Robert morphed into wolf form, and the group exited into the main hall, where the lights were now off. Robert trotted to the back door, scratched twice. It was opened from the outside, a signal the area was clear, and Robert slipped into the dark. Ari and the other wolves joined Lilith on the porch. Fifteen minutes later, Jena left them and repeated Robert’s actions, then Warren and finally Vita. The rest of the party spilled into the yard and grew louder, as Lilith and Ari wandered toward their car.

“Why don’t you stay, Ari? The night is young,” Gilbert called, as she neared the Lexus.

“Another time. I still have evening patrol. Take good care of our friends,” she shouted back. If anyone within five miles didn’t know she was leaving, they were deaf.

“Same here,” Lilith yelled. “I’m all partied out.”

They waved a cheery good-bye and jumped into her car. Andreas’s car. She really should return it one of these days.

* * *

To Ari’s immense relief, the Magic Hall looked dark and deserted when she and Lilith approached on foot a half hour later. They’d left the Lexus outside Ari’s apartment, about ten minutes away. The large medieval-style hall towered among the trees, its commanding presence caught at the edges of the street light. Ari had worried that too many lights inside the building would attract unwelcome attention, but the others had obviously thought of that. She pulled out her passkey, unlocked the door and they slipped inside. A weretiger loomed out of the darkness to block their path. The tigress relaxed as soon as she recognized Ari.

“Did everyone arrive safely?” Ari asked.

“Yes. The last came almost an hour ago. You’ll find them in the Deliberation Room with the wizard.”

“What about security? How many guards do you have?”

“Nine of our best weretigers. Several of the Magic Council members also stayed to provide additional protection, so we have a couple of elves, some dwarfs, and two or three panthers scattered throughout the building. Four tiger sentries and a troll are outside.” Her demeanor said the added security from the Council wasn’t necessary. The tigress was young, yet steady and confident. Perfect type for an operation like this. The tigers were good. On the way in, Ari hadn’t seen any of the sentries. Of course, she had sensed them all.

Before Ari reached the Deliberation Room she could feel the agitation. “Has something gone wrong?” she asked, as she and Lilith entered.

“Oh, it’s Tobias,” Jena said with disgust. “He’s ranting and raving. Calling Chicago, calling Wisconsin, calling each of our packs and who knows who else about our running out on him. We’re afraid someone’s going to tell him where we said we’d be, and he’ll show up at Steffan’s house. That would blow our cover pretty quick.”

“Where is he now?”

“Don’t know. He’s tried calling each of us. No one answered when we saw who it was,” Robert said. “But he’s going to keep trying. What if the kidnappers can’t get through because he’s tying up the lines? Should one of us answer? What would we say?”

Ari thought about it. She could ask Ryan to arrest him, except she wasn’t sure where Tobias was and Ryan would demand a whole hell of a lot of explanation. Maybe Homeland Security would do them another favor. Unless she could think of a good enough story to distract him. “Jena, can I see your phone? I need Tobias’s number.”

Once Ari had the number, she used her own cell to call him. She wanted him to see her name pop up on his caller ID. He answered immediately.

“What the hell have you done with the wolf leaders, Guardian?”

She ignored his question and asked her own. “What do you think you’re doing? I heard you were interfering with my investigation. Agent Jones told me he’d get your cooperation. Are you reneging on the deal with Homeland Security?”

Tobias stopped sputtering for a moment and asked, “What are you talking about?”

“I’m simply trying to verify that we have a deal. ’Cause I’m sure not seeing it.”

“What deal? What agreement? I think you’re making this up.” Tobias’s voice was wary but uncertain. Ari chose her words with care, for she had no idea what he and Jones had really discussed. It wasn’t likely it had much to do with Steffan. Something else, then. Maybe if she stayed vague enough…

She searched for a topic that would catch his attention. “I’m sure he explained the problem, your problem. The CIA, and the records?” Ari hoped it wasn’t just profiling to figure that gangsters kept a second set of doctored books or other illegal records they were hiding from authorities.

“What records are you talking about? My records? The CIA is interested in my records?”

Now he sounded more than uncertain. Frightened. Ari grinned at the panic in his voice. Was he choking over gang records or personal documents? Tax forms? Pay-offs? This might actually work. “Don’t tell me you didn’t make the deal? Your cooperation for calling off the audits?”

“Audits? I haven’t heard about any audits.” Tobias was no fool, and he was getting angry. Ari would lose him if she pushed further.

“OK, never mind. I wonder why… Uh, sorry I brought it up. My mistake, I guess. But it doesn’t change the fact that you need to stay out of my case. You should pay more attention to your own business.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? What business?”

“It’s nothing. I told you, I must have been mistaken. Forget I mentioned the records, but stay out of my hair.”

“What records are they after?”

Ari smiled when she heard the hint of desperation creeping into his voice.

“I don’t know, Tobias.” She hung up and rang Jones, repeating her recent conversation.

Jones’s laugh was unrestrained. “You are quite an inventive young lady, Ms. Calin. Would have made a good agent. I take it you want me to call Tobias and feed the flames. Convince him the feds are after his hidden records. I believe I would enjoy that.” He chuckled again. “He may forget all about you and go running for home.”

“That would be perfect, but I’d be satisfied if he spends the rest of the night arranging to hide or destroy his files. I bet he has a lot of things he doesn’t want the government to find.”

“I wouldn’t bet against you.” Jones’s voice grew speculative. “He’s shrewd, that one, and greedy. I’d kind of like a look at those books myself. Hmm, yes, I think you can leave Tobias to me.”

She read off Tobias’s phone number. Considering the job as good as done, Ari ended the call with a feeling of accomplishment. Horatio was probably right. Within the next hour Tobias would be hotfooting it for Chicago to protect his precious records.

She turned to look at the waiting wolf leaders and Council president. “I think that crisis is averted. Next?”

The old wizard nodded his head with approval. “Nicely done. I believe we’re back to our chess game with the kidnapper. It’s his move.”

“I wish he’d hurry up,” Jena grumbled. “This has been a long day already, and we’re just getting started.”

Jena was showing the stress of waiting. Following Ari’s suggestion, the leaders had designated her as spokesperson for the kidnapper’s calls. She was the most easy-going, and Ari was counting on her to follow instructions without going off on some tangent of her own.

When Ari’s phone rang, everyone turned to look at her. She hoped Tobias wasn’t calling back. She checked caller ID.

“Private,” she said. She stepped into the hallway, closed the door behind her, and clicked the phone button. “Hi. Everything OK?”

“Hello, cara mia. You sound tired.” Andreas’s beautiful voice floated across the airwaves like the calm in the midst of a hurricane.

“I guess I am,” she admitted. “As long as there was something to do, adrenaline kept me going, but now we’re just waiting for the kidnappers to call.”

“Kidnappers? So you have heard from someone? What do they want?”

She went over the events of the last several hours, from breakfast on, including Tobias and the drunk wolves, the great escape, Horatio’s help. Andreas was still chuckling over Tobias’s audit fears when she finished.

“An eventful day,” he said. “I wish I were with you, cara mia, but I cannot leave Toronto until the transition is settled.”

“I know you can’t, but it would be nice.” Ari’s voice held a wistful note.

“Do not lose heart. I know you will find Steffan soon.”

She’d better. Noon was less than twelve hours away. Even thinking about it seemed to make the clock sprint forward.

“I hope you’re right. Now tell me what’s going on with you. How bad are things?” she asked. She almost missed his slight hesitation.

“Nothing I cannot handle. I met with the nest leaders and am slowly learning the varied backgrounds of those who reside inside the court. Sebastian collected an unusual group around him.”

“Are they still accepting your leadership?” His hesitation was more noticeable this time, and she jumped into the silence. “Andreas? Has something gone wrong?”

“No, you do not need to worry. A few vampires have left the court, which was probably a good thing. The rest are waiting to see what I do next, and I am surrounded by friends. Gordon and six more vampires arrived from Riverdale, so I sent Marcus home to manage Club Dintero.”

“He’s awfully young for that much responsibility,” Ari said, picturing Marcus’s youthful face.

“Listen to who’s talking.”

“You know what I mean. Can he really run it by himself? Long term, I mean?” Until a year ago, Marcus had been one of a group of young waiters at the club, new to vampirism, eager but inexperienced. Then he’d become a target of Sebastian’s tangled plots and suffered a near-death experience. He’d come out stronger and had grown up a lot since then, but it still didn’t give him the years of hands-on practice to run a major supper club.