52. EZRA

“Two dart guns, chains and rope, plastic ties and what looks like a video camera?” He held it up and stared at it with a deep frown.

Walking around the car, I took it from him and turned away.

One of the pride members had discovered a deserted car near the edge of town at a road that hadn’t been used in years. The back seat had blood on it that Devrim identified as Vanya’s.

According to the scents, Obsidian had been loaded into the back of the car where they stored the tools and spare wheels. Vanya was in the backseat, and the man who took them was the one who had driven the car.

Finding Vanya was much more important than worrying about Obsidian. The killer wouldn’t kill him, not yet anyway. But Vanya… he wanted her dead. He would kill her without a second thought, unless there was something else he had planned.

Like Devrim had pointed out earlier, the man smelled familiar, but I couldn’t place it either.

My eyes darted over to Devrim who was busy arguing with Reeves and Chief Curry. Some stupid human had called the police after spotting us sniffing around the car.

How could Devrim be so fucking stupid? He knew we needed to keep a close eye on Vanya after Betsy was kidnapped at the ball. I stilled as a thought hit me.

“Shit,” I hissed. “Fucking motherfucker.”

Spinning, I kicked at the car and then cursed some more as pain shot up my leg. Once the pain had faded, I stormed over to Devrim.

“It was a trap.” I gestured with my hand.  

“What?” he questioned.

“Betsy. It was his fucking plan from the start. He knew we’d go searching for her. He knew that we’d leave Vanya’s side because Betsy was like a family to Vanya.”

Devrim’s brows dipped the longer he stared at me. I knew the moment he understood what I meant.

“You don’t think that he really took her?”

I shook my head. “He might have, but I don’t think he took her anywhere. I think Betsy’s still at the—”

“We searched the grounds,” Curry interrupted. “We searched every inch of it.”

“Do it again,” I growled. “He went back after your search was completed.”

“How do you know that?” Reeves took a step closer. “You’re part of it, aren’t you? Where’s my daughter?”

Devrim stepped in front of me and pressed a restraining hand to my chest when I moved. I sneered at him before I spun around and walked back to the car. As my hands curled into fists, I realized that I still held the camera.

I turned it over and over in my hands. There were a lot of buttons on it.

“Where did you find that?” Devrim questioned as he stopped next to me.

I nodded at the car. “I haven’t seen one of these before. The newer ones, yes, but this one is old.”

He took it from me and stared at it for a few seconds before he raised his head and glanced around.

“Find anything useful in the car?”

“Aside from the blood and this, nothing else.”

Devrim swallowed and ran a hand through his hair. “What you said makes sense, but how does Obsidian fit into all of this?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe he showed up while the human was busy kidnapping Vanya, but he got sedated before he could do anything?”

He shook his head. “But why take him with her? Why not leave him like he left the brothers?”

I shrugged and looked down at the camera. I had no idea why he’d take Obsidian with Vanya, but I had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling.

Devrim nodded. “I think I know someone who can help us with this.”

***

“Okay,” the youth muttered as he stepped back. “I’ve connected it to the TV. It was a bit of a struggle to find the right cables for it and figure out how it works since it’s older than what I’m used to.”

“Show me how it works and then leave us,” Devrim ordered.

A few minutes later, we were alone in the living room of the main house.  

I pushed the troubling thoughts away and focused on the TV screen. There were a few meaningless videos of the sky and trees, along with some buildings in town.

But then, it got interesting.

The videos changed from nature to the town’s people, and then it changed again. Mayor Reeves and his Joy, followed by Vanya, lots of videos about Vanya.

Vanya at the hospital. Vanya returning home, and Vanya with Obsidian. It ended the day the body was found in her apartment.

We thought that it was all on the camera, but when Devrim accidentally hit a button, a few more videos appeared. Videos that made both of us tense.

“I’m going to kill him,” Devrim hissed.

“I’m with you on that,” I muttered. “But we need to find out if he posted this somewhere.”

Not only had he recorded us with Vanya, he had also recorded some of the couples breeding, and pride members as they shifted forms.

Before Devrim could utter a word, there was a soft knock on the door. He glanced at me as he made his way over to it.  

“They f-found the woman, sir,” the kid stuttered. “You m-must come. She wants t-to talk.”

“Where is she?” Devrim questioned.

“T-the h-human hospital.”

“I’m coming.” He closed the door and turned to face me. “I’ll go question Betsy. You stay here and see if you can find anything else.”

I nodded. “Show me how this thing works first.”

 We knew that the killer wanted Vanya dead because he thought that she would be able to identify him, but why had he kidnapped Obsidian with her?