture you," Ransom told him. "I just want you to come out of this alive." He put one arm around Allyn's waist, walking them both back to the sidewalk along the edge of the lake. "Alive, and preferably unscathed."

 

"I can get with that idea, especially the alive part." Allyn came to a halt, looking up at Ransom. "I think," he said quietly, "we might have plans for afterward and my being dead would sort of put a crimp in them."

 

Bending, Ransom brushed a kiss over Allyn's lips. "I definitely have several ideas when it comes to you. Most of them fairly lewd, involving you sprawled across my bed in all your naked glory."

 

"Well…" Allyn tried hard to look at Ransom as if, in his opinion, he wasn't at all certain it would happen. He failed miserably when he broke into a broad smile. "That sounds like what I was planning. Except it was my bed involved, not yours."

 

"We'll trade off?"

 

"That works." Wrapping his arms around Ransom's neck, Allyn kissed him, asking in frustration, "Do we have to wait until after this weekend and the hospital ball?"

 

Ransom nodded, smiling slightly. "Knowing what comes afterward will give us both a reason to make damned good and sure we stop the bastard."

 

"I think we already have reason enough. Damn him to hell. Still, I get what you're saying. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."

 

"More like the diamond at the end of a long, dark mine shaft."

 

Allyn chuckled. "That's a weird way to put it, but it works, I guess."

 

Putting his arm around Allyn again, Ransom said, "Now it's time for us to get home. I, for one, have to work tomorrow."

 

Reluctantly, Allyn nodded. As they walked back to their cars, he had a thought. "What was Ellis Patterson wearing at the masked ball?"

 

"According to his friends, he was a very flamboyant Cardinal Richelieu."

 

"So he would have been wearing red. So was Liam. And I had red accents on my costume. Do you know what Dawson wore to the 'Moonlight Gala on the River'? And what Ms Stevens had on?"

 

"Her, yes. All the servers were required to wear red shirts or… Well, I'll be damned."

 

"Let's hope not," Allyn told him, chuckling.

 

"I'll check first thing in the morning. If Dawson was also wearing red, we may know how our perp chooses his victims—or at least one part of it."

 

By then, they had reached the lot where both of them had parked. "Call me when you find out?"

 

"Of course." Ransom stopped in front of Allyn when they reached Allyn's car. Sliding one hand behind Allyn's head, Ransom kissed him with promise and a strong touch of desire.

 

Allyn returned it as given, sighing deeply when it ended. "I'd drag you home with me, but I know it wouldn't be the smartest move on my part."

 

"Or mine to let you. It will happen though. I promise." Ransom kissed Allyn again, lightly this time. "We had a good thing going before I walked away. I want that back again."

 

"You and me both," Allyn replied passionately. "All right. I'll wait for your call." He took out his phone. "What's a number where I can reach you, besides at the station?"

 

Ransom gave it to him, asking for Allyn's personal number in return. Then, after another brief but heartfelt kiss, they both headed home.

Allyn and Ransom – 24

 

 

"Good catch, but I'm not sure he believed you," Ransom said, chuckling. When Allyn started to say something, Ransom shook his head. "The case is on hold until we finish eating. This—" he pointed to the appetizer, "—and dinner."

 

Reluctantly, Allyn agreed. When they finished their meals and were drinking coffee, Ransom picked up the discussion where they'd left off, saying, "There is no 'we', Allyn. This is police business."

 

"Well you're not doing so well catching him," Allyn replied irritably.

 

"We have a fair idea what he looks like now. It will help."

 

"Fair idea isn't enough. I made a connection with him, I think. If we play it right, he might come after me."

 

"Not happening. Besides which, where would we set it up to do that?"

 

Allyn was pretty certain he had Ransom hooked when he asked the question. "At the Dragée Ball for the Children's Hospital on Saturday. It's one of the events of the season. Everyone who's anyone will be there."

 

"Meaning the chances of his finding you in the crowd will be next to none," Ransom pointed out. "Not that he'll have the opportunity to, because you won't be there."

 

"Yeah, I will. Miranda and I already have tickets."

 

"Allyn!" Ransom shook his head "What will it take for me to convince you it's not safe? Especially if you really did connect with him on some level when you saw him. If there's even the slightest chance he'll be there… Nope, not happening."

 

"You really can't stop me, you know."

 

"Sure I can. I can arrest your fine ass and toss you in jail."

 

Allyn smirked. "Like that would do any good."

 

"Fuck," Ransom muttered, obviously ceding defeat on that level. "Okay, where is the gala being held?"

 

"At Lakefront Airport, on the main concourse."

 

Ransom tapped a fingernail against his teeth. "At least the venue is controllable, as far as our watching people going to and from the terminal."

 

"Talking about tossing me in jail, there's another plus if he does grab me—or whatever he does. I can just teleport away once I know where his, his base of operations I guess, is."

 

"If he doesn't sedate you."

 

"He can't keep me like that forever."

 

"But he could take you somewhere and kill you."

 

Allyn disagreed. "No. I mean, he could. But if he was just into doing that, you'd be finding the bodies of his victims, because he'd want to show them off. I think there's a lot more to it."

 

"I'm afraid you're probably right."

 

Taking a drink of coffee, Allyn stared out over the edge of the balcony. Then he said, "This was supposed to be a nice evening so you could get away from the stress of your job."

 

"Yeah." Ransom shrugged. "Hasn't quite turned out that way."

 

Impulsively, Allyn said, "Why don't we take a walk? It's a lovely night. The moon is out. We can head to the lake shore, take off our shoes, and go wading."

 

"Relive our childhoods?" Ransom asked, grinning.

 

"Can you think of anything better to do?"

 

"Actually right now? No."

Allyn and Ransom – 23

 

 

Allyn paced the sidewalk in front of Brisbi's, wondering if Ransom was going to show up after all. It was already seven fifteen, and Ransom had said he'd be there at seven. Allyn thought about calling, until he remembered he only had the number for the station house, not Ransom's personal one. He watched an older truck drive by before it turned into the same parking lot beside the restaurant where he'd left his car. Moments later, Ransom came around the corner from the lot.

 

"You drive a truck?" Allyn asked in surprise.

 

"And good evening to you as well," Ransom replied with a grin. "I do…have a truck, that is. Sorry I'm late but I've been working all day, so I went home to shower and change clothes."

 

"Have you found out anything about Liam?"

 

"I'll tell you once we're inside and have a table," Ransom said, starting up the stairs to the restaurant.

 

Allyn was right beside him as they entered the short hallway leading to the hostess desk. Ransom asked if there was a table free on the balcony, got a positive reply, and soon the two men were seated, with a perfect view of the lake at the far end of the inlet.

 

A waiter took their drink orders—beer for both of them—and they checked the menu while waiting for him to return. Allyn was antsy, wanting a reply to his question about Liam, but the look on Ransom's face said he wouldn't get it until after they had ordered dinner. Allyn settled on shrimp and grits, while Ransom opted for pecan crusted catfish. They decided to split an order of tuna tartare nachos.

 

Once the waiter had their order and was gone, Ransom took a long drink of his beer before saying, "We may have gotten lucky."

 

"You found Liam?" Allyn asked, his face lighting up.

 

"I wish I could tell you we had, but no. However, we have security film of him leaving the party last night."

 

"With someone?" Allyn wasn't certain he liked that idea, even if it meant Liam was safely ensconced in someone else's bed.

 

"No. But just after he walked outside, he was approached by a man." Ransom took an envelope from his pocket, handing it to Allyn. "We have a partial view of the guy before they both walked out of the camera's view."

 

Allyn looked at the printout of the man. "It's not exactly definitive," he started to say before he saw the man's eye. He hissed in a breath.

 

"What?" Ransom asked.

 

"I…I think this is the same man I saw at the masked ball. The eye color? Slate gray? How many people…?"

 

"Very few," Ransom replied. "Can you remember anything about him?"

 

"He was tall, and dressed all in black, but you know that from the description Ellis's friends gave you." Allyn continued to study the picture, trying to remember more about the man. "He felt…evil is the best way to put it. But enthralling too. I saw him three times. The first time was when he came into the ballroom, the second when he seemed to appear out of the crowd close to where I was sitting. He stared at me. I started to get up—to go to him—but he held up his hand to stop me."

 

Ransom frowned. "Literally stop you?"

 

"No, no. Just a gesture to say I should stay where I was, but I didn't. I was fascinated by him, despite the fact I was certain he wasn't a good man, if that makes sense. The third time, I got close to him just as he was leaving. He turned to look at me. That's when I really felt he was evil."

 

"You're certain it was the same man?" Ransom tapped the picture when Allyn put it down on the table.

 

Allyn nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, I am."

 

"So he's been at least two places where people have disappeared. It could be a coincidence, but somehow I doubt it, not when you seemed to sense he was wicked."

 

"Very much so, but as I said, still very…captivating in his own way."

 

"Evil can be, as you well know."

 

"Not personally," Allyn replied.

 

"You don't think the pair who was going after shifters were?"

 

"Well…maybe. But not like this guy." Allyn shuddered. "If he has Liam…"

 

"If he does, I'm afraid that doesn't bode well for your friend."

 

"We have to stop the bastard," Allyn spat out, just as the waiter arrived with their appetizer. The man gave Allyn a startled look, so Allyn apologized, telling him he was talking about a baseball team he and Ransom were on. "Our biggest competitor brought in a ringer, so…" Allyn smiled winningly.

 

"Hate when that happens," the waiter replied before hurrying away.

Allyn and Ransom – 22

 

 

"I thought you were off today," Thornton said when Ransom came into the conference room early Monday morning. His team was there, looking tense and worried.

 

Ransom nodded, glancing at the board with the pictures of the missing people. Below each one was a list of what he and the team knew—or didn't know—about each person. Walking over, he tacked the photo Allyn had emailed him of Liam at the end of the row.

 

"Another one?" Daniels asked.

 

"Yeah. He was at the film festival party."

 

Daniels looked at Thornton. "I don't remember him. Do you?"

 

"He's vaguely familiar." Thornton smiled dryly. "But considering the… No, wait, I do recall seeing him. He was in the crowd surrounding that actor. Umm, Oliver Wilson. The kid stood out because he was wearing a dark red tux with a red ascot, instead of a bow tie. I thought that was weird, but…" He shrugged.

 

"Was anyone overly interested in him?" Ransom asked.

 

"No. I mean he got a few looks, especially from the women, but that was it."

 

"I've asked the security people at the building to send us the discs from the cameras covering the exits. He should stand out, so at least we'll know which door he used, and if we're damned lucky, they might have caught someone approaching him at that point."

 

"Or he'll have walked away and out of view, the same as with the other vics," Hanna Lane pointed out.

 

"Probably." Ransom frowned, recalling the security video they had showing Ellis Patterson leaving the masked ball. His friends said he was with someone. The tall, dark-haired man, but that didn't show up on the tape. "I wonder," he said aloud, "Does our perp know enough to avoid being filmed?"

 

"Probably," Thornton replied, "considering he's been able to abduct three—and now maybe four—people without anyone seeing it happen.

 

They spent the next half hour going over, once again, what they knew about the presumed victims, adding the details about Liam into the mix.

 

"If we had bodies…" Hanna said at one point.

 

"Then we'd know for certain there really is something going on," Ransom agreed. He was frustrated—and he knew his team was, as well—by the lack of any concrete evidence saying the four missing people really were victims of a crime.

 

A messenger from the Board of Trade building arrived, handing Ransom the discs he'd requested. Ransom booted up the computer, and the team began going through them, looking for the red tux.

 

"Seems like Mr. Kavanagh wasn't the only man wearing red," Johnson said when a beefy man appeared on one disc, going out the front door of the building.

 

"Him I do remember," Daniels commented. "He had more than enough to drink and was pestering some of the young ladies."

 

"There," Ransom said when they moved on to the view from the rear exit of the building. He paused the scene about halfway through, tapping the screen. Liam was just leaving and seemed relieved by the fact. Ransom started the scene rolling again. Liam moved forward, then stopped, looking to his left. He nodded, saying something. For a brief moment, a second man came into the frame before both he and Liam walked out of view of the camera.

 

Ransom backed it up, freezing the view of the man, and zoomed in. "Not much to go on, since we can only see him in partial profile," he said.

 

"Tall, with dark hair, like the description of the man seen with Ellis Patterson," Johnson said.

 

Ransom zoomed in even closer. "Enough of his right eye to tell that it's gray, which helps. Gray eyes are very rare."

 

"Normal nose, normal features, as far as I can tell," Thornton said. "He wouldn't stand out in a crowd."

 

"He didn't," Daniels replied dryly, "if he was inside at the party. And if he was, he didn't make any overt moves on anyone. I was watching for people who did—like the other man in red."

 

Ransom nodded. He hit Print Screen and pasted the image into a document file which he then printed out. "I'm going to show this to someone I know who attended a fair number of society events. He was at the masked ball the night Patterson disappeared. With luck, he might have seen this man."

 

"If it was a masked ball, wouldn't the guy have been wearing a mask too?" Hanna asked.

 

"Undoubtedly, but still, seeing this picture might strike a chord in my friend's memory."