Empath's Angel - M J Marlow (easy readers .TXT) 📗

inand took stock of the scene. The cash register was closed; so robbery had not been the men’s purpose. He hurried out to the alley where Jason was keeping watch over Emilia. She had come toand was obviously in pain. But it was the tears of anguish in her eyes at being unable to stop those men that struck him. “One byłby nie przerywać,” she was sobbing as Daniel joined them. Jason was holding her in his arms, his jaw clenched in anger. “I tried to make them stop, but they were too strong.” She looked up at Daniel in anguish,and he saw the bruising from the beating she’d taken. He pulled out a set of keysand freed her from the handcuffs. She watched him slip them into an evidence bag. “They took my father, Lieutenant Simon!” “And we will get him back for you, girl,” Daniel nodded, struck by a fierce need to do all he could to see her smile again. He turned as Officer Samantha Edwards came out of the garage, her ice blue eyes hard. “Anything?” “These men knew what they were doing,” Sammy frowned. “Every person from five blocks over had to be here earlier today, but no one I spoke to so far saw or heard anything.” Daniel found that he had to agree. He went into the apartment in backand saw signs of struggle. Emiliaand Donald had definitely not gone down peacefully. He frowned as he went over the other rooms, wondering why the man’s shadow protector hadn’t bothered to warn him that this was going to happen. The man, who called himself Alpha, had shown up about the same time Donaldand Sally moved in. He had made a brief visit to Danieland told him that he was here to keep an eye on the couple. He wouldn’t go into any specifics; just that the couple needed to remain safe. Of course, the life Donald had lived before heand his family had come to Glenville was something Daniel only had the briefest knowledge of. He knew Donald had been a doctor,and that he was in hiding because of something he knew, but nothing more. “Nothing missing,” Sammy called out from the store. “It wasn’t a botched robbery attempt. She looked at the door as the bell rang. “Mama Cross.” “Something bad happened to our friends,” Mama Cross said without preamble. She stepped inside, her eyes moving over the store. Danieland Sammy let her be. Mama Cross was a proven psychic. They had learned not to question her talents. “Donald was afraid of these men,” she said as she laid her hand on the counter. “They brought the past with them.” “I always felt that our friend was hiding something,” Daniel muttered to himself. “Nothing appears to be disturbed, so why were they here?” “They took them to the apartment,” Mama Cross said softly as she followed the trail of fading emotions to the back. “Donald was confused, lost to the past. Emilia was angry,and very determined to fight.” She frowned as she went out into the alleyand saw Emilia’s condition. “There was no need for them to hurt her like that.” She crouched down next to Emiliaand the girl leaned against her, seeking comfort as she began to shake. Mama Cross laid her hand on Daniel’s arm as he started back into the buildingand looked into his eyes sternly. “Where they are taking our friend is a place of dark secretsand terrible deeds. He must be found before they reach that place or he will be lost.” “We’ll get an APB out immediately,” Daniel nodded. He had a strange feeling that it wasn’t going to make any difference. The sound of sirens filled the airand then an ambulance was pulling down the alley. “Jason,” he said to his officer, “stay with Emilia.” He saw a man he recognized at the end of the alleyand frowned. What was he doing here? “I’ll be right back, Sammy. Take over a moment.” He walked to the manand met his cold gray-green eyes. “It’s started, hasn’t it?” “He wants the doctor back under his control,” the stranger nodded. “He’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish that,” he added as he watched Emilia being helped into the ambulance; “No matter whom he has to hurt in the process.” “He’s going to send men back for her, isn’t he?” Daniel frowned at the thought. “She’s just a child, Alpha. What possible threat can she be to him?” “I think his reasons for wanting the girl are far darker than just keeping her quiet,” Alpha told him. He reached into his back pocketand pulled out his wallet. He slid out a picture. “Dominikand Karen Sobieski on their wedding day,” he told him as he handed it over. “Who does Karen remind you of, Lieutenant?” “Emilia looks just like her,” Daniel exclaimed. “So Donald is…” “The girl’s biological father, Dominik Antoni Sobieski. Yes,” Alpha finishedand put the picture back in his wallet. “That makes her a very valuable hostage, wouldn’t you agree? For the man who has her father,and any enemies that man has.” He watched the ambulance leave. “The young officer you sent with the girl,” he asked as his eyes followed the vehicle; “is he capable of protecting her if they make another attempt?” “Damn!” Daniel caught what the man was telling him. “Edwards! Mitchell!” he exclaimed as he ran back down the alley. “Get after that ambulance now!” He turned to see that the stranger was goneand knew he was on his own. Damn Alpha, he cursed as he went about the investigation. He’d been popping inand out of Glenville since Donald appeared, dropping his little hints. Why couldn’t he have warned him? Donald wouldn’t be goneand Emilia wouldn’t be hurt. “This is getting worseand worse.” “Perhaps I can help, Lieutenant?” a tall dark-haired man who bore a strong resemblance to Donald Marks said as he came into the alley. He held out his hand. “My name is Antoni Lorenz Sobieski,and I would like to talk to you about my cousin, Dominik.” He saw Daniel’s reaction. “I believe you know him as Donald Marks.” * He had been hoping he would never have to make this call, Adam Sobieski thought as he made his way into his office at Magyar Investigations in Philadelphia. He strode past his sister at the reception deskand Felicia watched him go, shaking her head. Something very serious was going on, if her brother couldn’t take a second to say hello. When he closed the door, she was certain of it. Felicia was tempted to press the extensionand eavesdrop, but she would have heard about her lack of ethics for the rest of her life. It wasn’t worth it. Adam would tell her who he was callingand why; if she needed to know. “Ojciec,” he said as his call went through. “Winslow found Dominikand Emilia.” His frown darkened. “I just received a call from our friend, Alpha. He says that around 7:00 p.m. this evening, two of Winslow’s men took Dom. They were prevented from taking his daughter by one of the Glenville police officers.” He nodded his head. “I will have Felicia send out the call, sir.” He hung upand pressed the intercom. “Sister,” he said simply, “Ojciec has called a conclave.” He didn’t need to say anything more. Every member of the Sobieski family knew that a conclave meant serious business. No one would miss it, if it were at all possible. He wondered how Winslow had found out where Dominik was. They had gone to a great deal of trouble to give his brother a new identityand a safe place to hide with his wifeand daughter. There could be only one explanation, Adam thought to himself. That bastard Martin had lived through the attack at the orphanageand found a way to get word to Winslow, as a way to save his own neck. He gathered his report on the situationand left the office with Felicia. Before they left, he wrote the word ‘conclave’ in large block letters on the chalkboard. His partners would know where heand Felicia had gone in case they were needed. “How could they have been found, Adam?” Felicia frowned as they drove north out of Philadelphiaand headed north to the family compound. “We did everything by the book to put himand his family into hiding.” “I’m thinking Martin sold him out,” Adam told his younger sister. He saw her frown. “Otherwise, someone in the family or at Magyar Investigations did.” “That would never happen!” Felicia exclaimed. “We do not betray our own!” “Then we shall have to go on the assumption that Doctor Martin was responsible,” Adam replied. He pulled up to the compound gateand pressed in his personal code. A small box rose upand he pressed his thumb into it. “Adam Jozef Sobieski for conclave,” he said in Polish. The gates openedand he drove through. They drove up the driveand parked in front of the immense castle that had been the Sobieski home in America for the past two centuries. A tall golden-haired man came outand Felicia ran up to himand threw her arms around his neck. This was her husband, Doctor Geoffrey Caine. They went insideand joined the others in the lounge while Adam went into his father’s study. Piotr Sobieski was seated at his desk, a dark look on his face. He told Adam to close the doorand made him repeat everything he had been told. “It is what Lieutenant Daniel Simon told your cousin, Antoni,” Piotr nodded. Antoni Novak was a reporter for the Philadelphia Herald, but it was not as a reporter that he had approached Daniel. Antoni had been given permission by his uncle to make the officer aware of Dominik’s familyand their desire to help him with his investigation. “He was also told that Emilia was hurt when the men took her father. She was sent to the hospital in Glenville.” “So what do we do now, Ojciec?” “We are going to have to move a few more of us into Glenville,” Piotr told him. “Emilia will need her family close now. Professor Winslow is not going to stop with your brother.” He held his hand up as Adam started to say something. “We will discuss the rest of this with the entire family, Adam.” Adam noddedand went to open the door. He stepped aside for Piotr to go first. He was the family elder; it was his due. The rest of the family rose to their feet as he enteredand remained standing until he had taken his seat by the fire. He nodded as his eldest daughter, Karolina, brought him a drink. She went to sit next to her husband, Doctor Peter Brett, on the other side of the room. Piotr took a moment to look around the room, pleased to see that everyone was in attendance, except his missing son, Dominik,and Emilia, a granddaughter he had yet to meet. Such a handsome family, he thought with pleasure. Professor Winslow would rue the day he ever moved against one of their own. The Sobieski family spent the next several hours discussing exactly how the family would rearrange itself to be in a better position to help Emilia. * Emilia was still stunned by everything that had happened. She couldn’t believe that anyone would want to hurt her or her father. What had those men wanted with him? It was obvious from the fear her father had been feeling that he had known what was happening. She let herself be led onto the ambulanceand sat back to let the EMTs look her over. Her mind was still trying to puzzle out what had happened to her father. Had those men taken the wrong man? She hated not knowing. Her father had been adamant that the men leave her behind; they had been just as determined that she be included in the trip. “I don’t understand why they took my father,