Agent Johnson Page 5

  Her face had scrunched up, and she’d gone pale. He knew immediately that she was dreaming again.

  “I’m here, Maggie,” he said and pulled her against his side. “I’ve got you, baby.”

  “Leland, no,” she cried out and he tensed a little. “Morgan, stop! Don’t hurt him!”

  The sound of another man’s name on her lips made him hesitate a second before he did what he needed to do to pull her from the dreams plaguing her.

  “Maggie, wake up,” he said gently then kissed her softly before holding her to his chest.

  When her eyes snapped open, she relaxed into his arms for a second before she pulled away slightly.

  “I was dreaming again,” she said and frowned.

  “Want to tell me about it?”

  “I…” she started, then stopped and inhaled deeply.

  “You don’t have to,” he assured her, even though he wanted nothing more than to know who Morgan was.

  “What happened today?” She asked, instead of telling him about the dream.

  “Both locations were set-ups,” he started, and his mind went to Martin and Henderson. “Agent Henderson has been working for Crompton and informed him of what we were doing.”

  “Was anyone hurt?”

  “Agent Martin was killed,” Johnson responded. “Henderson killed him, and Karma saw it happen.”

  “I’m so sorry, Leland,” she said and laid her hand on his cheek. “You two were pretty close.”

  “Martin and I were brothers,” he told her. “And if I find Henderson before anyone else does, I will rip him apart.”

  “What if he kills you, too?” She asked, thinking back to her dream.

  “He won’t,” Johnson responded. “Unlike Martin, I know we can’t trust Henderson. He was supposed to be on my team today, but he asked to be moved to Martin’s team. None of us knew why until things were found when his room was searched. Martin isn’t the one he was supposed to kill.”

  “Who was he supposed to kill?”

  “Dylan,” he answered. “He was supposed to kill Dylan because Crompton wants Karma.”

  “Why?”

  Sighing, he shifted so he could look at her before telling her what he knew. “He wants to create an army of halflings, and wants Karma to be a breeder for him. He believes that since she’s the strongest halfling to ever be born, she would create the strongest three-quarter vampire children.”

  “But isn’t she a full vampire?” Maggie asked, slightly confused.

  “She is now, but until a couple of weeks ago, she wasn’t. He doesn’t know she isn’t, and we’re hoping to keep that little tidbit of information from him for as long as possible.”

  “You’re going to use her to lure him out?” Maggie asked, slightly horrified at the thought.

  “No,” he responded, but thought for a second before he continued. “Well, kind of, but not like you’re thinking. Karma is the strongest vampire ever created, including the vampire senate downstairs. She will do whatever she must to find Jackson and get him back safely, including putting herself as bait to draw out Crompton.”

  “She’s younger than I am,” Maggie commented, knowing Karma was only eighteen.

  “In physical years, that’s true. In life experience, she’s older than the members of the senate,” he said and pulled away from Maggie a little. “She was born into this life. Since she turned five, she’s known what she was and has adapted to it very well. When she was fifteen, she started training with the Huntresses, and has been fighting with them since. Just before she turned eighteen, her biological father, her vampire father, killed her entire family and that’s when she really came into herself as a vampire.”

  “That’s horrible,” Maggie said and looked at him for a second, before looking away. “In my dream you were killed by someone I know. Someone who was a vampire in my dream.”

  “Do you know if this person is a vampire?”

  “He wasn’t when I was taken,” she said and looked back at him. “He was human, and my fiancé.”

  “You’re engaged?” He asked, and got off the bed.

  “Sorta,” she answered and looked at him pacing the room.

  “How can you be sorta engaged?”

  “Morgan and I had only been dating a few months when I found out I was pregnant. He asked me to marry him because of the baby. I was taken a few days after, and lost the baby a few days after that,” she told him, and tears filled her eyes.

  “Do you love him?”

  “No,” she answered immediately. “And I doubt I’d have gone through with the marriage after I had time to really think about it.”

  “So you told him you’d marry him?”

  “Yes,” she responded as the tears fell from her eyes.

  “But you don’t love him?”

  “No,” she answered. “And in both dreams he was there, and he was a vampire.”

  “We will find him when I take you back to find your mother,” Johnson told her. “And we will see if he’s human or not.”

  “And if he’s not?”

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” he responded just as his phone rang. He pulled it from the clip on his belt and sighed. “It’s Baxter. I have to take it.”

  “Okay,” she said softly and watched him walk from the room.

  “Johnson,” he said into the phone.

  “Crompton and Jackson are in Cleveland Ohio,” Baxter told him, and he sighed. “We’ll be leaving before nightfall.”

  “Yes boss,” he responded and ended the call. After taking a deep breath, he walked back into the room with Maggie.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “We found out where Crompton went,” he answered. “You can either come with us or I can rent you an apartment here, and come back once we’re finished and take you to find your mother.

  “I’m coming with you,” she answered without hesitation.

  “Okay,” he responded. “Then get to packing because we’re heading to Cleveland.”

  Chapter Nine

  “Welcome to Cleveland,” Johnson said once they crossed into the city.

  “I’ve never been outside of Florida until now,” Maggie told him from the passenger seat of the SUV he drove. They’d been together since leaving Orlando except for the couple of times they’d stopped for food,

  “Trust me, Cleveland isn’t a vacation destination,” Agent Kameron Larson said from the seat behind her. “I lived here for a little while before I was changed, and hated it.”

  “When was that, Larson?” Johnson asked, remembering the young agent’s file. According to his file, he was from New York.

  “When I was a kid my dad’s company transferred him here for a couple of years. We all hated it and he eventually found a new job back in New York,” Larson answered.

  “You were changed in ninety-nine, right?” Johnson asked.

  “Yes, sir,” he answered. “I was nineteen and had just finished my first year of college. My girlfriend and I were out celebrating the end of finals when we were attacked. She was killed and I was changed.”

  “That’s horrible,” Maggie said and looked at the other agents in the SUV with them. “I guess most of you have a similar story though.”

  “I don’t,” another agent spoke up. “I wanted to be changed.”

  “Why?” Maggie asked in shock. Who would willingly take on this life?

  “The woman I loved was a vampire, and to be with her I had her change me,” he answered. “She was killed about a decade later by her creator because she wouldn’t go back to him. Since then, I’ve been tracking him and aim to eliminate him as soon as I can.”

  “That’s still a sad story,” Maggie told him.

  “Since meeting Karma and Dylan, I’ve discovered she was not my lifemate, but she still didn’t need to die like she did,” he said and Johnson looked at him in the rearview mirror for a second and made a mental note to check his file, before he glanced at Maggie.

  “Do all vampire have a lifemate out there somewhere?” She asked, and Johnson shook his head.

  “According to the senate lifemates, or copula, is a rare thing to find,” Johnson told her.

  “Rare?” She asked in shock. “In this relatively small group, there are two couples who have found theirs.”

  “Yes, but all the senate members believe there is a reason behind that. Karma is the one who was born to unite the human and vampire races, and they believe Dylan was sent to help her. Something about the creators of the vampire race, and them wanting it to continue for eternity,” Johnson told her.

  “Is it true that vampire were created by a demon?” Maggie asked and Johnson grinned.

  “Yes and no,” he answered. “According to what I’ve read, the scrolls written by the senate, and the vampire who proceeded them, vampire were created when a demon mated with a human. It’s said the demon spawn bit his mother just after he was born and turned her into the first vampire. As the spawn grew, he changed more people and had them change more people.”

  “Do you believe that’s how vampire were created?” Larson asked.

  “I don’t know what I believe, but that theory makes the most sense to me,” Johnson responded just as his phone rang. Glancing at it, he answered Baxter’s call. “Johnson.”

  “Jackson called Dylan,” Baxter said, and Johnson grinned.

  “Where is he?”

  “Here in Cleveland,” Baxter answered. “We are going to pick up the keys to the safehouse and drop off Caia and the Huntresses, before heading to the place we’re supposed to meet him. Bring Maggie and you can ride back with me. The other agents are going to check into the hotel.”

  “I’ll drop the ones with me at the hotel before heading over to the house,” Johnson said and looked at the four agents with him. They were all pretty new, but he’d trained them and knew he could trust them all. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

  “Okay, and Johnson, this could be another trap so watch your back.”

  “Will do, boss,” he responded and ended the call.

  “What’s going on?” Maggie asked as she picked at her nails, a habit Johnson had noticed she had when she was nervous.

  “Jackson contacted Dylan,” he said, and the agents all looked at him intently. “I’m going to drop the agents with us at the hotel, then take you to the safehouse Karma rented on the way here, then head over to where we’re meeting Jackson.”

  “Do you think it’s another trap?” Larson asked. He was with them at the old show grounds the morning before, and knew just how bad that could have ended.

  “We don’t know, but we don’t want to have too many there in case it isn’t,” he replied and looked at Maggie. “We won’t take any chances though, and will protect each other.”

  “Okay,” she said and looked at him for a second before looking away.

  The last couple of miles to the hotel were made in silence, and once the agents were out of the SUV, Johnson headed for the house they’d rented.

  “Maggie,” he said after he stopped in the driveway.

  “Yes?”

  “I will be back as quick as I can,” he told her. “I promise I will be cautious, and will be here with you before too long.”

  “Yeah,” she replied and opened her door when Lexie poked her head out of the front door of the house.

  “Maggie,” he said again, and she looked at him. “Stay inside, and I will see you as soon as I can.”

  “Be safe, Leland,” she said softly before getting out of the SUV and walking into the house.

  Sighing, he got out himself and locked the door before getting into the SUV with Baxter.

  “You okay?” Baxter asked as he backed out of the driveway.

  “Yeah,” Johnson replied, as he looked out the window. “I just have a bad feeling about this.”

  “Me too,” Baxter agreed. “We will watch each other’s backs, and face whatever may come at us though.”

  “We always do,” Johnson said and sighed. “It’s just this time I have more to live for.”

  “I understand,” Baxter said as thoughts of Gina filtered into his head. “Believe me, I understand.”

  Johnson didn’t say anything else as Baxter drove to the restaurant they were supposed to meet Jackson at. When they pulled into the parking lot, Johnson saw Karma and Dylan, and sighed. He hoped for their sakes this wasn’t a set-up. He would hate to have to be the one who had to eliminate Jackson, but if it meant keeping Maggie safe, he would without hesitation.

  ****

  “What’s taking them so long?” Maggie asked as she paced the spacious living room of the safe house.

  “They’ll be back soon,” Randee assured her from where she sat on the couch.

  “How do you know that?” Maggie snapped out.

  “Maggie,” Caia said from the kitchen door. “I have to have faith that they will be back soon. Karma and Dylan have to come back with Jackson.”

  “Yeah,” Maggie said just as tires screeched in the driveway.

  “Something’s wrong,” Ashtyn said from the window. “Lexie, get the door.”

  Lexie opened the door, and Karma walked in carrying a blood covered Dylan. She didn’t say a word to any of them as she carried him straight up the stairs and disappeared into a bedroom.

  “What happened?” Randee asked.

  “Jackson attacked him,” Baxter answered after Nevaeh and Harrison disappeared upstairs too.

  “What?” Lexie asked, shocked. “Jackson did that? To his own brother?”

  “Karma says he was under Crompton’s control,” Johnson said when he walked into the house. “She and Dylan were the only ones who were there, so I have no idea what really happened.”

  “Would they lie about something like that to protect him?” Maggie asked quietly.

  “I want to say no, but Dylan practically raised Jackson, and Karma loves that kid beyond reason,” Johnson responded.

  “It couldn’t have been him,” Caia said just as softly as Maggie had spoken. “He would kill himself before willingly hurting Dylan.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Johnson asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Yes,” she answered confidently. “When we were in those cells, all he could talk about was how Karma and Dylan would come for him. He told me stories from when he was younger, and how Dylan took care of him after our dad left. Then when their mom died, Dylan gave up everything to make sure Jackson finished school.”

  “Okay kid,” Baxter said and looked from Caia to Johnson. “We will give him the benefit of the doubt until we find out otherwise.”

  “He would have never hurt Dylan,” Caia said again before walking back into the kitchen.

  “I guess she told me,” Johnson said and shrugged. “I want to believe Jackson didn’t do this, but all I have to go on is the word of people who I know would die to protect him.”

  “Like I told Caia, benefit of the doubt,” Baxter said, and Johnson nodded. “Now, I think we should all get a little rest. When Dylan wakes up, he will want to go back out looking for Jackson, and we have to be ready for whatever comes.”

  “Yes, boss,” Johnson responded and looked at Maggie.

  “You can rest in my room,” she said softly and took his hand.

  “Thank you,” he said and followed her upstairs and into a small bedroom.

  “Is Dylan going to be okay?” She asked as Johnson pulled his shirt off.

  “Yeah. Ramsey changed him. When he wakes up, he will be a full vampire,” he told her and sat on the bed. “Come lay with me. I want to hold you for a little while before I have to go back to work.”

  “Okay,” she said and crawled onto the bed.

  Once he was stretched out, she stretched out beside him and laid her hand on his chest.

  “I’m sorry about earlier,” he said as he stroked her hair. “I know you were worried.”

  “You had a job to do.”

  “I did, but I should have done this before leaving you,” he said and kissed her softly before pulling away. “Now I feel better.”

  “Me too,” she admitted and cuddled closer. “You make me feel safe.”

  “You will always be safe with me,” he told her and wrapped his arms around her. “Sleep with me, beautiful Maggie.”

  “Rest, Leland,” she said and smiled when his arms relaxed around her a moment later.

  She knew it was crazy, but she was falling in love with this vampire, and she didn’t want to stop the fall for any reason.

  Chapter Ten

  “Johnson,” he answered his phone on the first ring. He was dead tired, but the job didn’t seem to want to let him rest.

  “Dylan is awake,” Baxter responded. “We’re gathering in the living room to figure out the next step to take.”

  “Be down in a sec,” Johnson responded and ended the call before he slid out of bed.

  “What’s going on?” Maggie asked, sitting up and watching as he slid his shirt on.

  “Dylan’s awake and we’re gathering to figure out the next step to take,” he answered and kissed her forehead softly. “You don’t have to come down if you don’t want to. There are a lot of vampire in this house right now, and I don’t want you uncomfortable or scared.”

  “I’ll come down in a little while,” she responded and yawned. “Let me know what’s going to happen though, please.”

  “I’ll be back up here in a few minutes,” he told her, then headed out the door before she could say anything else.

  Laying back down against the pillows, she inhaled his scent and thought back to the dream she’d just had. It wasn’t a nightmare like the ones she’d been having. It was a dream about Leland. A dream where they were together, and it made her hope for things she’d never thought possible.

  Sighing, she got out of bed and headed for the door. She didn’t want to be downstairs with the group of vampire, but she didn’t want to be in this bedroom without Leland either.

  Walking to the stairs, she went about halfway down and sat. She could hear what was being said but was just out of view of the living room, where they were meeting.

  From what she could hear, it sounded like Crompton had control over Jackson when he attacked Dylan, but he didn’t now because Jackson drank some of Dylan’s blood. The entire vampire thing was confusing, but she knew if she wanted to be part of Leland’s life, she’d have to learn as much as possible about him and his species.