“How? I doubt Malone, or whoever took him, will keep him on the island for long. Chances are he’s already on a boat or flight leaving Big Island.”
“Doubtful. Those wicked gusts of wind will have halted all travel, meaning we have time to rescue him still.”
“But how will we find him? You said it yourself, there’s too many hotels and rentals Malone could be hiding out at. And what if it’s not him but someone else? We could be wasting our time chasing Malone while the real culprit escapes.”
“I think the chances of there being two dragon-napping villains are small. Malone is our best bet.” Ding. Apollo glanced at his phone, and his brows lifted. “I’ll be damned, speaking of the devil, my buddy Jerome just got a notification from the facial recognition program he’s been running. We got a hit on Malone. Seems he’s staying at a hotel by the airport.”
“Your friend hacked a hotel’s security feed? Isn’t that illegal?”
“Very, but I won’t tell if you don’t.” A joke paired with a wan smile.
Did the how matter? We knew where to find Malone.
And I wasn’t alone in saying, “Let’s rescue our dragon.”
Chapter Twenty
I’d been abducted!
From my home.
Right under the obviously not-very-keen noses of my servants.
To add insult to this travesty, not only did my abductors drug me by dropping a smelly cloth on my snout, but I woke stuffed in a burlap sack. Did I look like a potato? How dare they treat someone of my stature so shabbily.
At least I didn’t remain unconscious for long. To wake my groggy mind, I began assessing my situation. Uncomfortable, for starters. I could stretch in the bag, but nothing more, the tough canvas too sturdy for my claws to shred. Hunger gnawed at me, but that was nothing new. When I focused on listening, the rumble of an engine indicated transport of some kind, which explained the vibration of the floor I lay on.
I couldn’t tell how long we travelled, but when we stopped, within seconds, my sack was grabbed—without care, judging by how it swung—and I heard voices.
“Do you have it?” I recognized that voice. Doctor Malone. My enemy.
“Yeah, we got it. What’s so special about the lizard, anyhow?” Asked by a male with a nasally twang as he handed my sack over.
“None of your business. You weren’t spotted taking it?”
“Nah. Walked right in the front door, and nobody noticed. The reptile was exactly where you said it would be. In a bed, under the blankets.” The man snorted. “Weird, but whatever. The sleeping juice you gave us knocked it right out.”
“What did you do with the van?”
“Ditched it like you asked. Now that you’ve got your lizard, we just need the other half of the cash for finishing the job.”
“Of course. Let me grab it from my briefcase.” Click. A latch snapped open, followed by the rustling of papers and?—
Bang. Bang.
The dual gunshots widened my eyes. It would seem the doctor didn’t want any loose ends. Smart. Dead minions couldn’t talk. Worrisome, though, because this Malone obviously didn’t share the usual human queasiness when it came to violence.
The bag holding me swayed as Malone strode away. He walked some distance, although hard to judge how far, given I couldn’t see anything, but it sounded as if we were somewhere populated. Cars hummed and honked. Clashing strains of music. People talking.
A moment of disorientation hit as if we ascended then a bit more walking before a beep and a click, as of a door unlocking. Slam. Only once the portal shut did Malone speak.
“Now that we’re somewhere private, let’s get a look at you.”
The bag holding me shifted, and I tumbled within the canvas before being unceremoniously dumped.
Into a cage!
Would the indignity never end?
