Erik held his breath, waiting for Hendricks’s response.
“Ghosts and magic? You’re sure enough to bet Ben’s life on that?”
“You know I wouldn’t risk it if I weren’t,” Erik replied.
“These friends agreed? How do you know these Mafia guys don’t have woo-woo of their own?”
“I don’t know for certain, but I’m pretty sure,” Erik admitted. “Both The Collector and The Oligarch are witches in their own right, but they wouldn’t come themselves, they’d send underlings. Witches are pretty careful about not having other people with abilities working for them. It increases the chance for betrayal.”
“There’ll be hell to pay if you’re wrong,” Hendricks warned.
“I’m well aware.” Left unsaid was that if this all went sideways, he and Ben wouldn’t be around for the aftermath.
“Okay. I’ll back your play. Because I think you’re right. If we move on where Ben’s being held, they’ll kill him before we can stop them,” Hendricks said. “Doesn’t mean I like it, but I agree. This time.”
Erik quickly packed what he would need to help Haley summon the spirits and Alessia to work the necessary magic. For a magical working with so much at stake, they would have to sneak into where the kidnappers had Ben to rally the ghosts and have the magic work at full strength.
He called Haley and Alessia and caught them up on the second message from Bratva and his conversation with the chief.
“I understand if you want to do the magic from a distance,” Erik said. “I wouldn’t blame you. Sneaking inside is taking a crazy chance. I’ll be grateful for any support you can provide, but I’ve got to go myself.”
“I’m going with you,” Alessia said without hesitating, and Haley echoed the same seconds later. “I’ll get everything ready. Pick me up on your way.”
Erik thanked them profusely and barely ended the call before his phone rang again from Ben’s assistant.
“Erik, terrible things have happened, and I think Ben is in danger,” Jenny said breathlessly.
“I know,” he replied. “I talked to Chief Hendricks about the shooting victims, and Ben’s been kidnapped.”
“I was afraid of that,” Jenny replied. “But I might be able to help. In the last house we visited together, the previous tenants had left behind a dog collar with a tracking tag. He stuck it in his pocket to see if they still wanted it.
“When the chief told me about the murders, I worried that they had taken Ben,” she continued. “I called the renter and got them to check the location tag. It’s still active. It’s showing a warehouse at the port, and there’s no reason for the collar to be there if it isn’t still in Ben’s pocket.”
“You’re absolutely brilliant.” Erik reached for pen and paper. “Please read the address off to me.” When it turned out to be exactly the same as the address provided by the ghost, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“I will let the chief know,” he promised. “Good thinking. This will help us save him.”
“I feel so guilty,” Jenny confided. “I didn’t go to the last house with him because I had something to do back in the office, and I keep thinking that maybe if he hadn’t been alone, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Erik’s heart went out to her, but he knew that things would have been much worse if she had been with Ben.
“Please don’t feel guilty. The people who took him are professional criminals. They would have hurt you and still taken him. He wouldn’t have wanted you mixed up in that.”
“Bring him back safely,” Jenny said.
“We will.” Erik left a quick voicemail for the chief with the update about the dog tag, figuring that Hendricks would appreciate the validation from something other than a ghost. Erik took a moment to go online and study a street view of the warehouse and figure out where to park and how to approach the building so he, Alessia, and Haley wouldn’t give themselves away.
Then he grabbed his duffel, holstered his gun, made sure he had plenty of ammo, and headed for Alessia’s house.
We’re coming, Ben. Hang in there. Please be safe. Come back to me alive.
The rain had let up some, but it made for miserable driving. The wet road reflected his headlights, and the power outage meant everything else was completely dark. The windshield wipers kept a steady beat, barely clearing enough water for him to see.
Alessia and Haley waited under the carport at Alessia’s house. They put their bags in the back where Haley sat, while Alessia slid into the passenger seat for the drive to the warehouse. “Perfect night for a rescue, don’t you think?” Haley said with forced bravery and a confident grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“At least it means there’s almost no one out on the roads. Less chance to be spotted.” Erik caught them up on the call from Jenny and what he had learned from his online reconnaissance.
“Turn the headlights off when we get close and try to stay away from any security lights that might still be working,”Alessia told him. “I’ve got a spell that won’t exactly make us invisible, but it encourages people not to see us. I hope it will be enough.”
