“White box van, no windows. No front plate, but a beat-up front left quarter panel and a crooked bumper. I’m out on Lake Mead by the trailhead, making my way into town. I’m going to hit surface streets and lead him your way. Do you think you can scramble the brothers to meet up with me on Warm Springs?”
“We can do that.” It sounded like Bulldog talking into a wrapping paper tube. He heard him shout some names before Prowler spoke again.
“Got three brothers heading your way?—”
“Fuck.” Monster cursed as the van got so close he thought they were going to hit him. Instead, they pulled up alongside him on the left. When the window lowered, he locked up his brakes, sure he was about to be shot. Instead, they tossed something out the window.
He barely controlled the skid but managed to hold it upright. When he got stopped, Ulf howled in his head.
“Monster? MONSTER,” Prowler yelled in his ear.
“I’m here, Prez. Fuck.”
“What happened?”
“Fuckers pulled up on me. I was sure I was about to catch a bullet, but they tossed something at me.”
“What?”
“Don’t know yet, Prez. Give me a sec.” Monster doffed his helmet and ended the Bluetooth communication. Bending low, he rested his hands on his knees and inhaled deeply in an attempt to calm down.
With a last deep breath, he stood and searched the area. Finally, his gaze landed on a small, dark gray, rectangular object. When he picked it up, he was shocked at how heavy it was. Lead, he thought. Rubbing his thumb over the smooth back, he turned it over in his hand. There was a deep furrow carved across right in the middle. With dots dug out above and below. Three on each side.
Pulling the phone from his pocket, he called his Prez back.
“Yeah?”
“It’s a message, but I don’t think it’s for me.”
“Why?” Prowler interrupted before he could explain.
“It appears to be a domino.”
There was silence on the other end of the phone that stretched out for what felt like minutes.
It was Kansas’s voice in the distant tone that said he was still on speaker in the room with Prowler’s phone, that broke the silence.
“Double three?”
“Yeah. Is that significant?”
“Yeah. If you pulled the double three, you were volunteered for the next round of experiments.”
Kansas had told the stories of how the pack used to operate. While he explained the drawing of the domino ceremony, he’d never said the number. That pack was fucked up, none of them shed any tears when they were wiped out.
“But I thought the entire pack other than Ben was eliminated,” Monster mused out loud.
“They were. Since there’s a detailed accounting of members that the vamps gave up, the only person unaccounted for is?—”
Prez interrupted Kansas. “The person who wrote the damn file.”
“Samual.”
“I’m on my way,” Monster announced. Already regretting not being able to meet Carys. Prowler’s words changed that.
“I think they delivered the message they wanted to send, so I don’t think we’ll be hearing anything else tonight. Go on to dinner, but make your way back here instead of to your place. We’ll stick close until we know what the message meant and we can form a plan.”
“Will do, Prez.” He ended the call, got back on his bike, and headed toward the restaurant to meet the sexy pixie.
